The purpose of this activity is to engage students in using positional language and a simple scale to describe a path that will solve a problem.
This activity assumes the students have experience in the following areas:
The problem is sufficiently open ended to allow the students freedom of choice in their approach. It may be scaffolded with guidance that leads to a solution, and/or the students might be given the opportunity to solve the problem independently.
The example responses at the end of the resource give an indication of the kind of response to expect from students who approach the problem in particular ways.
Jenny has made a maze for her pet mouse to run through.
She wants to see if it can get from the start to the cheese.
Describe a route the mouse can take to get to the cheese.
The following prompts illustrate how this activity can be structured around the phases of the Mathematics Investigation Cycle.
Introduce the problem. Allow ākonga time to read it and discuss in pairs or small groups.
Discuss ideas about how to solve the problem. Emphasise that for now you want ākonga to say how they would solve the problem, not to actually solve it.
Allow ākonga time to work through their strategy, and find a solution to the problem.
Allow ākonga time to check their answers and then either have them pair share with other groups or ask for volunteers to share their solution with the class.
The student gives instructions for a path that will move an object between specified positions. With support they describe turns and distances.
Click on the image to enlarge it. Click again to close.
The student gives accurate instructions for a path that moves the mouse to the cheese. They include turns (left or right) and distance in units.
Printed from https://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/cheese-maze at 2:45am on the 28th April 2024