The Week's Problem

All real life mathematics is problem solving

Agnar Bergkuist Translated from the Swedish by Malcolm Reid 

You can practise problem solving in different ways. This book is aimed at children aged 8-12 and provides a range of different lesson starter and homework resources for the teacher - and is a perfect gift for the child who likes logical puzzles.

In this book solving problems is practised in a different way from most mathematics books you have seen before: You get no clues to the type of calculation from the title Some problems may have no solution, whereas others may have many solutions Sometimes you can find a simple solution, but check very carefully to see if it is right!

Most puzzles don't require much mathematics - they are logic puzzles, that use mathematics and are ideal therefore to encourage mathematical thinking.

Some problems are designed to be a little extra tricky, so there are signposts in the book to help you use them. The contents are divided into 4 categories with the answers at the back:

1. * problems
2. ** problems (a little harder)
3. *** problems (can be quite tricky)
4. The week’s problem

The week’s problems are intended to be solved in groups, pairs or individually at school or maybe at home with the whole family.

The other problems are often also best solved in a group. That said, as most problems are language and logic based this is not easy to define. What is easy for one solver can be almost impossible for another, and vice versa. Neither of the parts need advanced mathematical knowledge, but despite this there are problems to which many adults either cannot find a straightforward solution or give the wrong answer.

This book is also in two Tarquin Select package with 100s of other resources for a small fee.