Math is Exercise for your Brain!

Today we tried our hand at a math challenge that required us to really use our conceptual understanding of math. Though I was, of course, impressed with my students' mathematical understanding, and the way they were using different strategies, what I most enjoyed about the hour (yes, a whole hour!) we spent trying to solve this challenge was the way my students were collaborating with each other. 

They decided they wanted to break into groups to try to solve the challenge, and they alone decided who they were going to work with. They were encouraging, helpful, patient and most importantly, respectful of each other. The groups were flexible depending on changing needs, and not a single student was left to struggle alone. For the whole hour we were working on this, I never once had to redirect anyone's attention. In fact, I spent that whole time working with a group and I never felt the need to check in with the rest of the class, as I could tell everyone was on task. 

This collaborative activity was a really telling example that if you give students a problem that is within their reach, but challenging enough, they will rise up to the occasion and work together to solve it. 

If you want to try the riddle out for yourself, here it is: 

If you can't solve it or just want to know what the answer is, here's 2 of my students explaining how they got the answer: