Wild Maths

Wild maths is mathematics without bounds. Here, you are free to roam and develop as a mathematician. We invite you to embark on a mathematical adventure!

Mathematics is a creative subject. It involves spotting patterns, making connections, finding new ways of looking at things and using what you already know in new contexts. Creative mathematicians play around with examples, draw pictures, have the courage to experiment and ask good questions.

We provide games, investigations, stories and spaces to explore, where we know there are discoveries to be made. Some have starting points, some a big question and others offer you a free space to investigate. Have a go at anything that catches your eye. You can find the full collection of activities, and explore challenges and investigations that are linked by some shared mathematical areas, by clicking on the 'Pathways' link in the top menu.

We'd love you to share your ideas and discoveries. You can share ideas via the comments at the bottom of each resource, or email us by clicking on the 'Share your discoveries' link at the bottom of each page.

Happy exploring!


The Art Gallery Problem

Sometimes a piece of mathematics can be so neat and elegant, it makes you want to shout "eureka!" even if you haven't produced it yourself. Often this happens when an ingenious shift in view point, a clever connection, or a new way of posing the question makes something tricky suddenly appear clear.

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6 Numbered Cubes

 

You'll need a set of six same sized cubes and some labels to number them 1 to 6. They'll be joined face to face as these two examples show.

You might begin exploring by putting them in a staircase like this:

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Jackson Cube

Keen to make a Jackson cube? 

Here you can find pictures of the model itself and the module which is used to make it, along with videos of how to make the module and how to put them together to create the Jackson cube. 

Have a go!

The model:

jacksoncube.jpg  

 

A module:

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Charlie's Delightful Machine


Charlie's Delightful Machine has four coloured lights on it.
You can enter numbers into Charlie's machine.
Each light is controlled by a rule, and if your number satisfies the rule, the light will go on.
Some numbers may turn on more than one light!

Type in some numbers and see which lights you can switch on.
To start again with a new set of rules, click a Level button (each level is more difficult than the last).


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Last Biscuit

 

Can you win this game by taking the last biscuit?

Biscuits can be taken from the biscuit stacks in two ways:

  1. By taking any number from just one stack or
  2. By taking the same number from both stacks.

The winner is the person who takes the last biscuit/s.

Have a go playing against the computer using the interactive below. Play as many times as you like!

 

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