One of the things I hate about the time coming around for calculating the final semester grades is that it never fails, I always have a handful of kids come begging for 1 more, 2 more, 3 more points on their grade. In some ways I understand, they're close - but I refuse to just give it to them! Arbitrarily I decided this year that I wouldn't even talk to anyone who needed more then three points (seemed like a reasonable cut off to me). I've made a couple of kids take a make-up exam to prove to me that they can pass an exam before I'll even consider the possibility of them passing for the semester. The others, who just want a few points to make a difference between a 3 and a 4 or a 4 and a 5 (ultimately about their overall gpa) I required them to complete a few math puzzles (found on-line). If you're bored, see if you can solve them:
1) Use the digits in the year 2007 and the operations +, -, x, /, sqrt (square root), ^ (raise to a power) and ! (factorial) along with grouping symbols to write expressions for the counting numbers 1 through 30. All four digits must be used in the expression. Only the digits 2, 0, 0, 7 may be used, and every digit must be used for each number. Multi-digit numbers such as 20, 207, or .02 may be used.
2) Your challenge in this puzzle is to move exactly 3 toothpicks in the following arrangement to make 5 triangles:
ΔΔΔ
3) The challenge in this puzzle is to place the numbers 1-8 in the rectangles below so that no two consecutive numbers are next to each other horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. For example, if the 5 is placed in the far left box, then the 4 or 6 can't be placed in the box directly to the right of the 5 or the two boxes that are diagonally above and below the 5.
4) You are going to mix up some concrete, and in order to get it just right you need exactly 6 liters. But you only have a 4-liter and a 9-liter bucket. How can you do this? Assume you have an unlimited supply of water and that you are putting the water into a third, un-measured container.
1) Use the digits in the year 2007 and the operations +, -, x, /, sqrt (square root), ^ (raise to a power) and ! (factorial) along with grouping symbols to write expressions for the counting numbers 1 through 30. All four digits must be used in the expression. Only the digits 2, 0, 0, 7 may be used, and every digit must be used for each number. Multi-digit numbers such as 20, 207, or .02 may be used.
2) Your challenge in this puzzle is to move exactly 3 toothpicks in the following arrangement to make 5 triangles:
ΔΔΔ
3) The challenge in this puzzle is to place the numbers 1-8 in the rectangles below so that no two consecutive numbers are next to each other horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. For example, if the 5 is placed in the far left box, then the 4 or 6 can't be placed in the box directly to the right of the 5 or the two boxes that are diagonally above and below the 5.
4) You are going to mix up some concrete, and in order to get it just right you need exactly 6 liters. But you only have a 4-liter and a 9-liter bucket. How can you do this? Assume you have an unlimited supply of water and that you are putting the water into a third, un-measured container.
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