Page 31 - Six_Bricks_Activity_Mats_Teacher_Guide

• Assign a value to the bricks e.g. each brick has a value of 2.5. How many bricks need to
be in the circle to bring the total circle value to 20? To 12.5?
• How many different towers can you make by connecting 3 bricks together e.g. a red, a
blue and a yellow? How will you know that you have found them all?
• Use the bricks to solve multiplication / division problems e.g. brick value is 8. How many
bricks are needed in the circle to make 56?
• Red bricks are worth 5c, green bricks are worth 2c and yellow bricks are worth 1c. What
is the value of a circle that has 5 Red, 3 green and 6 yellow bricks in it?
• If the long end of a brick represents 2 units and the short end of the brick represents 1
unit, then a brick is 2 units squared. Create fields of 12 square units and calculate the
perimeter of each field? Did all fields of 12 square units have the same perimeter? What

was the longest perimeter? What was the shortest perimeter?
• A calculator costs €1.80 and a packet of markers costs €1.40. Teacher paid exactly €20
for the materials. How many of each kind did she buy?
• The Six Bricks can be used for bar modelling e.g. if 5 pencils cost 80c, what will 4 pencils
cost?

The Six Bricks Problem Solving Circle provides a quality problem-solving environment that
supports: talk and discussion, active learning, guided discussion, collaborative and co-
operative learning, and the use of the materials.

Quality problem solving activities are a shared, cooperative, collaborative, active,
communication driven approach to finding solutions. In tandem with the Problem-Solving
Circle, children can use pencil and paper to draw diagrams and record their solutions.

According to the Primary School Mathematics Curriculum, problem solving is ‘..the ability to
analyse mathematical situations; to plan, monitor and evaluate solutions; to apply strategies;
and to demonstrate creativity and self-reliance in using mathematics’.

Problem solving is a skill of the curriculum and like any skill, to get better you need to
practice regularly. The Six Bricks problem Solving Circle provides the context in which

teachers can provide problems for the children to solve together.

The Primary School Mathematics Curriculum requires that …. ‘a strong emphasis should be
placed on developing the ability to question, to analyse, to investigate, to think critically and
to interact effectively with others to solve problems.’ This goes to the heart of the problem
solving circle.

Note: All bricks remain outside the circle and are only brought into the circle to contribute
to the solving of the problem. Each week, children should receive lots of problems to solve

using their ‘Problem Solving Circles’. Problems should support the use of a variety of
problem-solving strategies.

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16-06-2021 21:37:43
Six Bricks Activity Mats Teacher Guide.indd 31 16-06-2021 21:37:43
Six Bricks Activity Mats Teacher Guide.indd 31