A few months ago someone posted a picture with the question “How many triangles do you see?” on a popular neighborhood website.  I don’t always read it, but because I love these puzzles, of course I looked at the thread.  It was very interesting!  At last count, there were 12 different answers and some very heated debates!  They are certainly very engaging for all ages!

You have probably seen variations of these popular puzzles on social media, and adults sometimes find them challenging, too!  The history is unclear, but a search for this type of puzzle will prove that you can find them everywhere!

Engaging, however, is only part of the equation.  Research shows that visual/spatial thinking is an important part of development and impacts many areas of our daily lives!  This is an important skill, and yet we often do not focus on this as much as some other thinking skills.   In the next several episodes, we will share multiple ways to quickly incorporate these puzzles into you classroom routine!  Use the link below to download Google slides to use immediately!

Do you teach middle school students?  If so, your students can derive the formula for finding the number of squares in the basic model we will discuss today!

Do you want to use this puzzle immediately?  Use the link to copy Google slides!

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Thank you!