You have been given three shapes made out of sponge: a sphere, a cylinder and a cone. Your challenge is to find out how to cut them to make different shapes for printing.
If you split the square into these two pieces, it is possible to fit the pieces together again to make a new shape. How many new shapes can you make?
A description of how to make the five Platonic solids out of paper.
Here is part of the conversation between a group of children as they discuss a tall tree nearby:
"I wonder how tall it is?" says Linus.
"I think we could find out ," replies Raj.
"It could be difficult as it's very high," says Toby.
I wonder how they each went about finding out the height of the tree?
I wonder how YOU would find out how tall a large tree in your surroundings is?
Give them plenty of time to plan what they would do and then ask some pairs to explain their proposed methods to the whole group. At this stage, it is important to allow a substantial length of time for discussion. What do the children think the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches are? Invite pairs to decide on a method that they think is the "best" and
encourage explanations as to why. It will be interesting to note those who opt for someone else's method rather than pursuing their own.
It may be appropriate for you (or them) to find a suitable tree in the school grounds for them to carry out their plans practically. It is possible that difficulties might arise as they try out their chosen approach so watch out for the ways in which different pupils overcome any challenges.
It would be very beneficial to have a final plenary following on from the practical experimentation. How will the group judge how well their method worked? This would also be a chance for the class to discuss whether they would use a different method if given a similar challenge on a future occasion.