Why Puzzles?
In children's TV Show Sesame Street there is one particular episdoe that I think about a lot as a Math Teacher. In this episode there are penguins in a hotel ordering room service. There are five penguins and when asked what they want they each respond with "Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish". To which the person taking the order replies "Now let me repeat that, fish fish fish fish fish." Then Ernie steps into the chaos of saying fish 5 times to simplify things by offering to count the fish for them. Now the reason I bring this up is to just to take a step back humourously and truly examine Math at one of its simplest levels, counting really is abstract. 5 does not exist, you can't hold it, touch it, eat it but we grow up with this abstract idea of numbers because it has tangible things (like fish) attached to it. Math at all levels is abstract and a thinking excercise, not saying it can't be paired with physical activity but at its core we need to approach it as an abstract practice. But we as humans are constantly comparing the abstract to the real world which is where puzzles come in. Tangible real world pieces of thinking to help us arrive at a conclusion and here it is a math concept.
Below are math puzzles that should not require anymore than a Algebra class understanding to solve. Model, experiment, struggle... because that is where true learning comes from.
