Calendar Maths Investigation

Click on the calendar and a 'T' will appear.

Add together the numbers in the left and right cells of the top of the T.

Add together the two numbers in the base of the T.

Find the difference between your two answer and make a note of it.

Move the T to another position on the calendar and repeat the instructions above.

Do it a few more times, what do you notice?

If you do this activity using a different month what results would you get? Investigate.

If you had multiplied instead of added what results would you get? Investigate.

If you had used a different shape instead of a T what results would you get? Investigate.

Notes for this and other Transum investigations, puzzles, exercises and activities are available here when you are signed in to your Transum subscription account. If you do not yet have an account and you are a teacher, tutor or parent you can apply for one by completing the form on the Sign Up page.

A Transum subscription also gives you access to the 'Class Admin' student management system, downloadable worksheets, many more teaching resources and opens up ad-free access to the Transum website for you and your pupils.

Investigations Home

Do you have any comments? It is always useful to receive feedback and helps make this free resource even more useful for those learning Mathematics anywhere in the world. Click here to enter your comments.

A mathematical investigation is quite different to other mathematical activities. The best investigations are open ended and allow students to choose the way they work and how they record their findings. It is one of the few occasions when 'going off on a tangent' is not only acceptable but actively encouraged (within reason).

Students may ask for 'the answers' but this supposes that the activity is closed. Investigations can always be extended by varying the initial instructions or asking the question 'what if...?'. Sometimes students point out that the instructions are ambiguous and can be interpreted in different ways. This is fine and the students are encouraged to explain how they interpreted the instructions in their report.

Some students may benefit from a writing frame when producing the reports of their investigations. Teachers may suggest sections or headings such as Introduction, Interpretation, Research, Working and Conclusion or something similar.

Here are some other activities you may be interested in:

Featured Activity

Jugs

Jugs

The classic problem of using two unmarked jugs to measure exactly a given quantity. The Transum version is interactive and awards a virtual trophy for each of the levels completed.

Recently Updated

Pythagorean Probe

Pythagorean Probe

Use Pythagoras' Theorem to help find all of the measurements of these right angles triangles. So far this activity has been accessed 99 times and 8 Transum Trophies have been awarded for completing it.

Apple

©1997-2024 WWW.TRANSUM.ORG