Based on the same idea as a number of newspaper puzzles. Take a starting number and apply a set of instructions to it to achieve a finishing number.
Click create to generate a new start number and instructions. The start number will not appear. A feature of this resource is that you can choose whether to show the start number or the answer. Showing the answer modifies the puzzle so that students have to do the inverse of the instructions to find the start number.
A timer can be applied. The length of time available for each instruction can be adjusted. When the length of time has passed a light appears below the instruction to show the students that they should move on.
What happens when the time runs out is left to the teacher. You can minimise the display to hide it.
You cannot run the timer if both the answer and starting numbers are shown as there is no point. If the answer is shown the lights will run from bottom to top. If the starting number is shown the lights will run from top to bottom.
Note:
The instructions are generated randomly to give a large variety of puzzles. The randomness is tempered by a set of rules to avoid going into complicated decimals. The downside to this is that sometimes the rules can result in less satisfactory puzzles where a number is doubled then halved then doubled etc. Just click create until a satisfactory sequence emerges.
Please leave comments, problems or suggestions for this resource below.
Your resources are elegantly designed and very useful; thanks for all you do.
On this latest puzzle a tile appears with just the digit 5, no operation symbol or word.
I have been sharing your resources with teachers, and will use them with my class for certain.
Thank you for your comments and especially the error report. I’ve fixed it now. Its a type of error that only appears online and not on my home PC so I may never have spotted it. Thanks again!
Thanks for all the brilliant resources. It seems that the timer on this one can’t be changed, whatever I change the timer to it still only allows about 5 seconds for each light, am I doing something wrong?
Thanks
You’re right. I’m not sure why that is happening but I’ll try and fix ASAP. Thanks for letting me know.
UPDATE: Fixed – I hope. I locked the timer during tests and didn’t reinstate it. If I’ve introduced any additional problems with that fix please comment.
Hi. I must be missing something here. How do I input the answer for each step? I tried clicking in the box and typing but I can’t seem to get anything to show that I have calculated the answer.
No misunderstanding it is sin’t a problem it is a feature! The resources on the site are not designed for that type of interaction – they are designed to be used on a whiteboard at the front of the class led by a teacher. As such this resource doesn’t expect you to interact with it in a way that you “complete” it is to provide the stimulus for a class activity where the class work on paper etc to answer it. It is hoped that it allows teachers to easily set some mental arithmetic practice for their students.
Love it, everyone gets very competitive and cross with themselves for losing where they are. It’s great.