Mathematicians are scientists, too! Challenge your brain today with this fun math activity!
Materials:
Paper, a pen or pencil, and your brilliant brain!
Directions:
Organize information into a table (put one thing you know as the first row, then put everything you are trying to find out about it along the top as columns. Then starting with the second column, make that the second row (the third column becomes the third row, etc.) Watch the video and look at some examples below if this is confusing!
Read through hints and write down everything they tell you in the table. You will have to think hard about all the information a clue is giving you, it may not be obvious!
After you’re done, read through clues again using what you know on your table. Does this help you add any more information?
Keep reading through and figuring out clues until you’ve solved the puzzle!
Hint: Once you know something is true, you can cross out the other rows and columns for that block (think of it like bingo)
Think Like a Mathematician:
When you find a “checkmark” or something that is true, why can you cross out everything else in that row and column?
Why does the table help us figure out the problem? Can you do it with just the clues instead?
How It Works:
This is logic, which is what all of maths is built on! We are using the table to organize what we know to be true and what we know to be false. Logic tables are a helpful way to visualize this information so you can figure out more clues that may not be immediately obvious.
Further Exploration:
The big goal of mathematical logic is to link human language and thinking with math. Essentially mathematical logic tries to express and figure out math problems in a language that is natural for humans to understand and talk about. Mathematicians who study mathematical logic try to figure out problems no one has ever solved before, or they try to find areas of math where they are contradictions (wherein one case something is true, but in another case that same thing is false. This is a contradiction because nothing can be true and false at the same time).
More Puzzles: https://www.brainzilla.com/logic/logic-grid/printable/
Looking for more fun at home STEM activities for your young scientist? Check out our workbook full of exciting science experiments and empowering activities!
