Topics: Starter | Problem Solving | Puzzles | Simultaneous Equations | Xmas

You can find many more ChristMaths activities at:

Transum.org/ChristMaths/

• Transum,
•  
• Did you enjoy this puzzle for boxing day? What could be more appropriate than solving a problem involving boxes! The history of boxing day, adapted from the Wikipedia entry, is as follows.
  
  'The traditional recorded celebration of Boxing Day has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions. The European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown and there are some claims that it goes back to the late Roman/early Christian era metal boxes placed outside of churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen. In the United Kingdom, it certainly became a custom of the nineteenth-century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their "Christmas boxes" or gifts on the day after Christmas in return for good and reliable service throughout the year. Another possibility is that the name derives from an old English tradition: in exchange for ensuring that wealthy landowners' Christmases ran smoothly, their servants were allowed to take the 26th off to visit their families. The employers gave each servant a box containing gifts and bonuses (and sometimes leftover food). In addition, around the 1800s, churches opened their alms boxes (boxes where people place monetary donations) and distributed the contents to the poor. However, the exact etymology of the term "boxing" is unclear and for which there are several competing theories, none of which is definitive'.
• Miss Wyse, Twitter
•  

• P7 tackled this @Transum maths 'Christmaths' problem today. We thought it was easier to find the locations of the presents than it was to find out the correct amounts, but we managed! Fab website for problem solving activities. Looking forward to tomorrow's!pic.twitter.com/zmPa9VNqjI

  — Miss Wyse (@wyse_miss) December 10, 2018

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