Sudoku Sum

Starter of The Day Transum Mathematics Topics

Topics: Starter | Arithmetic | Multiple Intelligences | Puzzles

Transum,
If you are not familiar with Sudoku it is a logic placement puzzle. It is normally presented in a 9×9 grid but the puzzle above is a smaller easier version.

The objective is to fill the grid so that each column, each row, and each of the six 2x3 boxes contains the digits from 1 to 6. Some of the numbers have already been placed ln the grid.
The Best Maths Class Ever 7cd/m2, King Alfred's College, Oxfordshire
We all started filling in the missing numbers. But realised that we could take the total of the numbers away from 21x6 to get the answer.
ILB, Derbyshire
Brilliant - I love the way that this gets people to use their thinking skills. I will definitely include this in my planning for next term.
M Phillips, Ferndown
Hi,
Great idea.
Good for deduction skills.
Would have been better if there had been only one solution. Current model leaves guesswork needed in places.

[Transum: Hello M Phillips: There's no guesswork required. There is one and only one unique solution (see comment from King Alfred's College above)]
Mr Kavanagh's Fifth Class, Cork, Ireland
We enjoyed this puzzle and had a follow on discussion about why people in Cork, Ireland all pronounce the game as Soduko instead of Sodoku.

How did you use this starter? Can you suggest how teachers could present or develop this resource? Do you have any comments? It is always useful to receive feedback and helps make this free resource even more useful for Maths teachers anywhere in the world.
Click here to enter your comments.

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Answers

The sum of the missing numbers is 71

You did not need to complete the sudoku puzzle to find this answer. The completed puzzle could look like this (though there might be other solutions).

4	5	1
3	6	2

3	2	6
4	5	1

1	3	5
2	4	6

6	4	2
1	3	5

5	1	3
6	2	4

2	6	4
5	1	3

Note to teacher: Doing this activity once with a class helps students develop strategies. It is only when they do this activity a second time that they will have the opportunity to practise those strategies. That is when the learning is consolidated. Click the button above to regenerate another version of this starter from random numbers.

Teacher, do your students have access to computers such as tablets, iPads or Laptops? This page was really designed for projection on a whiteboard but if you really want the students to have access to it here is a concise URL for a version of this page without the comments:

Transum.org/go/?Start=April22

However it would be better to assign one of the student interactive activities below.

Laptops In Lessons

Here is the URL which will take them to an interactive Sudoku activity.

Transum.org/go/?to=Sudoku

Here is the URL which will take them to similar number puzzles called Suko and Sujiko.

Transum.org/go/?to=Suko