The Magical Dices

Materials 10 dices of the same size. Mathematics concepts involved Addition, subtraction, 7 times table. Procedure 1. Ask a student to stack a few dice at a time, for example, 6 dices. 2. Intrigue the student by saying that you have super powers and are able to

predict the total number of all the hidden dots. 3. If the student stacks up 6 dices as shown in the illustration, you can tell that

there are 39 hidden dots in the stack. 4. You then get the student to take down the dices one by one and add up all the

hidden numbers. Yes, it is 39! Magic Revealed This is, in fact, a very simple trick. All you have to know is that the total number of dots on the opposite faces of a dice is always 7, i.e. (1,6), (2,5) and (3,4). So, to get the sum of the hidden numbers, just multiply 7 by the number of dices and then minus the number of the dots on the top most surface. For instance, if you see three dots on the top lost surface of the stack, you calculate (7x6) - 3 = 42 - 3 = 39. 2004 Creative Wizard www.creativewizard.com.my