How Many Rectangles?

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  • Mr B Boxall, Saffron Walden County High School
  • Thursday, November 23, 2006
  • "My year 10 class think that the puzzle is quite clever because it fools you into a quick answer, but then you start see the puzzle in a bit more depth and more rectangles appear.

    We think the answer is 26, but are not 100% sure.

    Neil,Lewis,Josh,Connor,Caiman."
  • Mrs A Davies, Congleton High School
  • Wednesday, November 29, 2006
  • "My year 8 class got 26 rectangles, so yes, you are correct."
  • 7yM1, Dene Magna
  • Thursday, November 30, 2006
  • "My year 7 class found 26 also so we agree too! It's 26!"
  • Year 8x2, Highfield School
  • Thursday, November 30, 2006
  • "We go to the highfield school and are in Year 8, we think that the answer was 26. At first it was difficult becuase we couldn't see the angles in the rectangles, but once we double checked we realised what the answer was."
  • Angela Camellari, Cubitt Town School
  • Friday, October 19, 2007
  • "I was workin with a Year 5 class and they managed to find 26 as well. I am very suprised I though there were only 17 myself but then I looked closely and then I thought to see if my class could figure out how many they could but the thing is it took them nearly the whole hour lesson to figure it out!"
  • Ben Sassoon, Michael Sobell Sinai School Year 4
  • Friday, October 19, 2007
  • "26 is the answer I did it with my teacher and my class. My teacher's name is Miss Alexander. First we thought it was 5 or 6 or 9 but then we did it properly by drawing a few extra lines and we finished at 26 then we scrolled down and the answer was 26."
  • MR OReilly, Ryde high school year 11
  • Monday, November 05, 2007
  • "Our year 11 class found 27 hahaha"
  • St Cleres School, Miss Denniss
  • Friday, November 09, 2007
  • "Year 9Y3 at St Cleres school can see 17 rectangles!!!"
  • Mr. Clark, Rawarsh Community School
  • Friday, November 09, 2007
  • "To begin with I was really struggling to keep track of what I had counted and what I hadn't. I read the comments about 26 rectangles and couldn't find them. After a good 15 minutes I found a way that I could keep track and found 26. I think the people who found 27 must have counted something twice (as I also did at one point when I counted 28!)"
  • 10b4, The Port
  • Wednesday, November 14, 2007
  • "Year10b4 at Whitby High think that its 26 as well. Especially Liam who is usually wrong. Nice puzzle! "
  • Mr Booth + year10, Whitby
  • Wednesday, November 14, 2007
  • "A good puzzle. Fatma and Chelsea got 26 too. Thankyou"
  • 10x1, Shavington High
  • Friday, November 16, 2007
  • "We only did it as a 5 minute starter and got 23!"
  • Year 6, Roundwood primary school
  • Friday, November 16, 2007
  • "At first we thought the answer was 14, but we searched further and now have figured that the answer is possibly 27. "
  • Skye Whittaker (Student), Gosnells Primary School
  • Friday, November 16, 2007
  • "When you look closer to the pattern you can see more than meets the eye to start with. I found 26 rectangles, so I'm gathering its right but I'm not 100% sure!"
  • Mr Conway, MIddlefield School Gainsborough
  • Friday, November 16, 2007
  • "We found 28 and its correct!
    Year 7 Middlefield school Gainsborough."
  • Mr Heeley's Klever Krew, Rawthorpe High, Huddersfield
  • Friday, November 16, 2007
  • "We think 28 and we are clever so we are probably right. Please, please please put us on website and Mr Heeley will donate £5 to Children in Need!"
  • Mrs Myers, Woldgate College
  • Friday, November 16, 2007
  • "Mrs Myers' ace Year 9 class at Woldgate College got 26! But all our heads hurt now!"
  • Mr Hanning, Cressex Community School
  • Friday, November 16, 2007
  • "My year eight are very loud - but by some miracle they seemed to get 26 - altough at one point someone found 58! I think they had double vision!"
  • Mr. H, Mary Hare School
  • Monday, November 19, 2007
  • "Having spent the weekend working on this, we are now past caring! We got 26 mostly and the odd 27. Jason got 24. Well done Jason."
  • Miss Davey 9x2, St Andrews High
  • Monday, November 19, 2007
  • "I have done this with 5 different classes and my 9x2 wouldn't give up until we finally found how to get more than 14!"
  • j.s, wps
  • Wednesday, November 21, 2007
  • "We also got 26 so I think the person who got 27 must have counted one twice. We found it hard at first and couldn't work out how there was so many there because at first we only counted 12 and then we kept going and managed to find 26."
  • Ms Shaheen, Greenford High School
  • Friday, November 23, 2007
  • "My year 7 class (set 2) got 26 and it is 26!"
  • Miss Nimmo, Park View Community School, Chester-le-Street
  • Saturday, November 24, 2007
  • "Well my year 10 class found '52' but only if you look really closely. it didnt take us long to figer it out it was just the case of counting them all and making sure we had not counted any more than once. so over all we found 52."
  • Dulcie Rutter and Elle Benjamin, St Benedicts, Bury St Edmunds
  • Tuesday, November 27, 2007
  • "We found 27 in our Year 9 Class."
  • Mr McG and Year 9, Parkside Cullingworth
  • Friday, November 30, 2007
  • "Class thinks 26 or 27 but sir only found 25!"
  • Class 1D, Linwood High School Renfrewshire
  • Tuesday, January 29, 2008
  • "We found 25 rectangles and cant see where everyone found the extra one!"
  • Mr. Ditta and 10B, Stokesley School :)
  • Friday, May 23, 2008
  • "We got 27 and we did it for 10 minutes max. seems we are the best.. anyone think they can beat it? good luck, you'll need it!"
  • X9, Oakwood Park Grammar School
  • Tuesday, June 03, 2008
  • "We found 26 rectangles"
  • Patrick Hillman, Year 8 (1) BIS, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • Wednesday, September 03, 2008
  • "We have found 26. Anyone who has found 27 or 28 is talking rubbish!"
  • Useless Mathmatician, Birmingham
  • Thursday, September 18, 2008
  • "HELP!! I really can't see 26 rectangles, stuck on something like 15! One comment seemed to say that your are allowed to add in lines?! Is this true? Can someone please help me to see the 26 so I can help my class!"
  • Mr. Vincent and F3H 2008, Santa Rosa de Lima English Secondary (MACAO)
  • Thursday, November 06, 2008
  • "One of our students called Ivy found 31 rectangles and I don't know how ... but that's what she said, we all found 26 rectangles.
    However, we are looking for a complete solution of this."
  • Year 11 + Ms. Ralston, Buckingham School
  • Monday, November 10, 2008
  • "Our group found 26 rectangles after counting them individually and writing numbers in each. We are about 95% sure of this answer....
    Please get back to us if you would like to give us some prizes for our correct answer! Thank you! x"
  • Year 9 + Ms. Ralston, Buckingham School
  • Monday, November 10, 2008
  • "We agreed that the total number is 28 rectangles. We are 90% sure this is the correct answer. "
  • Mr. Walsh, Blackboys Primary School
  • Wednesday, November 12, 2008
  • "26! You must be mad! My Year 2/3 class are exceptionally talented mathematicians and are unconvinced there are more than 15. Please tell us your secrets!?!"
  • Form 87, Childwall Sports College
  • Thursday, November 13, 2008
  • "Could someone please show us where there are 26/27 rectangles? We are a Year 8 class and found 15!"
  • Mrs. K Winter, Mackie Academy - Stonehaven, Scotland
  • Thursday, November 13, 2008
  • "My 2M1 class found 27 rectangles. We found 26 rectangles which had been drawn and one clever student pointed out that the word "rectangle" was also on the screen, so we included that in our total. More like this please - our class really enjoyed it!"
  • 9Z4, Durrington High School Worthing Sussex
  • Friday, November 14, 2008
  • "My group would have liked a definitive answer. "
  • Miss K Dewar, Imberhorne School
  • Friday, November 14, 2008
  • "My top set Year 9 class thought there were 6 then changed their minds and said 11, 12, 13,14,15,16,17,18,19 and finally 102
    !!!!!
    We attempted this on Children In Need day"
  • 8x1, Joseph Swan
  • Monday, November 17, 2008
  • "We found 26 in 5 minutes. Not worth any more effort as we believe that we are right and can't see how anyone could find any more."
  • Mearns Primary, Chloe W, Chloe N and Perle P.
  • Tuesday, November 18, 2008
  • "We are pupils of mearns primary set 2 in P6.21 and we found that there are 30 rectangles we are positively sure we did not go over the rectangles more than once or twice. We just drew it out on paper and then then went over them in pen."
  • Mrs J Davies, Yr 11 Ellesmere College
  • Wednesday, November 19, 2008
  • "My amazing sensational yr 11 class found 26 first then 104 aren't they super duper!?
    Starter done during inspection week. love the starter!"
  • Mr Goulding and Maths group, Kates Hill Primary School
  • Wednesday, November 19, 2008
  • "Our year 5 class thinks that it is 26"
  • Mrs Miziolek & Year 11 set 1 & Year 9 Set 2, St Mark's West Essex Catholic School, Harlow
  • Wednesday, November 19, 2008
  • "Excellent starter. My classes and I agree that there are 26 rectangles."
  • Mr T, Warwickshire
  • Thursday, November 20, 2008
  • "Year 9 managed to get 31, but we only spent 3 mins on it. They are an advanced class you know..."
  • Keira Bible, Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School
  • Wednesday, January 07, 2009
  • "I found 26"
  • Mrs. Barnard, Folkestone Academy
  • Monday, January 19, 2009
  • "My year 9 class found a range - 13 to 26!!! Typical"
  • S1 Basic Skills, Lockerbie Academy
  • Monday, March 16, 2009
  • "We think there are 27 rectangles."
  • Clint Taylor, Romsey School
  • Thursday, May 14, 2009
  • "The best year 8 class in hampshire found 26 so it must be correct!"
  • Clint Chern, ISB
  • Saturday, June 06, 2009
  • "There is more than 26 and I am 100 % sure of that, but I don't know the real amount..."
  • HAD, Herts
  • Tuesday, June 16, 2009
  • "My Year 10 class soon got bored trying to count the rectangles. They are not very good at counting from a white board they did their best!!"
  • S2, Peterhead Academy
  • Tuesday, June 16, 2009
  • "We only count 14 - it seems like you are cheating by adding extra lines to get 26."
  • Yr 8, Howard Middle School
  • Thursday, July 02, 2009
  • "Scott in year 8 found 27. The other children thought it was 26."
  • Alison Wicks, Seaham School Of Technology
  • Wednesday, July 08, 2009
  • "My Year 9 class found 26. They are pure belters. They definitely will not be wrong."
  • Philip Moore, Framingham Earl High School
  • Thursday, July 09, 2009
  • "My Year 9 class found 26 rectangles by splitting it up into basic rectangles, smaller rectangles and overlaps. Using all the results from the other schools made a great lesson on averages and charts."
  • Kazzaki, Santa Clara
  • Monday, July 13, 2009
  • "I counted 20 rectangles. Does any know what is the correct answer for sure?"
  • William-John, Peterhead Academy
  • Friday, August 21, 2009
  • "This is an intriguing but enjoyable puzzle, although at times, I found myself confused I was able to push myself through at find 25."
  • Megan Bridge, Broadlands School
  • Friday, September 11, 2009
  • "My year 11 class found 19."
  • Mr Walker, Henley-on-Thames
  • Tuesday, September 15, 2009
  • "My Y8 class took three minutes to guess 26. We can't find the 27th rectangle. Great starter - thanks."
  • Year 9, English Martyrs School And Sixth Form College
  • Tuesday, September 15, 2009
  • "We did this as a starter with my Year 9 class and we think that there are 26 rectangles. The classs liked this very much and found it interesting."
  • Class 6D, Wepre School
  • Thursday, September 17, 2009
  • "We think 52 is ridiculus!! We are a year 6 class and are sure that there are 26. Jazmin had the idea of putting a blob of bluetack on the whiteboard next to the top left corner of every rectangle. We really can't find the 27th if there is one."
  • Miss Rees And 7X3b, Trinity C Of E High School
  • Thursday, October 08, 2009
  • "We found 16 rectangles!"
  • Miss King, Harris Academy South Norwood
  • Thursday, November 12, 2009
  • "My year 10 class found 26 rectangles, found it mind boggling but enjoyed it.
    No school can beat us!"
  • Sean O'C, Port Glasgow
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "I often enjoy challenging my mind when I get home from school with one of these magnificent questions. I found 67 rectangles."
  • Year 6, St Paul's C Of E Combined School, Wooburn Green
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "Ben fouond 27 rectangles in 7 minutes. We think this is a record for a year 6 pupil! Come on St Paul's!"
  • Paul Baybutt, Whitstable Endowed
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "My year 5/6 class found 19."
  • Mrs Hunt And LIIIM, The Abbey Junior, Reading
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "We found 23 - where did we go wrong? Although, maybe 23 is the CORRECT answer. Year 6 children.
    Definitely don't think there are 52."
  • Mrs C Archer, Sanders Draper School
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "My year 10 class, were intrigued! We couldn't see much at all, then one member of the class -Tom- showed us all!!!!
    We then found 26!"
  • Becky, Dalry
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "2M Class from Dalry School in Dumfries and Galloway got 26 rectangles in 3 minutes. Using Activ Studio and colours helped!"
  • Mrs Beacham, From Huntcliff
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "We had lots of different answers. We thought it was a clever starter.We got as far as 22 rectangles."
  • Miss Gibert, Winterbourne International Academy
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "Hi. Year 7 found 35 rectangles. We want to know how many there were?"
  • Mark Pyle, Warden Park
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "I've definitely found 28, no question. Don't think there are any more."
  • AHS, Yr 10
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "Hello from Aylesbury High School Year 10.
    We think we have found 28!"
  • Mrs. Babb, Woodruff High School, SC
  • Monday, November 16, 2009
  • "Mrs. Babb's 4th period class in Woodruff found 24. They were hungry so we had to stop!"
  • Allerton Grange School, Leeds, Mrs Stoddart
  • Tuesday, November 17, 2009
  • "My class got between 25 and 27...........so we think 26!
    Allerton Grange School, Leeds England."
  • Year 7 Mr Harrison, Trinity C Of E High
  • Tuesday, November 17, 2009
  • "Miss Rees is very wrong!
    Year 7 found 26-well done everybody."
  • Mr Kelso, Trinity C Of E High
  • Tuesday, November 17, 2009
  • "We found 18 this time, although one of our group thinks he found more."
  • Oasis Academy, Immingham, 9Ma1
  • Wednesday, November 18, 2009
  • "My wonderful, brilliant, stupendous, fantastic students (their words not mine)- I just think they're great, have found 24 but are still looking for more. Hold on, we have found another one."
  • Mr Carradine, Bexhill High
  • Thursday, November 19, 2009
  • "10x1 at Bexhill High found 26 rectangles (apart from Harry who reckons there are 63?!)."
  • Mr Russell, Eston Park School
  • Friday, November 20, 2009
  • "My class of only 9 pupils found an amazing 28 rectangles. Beat that."
  • The Roseland Community College, Mrs Haslam
  • Friday, November 20, 2009
  • "My Yr7 class found 27 black rectangles. The final black rectangle was the whole background page. We then investigated the white outlines of the large black rectangles. Although the white lines are narrow they still have a length and a width, so can be counted as rectangles. By doing this we found a total of more than 100 rectangles.
    BEAT THIS IF YOU CAN!!!!!!"
  • RHS, Class 7S
  • Monday, November 23, 2009
  • "We eventually found 26!!"
  • H. Ralston, Buckingham School
  • Tuesday, December 01, 2009
  • "Our year 8 class (8NB and 8NA) together think we found 24 rectangles total!"
  • Mr Beech, Whingate Primary
  • Tuesday, December 08, 2009
  • "Most of us in 3R at Whingate found 26 rectangles but we got as high as 28! I didn't tell 3R at the time but I could only find 20!"
  • Bill, Manchester Metropolitan University
  • Friday, December 11, 2009
  • "I've counted 28. I just attempted to explain in words where each of the rectangles are which proved a lot harder than I anticipated so I gave up! I'm 100% sure that there are 28 though. I'm gonna use this tomorrow in school."
  • Mrs Hill's Marvellous Year 6 Maths Group, Solihull
  • Wednesday, January 27, 2010
  • "We found 26 rectangles - we're convinced that those who found 28 must have counted two of the rectangles twice.
    We spent a whole lesson investigating all of the shape activities including the triangles and the rectangles; it was great fun!
    Beat that!"
  • Mrs Bramley's Class, Chalkstone Middle School, Yr6 Set 2
  • Wednesday, March 03, 2010
  • "We had the highest score of 20 when looking at it for 5 minutes. We like these puzzles."

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Answers

See comments above. Do you agree?


Other shape counting starters:

How Many Squares 1? | How Many Squares 2?
How Many Triangles 1? | How Many Triangles 2? | How Many Triangles 3?
How Many Rectangles? | Rectangles Investigation | Icosahedron