Unit 3 photocopiable activity Thinking creatively @ Work in pairs. Read this traditional school maths question and answer it using ‘mathematical reasoning, Question 1: ittook two hours for two men to dig a hole two metres deep. How deep would ithave been if ten men had dug for two hours? @ Now consider the same question, but with the following points in mind. Can you think of some more ideas along similar lines? © The deeper a hole is, the more effort is required to dig, because waste soil has to be lifted higher to the ground level ‘Ten men would need more room to work side-by-side, and so may need to dig the hole wider rather than deeper. © Deeper soil layers may be harder to dig out. You may hit rock or water. © Ten men are more likely to disagree on a digging method than two. © Itis possible that with more people digging, each person may become less efficient due to increased opportunity for distractions. @ Lateral thinking puzzles cannot be answered by traditional reasoning: they demand creative thought. Try to work out possible answers to these puzzles. RED LIGHT ‘Two police officers were waiting in their car atred traffic lights when a teenager in a sports car drove past at 60 kph. The officers did not drive after him or try to stop him. Why not? BOTTLE IN THE BAG There were six bottles of water in a bag. Six people each took one of the bottles, Can you explain how there was still one bottle left in the bag? CROSSING THE RIVER ‘Two men came toa river. There was a boat that could take only one man ata time. Both men crossed. How did they do this? THE BEST BUILDER Acity council wanted to construct a new council building and they received tenders from a hundred building companies. Each company presented their qualifications and claimed to be the best bullder in the city. How did the council choose the company for the job?