Polygon Riddle 3

My first is in starter but not "of the day"

My second is in homework but never in play

My third is in school but not in the child.

My fourth is in tame but not in the wild.

My fifth is in subtract but not in add

My sixth is in multiply while not going mad.

My last is in grass but not in the lawn

My whole is a name for a red suit not worn.

You are challenged to draw one, using only these tools,

Pencils, set squares and rulers (or rules!)

A Mathematics Lesson Starter Of The Day


Topics: Starter | Construction | Riddles | Shape

  • Sycamore Class Year 5, Buckfastleigh Primary School
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  • We found it hard but we worked it out eventually but we needed help with this one!
  • Transum,
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  • This form of a riddle or word puzzle used to be more popular than it is today. The structure of the riddle is that each line (the first seven lines in this case) gives a clue to a single letter of the answer. The last line (the eighth line in this case) then gives a clue to the complete answer.
    You can work out from line one that the first letter of the answer occurs in the word ‘starter’ but it does not occur in the phrase ‘of the day’. By process of elimination you can see that the first letter of the answer must be S or R.
    Work through the other lines of the riddle to determine what the other letter possibilities and then you are well on your way to solving the riddle.
  • Mr N, Dulwich College, Seoul
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  • We found this interesting (and Katelyn found it mind-blowing). We took a while to get there - we found the word but why it is a red suit not worn took us a little longer. PUNS! IN MATHS?

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.
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Previous Day | This starter is for 28 November | Next Day

 

Answer

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If you liked this you could also try Polygon Riddle 1 and Polygon Riddle 2.


Laptops In Lessons

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=November28

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 a related student activity.

Transum.org/go/?to=Constructions

Student Activity

 


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