Chocolate Fix
How it works
Imagine that you have 4 pieces of chocolate:
- A brown circle
- A white circle
- A brown triangle
- A white triangle
Your goal is to place these 4 pieces into a 2 x 2 box, one piece in each of the 4 squares of the box. But you can't just place them however you want — you're trying to find a secret arrangement! You're given clues — partial pictures of the box with information about the colors and shapes of the pieces that go in some of the squares — that you can use to help figure out the secret arrangement.
In this activity, students start by exploring a variety of different 2 x 2 puzzles. They then move on to 3 x 3 puzzles, where there a 9 pieces — there's a new color (pink) and a new shape (square) — to be placed in a 3 x 3 box.
Why we like this activity
- It’s fun! Students enjoy solving the puzzles.
- It helps students to develop logical reasoning.
- It helps students to develop spatial reasoning.
It requires students to engage in mathematical habits of mind:
- Understanding and explaining why certain pieces must go in certain positions in the box.
- Finding and using strategies to solve different puzzles.
- Understanding and explaining why some puzzles are impossible.
- It has a low floor and a high ceiling: It's easy for students to start solving puzzles, but as the puzzles increase in complexity and difficulty, students need to reason more carefully and strategically.
This activity was developed in collaboration with the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival, and is based on a game created and manufactured by ThinkFun.