1. Maths Rich Task 5: Number Shacks
mr barton maths .com

2. Rich Tasks and Probing Questions
I believe it is far more important to plan prompts and questions than worksheets and PowerPoints. Prompts and questions give you much more scope for flexible, fun lessons and allow for effective differentiation. They allow you to start everyone off on the same task, and then wander around the classroom, seeing where the students are up to, dropping little prompt cards on different students’ desks with a new line of inquiry for them to investigate. They also allow students to express themselves creatively, coming up with their own lines of inquiry to investigate.
Have a play around with the following task, and then please share your ideas for extensions, simplifications, modifications, probing questions and lines of inquiry in the comment box at the bottom of the TES resources page.
For the full collection of these activities, and more about the pedagogy behind them, please click here

3. Background on the Task
Once again, this task comes from the wonderful Don Steward’s Median blog. The original activity is here
I have used this with my Year 7s, as it allows them to practise their pattern spotting and hypothesising, and also gives some the opportunity to look at generalising and even a lovely bit of algebra.
Students don’t really need anything in particular, but blank Number Shacks can be printed out
I have also created an Excel sheet which can be used to check answers and investigate further

4. Number Shacks: Instructions
Present the Number Shacks on the board and see if students can figure out what is happening:
The middle numbers are added to give the bottom, and right is subtracted from left to give the top. The top then becomes the left-hand number in the next Shack, and the bottom goes to the right
But that is just the beginning… 

5. What questions would a mathematician ask?
Please share your ideas for extensions, simplifications, modifications, probing questions and lines of inquiry in the comment box at the bottom of the TES resources page.