Investigations

Materials: 3 different coloured blocks (you could also colour and cut out 3 paper squares)

  1. How many towers can you make with 2 different coloured blocks like green and yellow? (Answer: 2, green on top yellow on bottom yellow on top green on bottom)
  2. How many towers do you predict you can make with 3 different coloured blocks?
  3. Make as many different towers as you can make using one green block, one yellow block, and one red block? If you are using paper squares make sure you are laying them out one above the other and not stacked in a pile so you can see all the colours.

Keep track of all of the different towers you have made on a sheet of paper. (draw and colour the towers or use letters G, Y, R)

How do you know when you have found all the ways?

Extensions:

  • How many ways can you make a tower with 4 different coloured blocks? (add in a blue block)
  • What about with 5 different coloured blocks?
  • What patterns are you noticing?
  • How many ways would you predict for a tower with six different coloured blocks?

(adapted from youcubed.org)