Mathematical Interactivities - Puzzles, Games and other Online Educational Resources
Introduction
This is a short list of some of the flash-based interactivities I have made available to play online from my websites. I'm in the process of re-writing a lot of these with Scratch, read my Math Games weblog and interactivity weblog.
Popular Math Games Online
- The Frog Puzzle Online - Click on the lily pads to make the frogs move across the pond by hopping or sliding. Can you work out how many moves you would need to shift any number of frogs?
- Flash Algebra - is it an algebra lesson about Flash, or a Flash lesson on algebra? Plus interactive tools to solve linear, quadratic and simultaneous equations.
- Mathematical Matches - A series of flashcard/concentration puzzles - sometimes with an added interactive twist. Covers a wide range of mathematical topics. Add your own, if you want.
- Interactive 100 Square Chart - Investigate patterns made by multiples of numbers in a 100 square. If that's too easy, try the n-square investigation.
- Tessellations - (Actually, my students did this one - finalists in TwinSite 2000). Investigating tessellation patterns in Logo and Flash. Escher-style tessellations and Islamic Patterns.
Linking Policy
Many teachers find it much easier to link directly to specific puzzles online, rather than direct their students to this index. Feel free to do this from your own classroom webpage.
Number Puzzles
- Magic Square, Magic Triangle 1 and Magic Triangle 2 - The first three of a series of number puzzles. Drag the numbers onto the red circles to make the rows, columns and diagonals all add up to the same total. A more polished and extended version will appear on the Math Games website in October 2009.
- Magic Stars (1), Magic Stars (2) Two more from a series of number puzzles. Drag the numbers onto the red circles to make the sums and products of two sets of four numbers the same. A more polished and extended version will appear on the Math Games website in October 2009.
- Colour Quiz - answer the simple addition questions. Correct answers colour the picture in.
- Crossnumber - Add the 5-digit numbers together to give you the answers to the clues in this crossnumber puzzle.
- Odd One Out - Decide which calculation is the odd one out because it has a different answer to all the others. I was quite pleased with this mathgame, because it requires a little more thought that your standard arithmetic drill based on the four rules of number. I'm thinking of putting together a set of simpler versions of this puzzle for younger students.
- TableTimes - Simple multiplication quiz game, see how quickly you can answer 10 questions in a row correctly.
- Multiplication Tables - Want to learn any number's times table? Also available as an asp script or a spreadsheet at InteractiveStuff.org...
- Bomb Numbers - The old bomber arcade game - updated into an online mathematics drill. Drop bombs on skyscrapers to answer multiplication table questions. For those who prefer their mindless carnage online, there is also a retro version of the original Bomber game.
- Build a Bug - Speed arithmetic on the four rules of number - correct answers result in different bits of a bug being put together.
- Number Maze - Move around a maze collecting numbers, plus and multiplication signs to make a target of 100 in as short a time as possible.
- Number Cruncher - Mathematical arcade game where you use the arrow keys to guide the number cruncher around the screen, collecting multiples as you move.
- Multiples - simple feedback for identifying different multiples in a list of numbers
- Sectors - what fraction of a circle has been shaded? Answer in lowest terms!
- Shade - Shade in the correct number of regions to equal the fraction given.
- Fraction Switch - Put the sequence of fractions into ascending order by switching them round.
- Up to One - Find the third fraction which when added to the two shown, will bring their total to one whole.
- Equivalent Fractions - Enter the correct numbers into the boxes to make a series of equivalent fractions.
- Decimal Challenge - Guess the decimal number between 0 and 10 that has been chosen. Guesses are recorded and a number line is drawn.
- Sock - 3D online mathematical game based on an isometric grid. Push the green blocks into the holes to make the target number.
- Switch - Put the sequence of decimal numbers into ascending order by switching them round.
- Scales - Move the pointer to match the decimal number given to you.
- Percentage Estimation - try to estimate what percentage of the bar has been shaded. Score 3 marks for being spot on. 2 for a very close answer, 1 for a fairly close answer.
- Pie Test - Estimate the size of the sector of the pie chart which has been shaded yellow..
- Roman to Arabic - Convert Roman numerals into standard Arabic numbers.
- Arabic to Roman - Convert standard Arabic numbers into Roman numerals online.
Interactive Algebra Online
- Think of a Number - interactive discussion starter.
- Substitution - Evaluate the expressions by substituting numbers for letters.
- Sequences - Work out the 4th, 5th, 10th, 20th and nth terms in a number sequence.
- Algebra Crossnumber - To solve this crossnumber puzzle, you also need to work out what numbers x and y represent.
- Function Machine - To solve this problem, you must work out how to continue the sequence of numbers - drag the operators into the boxes on the function machine to help. Now available as 2 step and 1 step puzzles, for those of you who prefer to solve simpler math problems.
Measurement, Shape and Space: Interactive Geometry
- Making Measurements - Finalist in the 2000 STEM Project awards. Four interactive mathematical challenges inspired by the Weighing and Measuring Gallery at the Science Museum.
- 3D Boxes - Calculate how many cubes you need to make the different 3D shapes shown.
- Telling the Time - A clock and simple matching exercises.
- Shape Game - Use the mouse to click on the shapes and move them to the right container, but avoid being caught by the other robots.
- Shape Sorter - the most boring of three different shape identification interactivities. A more interesting approach is the Binary Tree interactivity - much more flexible, as it can also cope with very different situations
- Geometrical Jumbles - Unjumble the different geometry terms.
- Geometrical Rainbow - Drag the letters into the pot to spell out the word that matches the clue.
- Geometry Facts - Decide which statements about geometry are true and which are false in this short quiz.
- Angle Estimator - Decide which angle is the same as the one drawn by the computer.
- Projectile - Fire the cannon to hit the target - trial and error fun! Simple online example of a traditional mathematical computer game.
- Charts - Draw pie charts and bar charts in Flash.
- Triangle Test - Timed test for calculating the areas of different triangles.
- Turtle - A pre-alpha version of a turtle geometry parser in Flash. Copes with sets of commands like: repeat 4 [repeat 5 [fd 30 rt 72 ] rt 90] but nothing too fancy yet.
- Nets - Uses my Flash Turtle to draw the nets of several different polyhedra including octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron.
Fun With Handling Data
- Two dice bar chart - draws a bar chart to show the result of rolling two dice 150 times.
- How likely? - If the probability of an event is 0.5, how likely would 12 successes out of 20 trials be? Use this interactivity to find the answer to this and other questions.
- Marbles - simulates an experiment where you remove red, green and blue marbles with or without replacement
- Combinations - How many different cars, football strips or ice creams can you create?
Puzzles, Maths Investigations, Trivia
- Mathematical Hangman - Test your knowledge of common arithmetic terms with this Hangman game.
- Amazing Age Cards - How does the computer know which number you've picked?
- Bingo Card Generator - Creates random bingo cards. Nothing more. However, it did form the basis of my Dolch Word List talking bingo card generator. One day I'll get round to developing the concept further.
- High-Low - Simple classic online math game. This is the first thing I usually try to write in any new programming language. How many tries do you need to guess a number between 1 and 999?
- Subtractor - An interactive doodle that plays with the concept that multiplication is repeated addition and division is really repeated subtraction.
- Famous Mind-reading Card Trick - How can the computer work out which one of 27 cards you're thinking about?
- Pick Discs - Click on the discs to beat the computer, the last one to click on a disc wins!
- TimeLord - A blast of nostalgia for devotees of old, retro computer games. Move the TimeLord around to avoid being exterminated by robots.
- Spacewar - Yes, a not very good Flash version of the old classic. Suitable for demonstrating gravity as an example of an inverse square law...
- Curves of Pursuit - Actually, it's really curves of pursuit meets Xeno's Paradox - up to 24 bugs follow eachother around the screen.
- Curve Stitching - Click three times to draw a curve using just straight lines, click in three places elsewhere for another one and so on...
- Estimating Pi - Using the Monte Carlo method
- Conway's Life - The original Life (0 player) mathematical game - done in Flash - for those of you who like simple cellular automata.
- Sierpinski Gasket, Spleenwort Fern, Julia Set and Mandelbrot Set fractals - all done in Flash.