Project Proposal for Pick Your Brain!

Project

Pick your brain!

Date

Starting March 24, 1997, ending April 25, 1997

Purpose

To encourage students to think creatively and logically. Students will also learn to express their ideas with clarity as they come up with their own brain teasers and solve problems posed by other students.

Subjects

Math, science, logic, language, art

Grade level

12-18 years old (6th grade through high school)

Summary

This project will involve having students come up with their own brain teasers and their solutions. We are interested in engaging them in an active process of thinking -- creating their own brain teasers, solving others' problems, and explaining their solutions (both their own and others'). Classes are encouraged to work in groups and submit as many entries as possible and to participate in solving as many problems as possible.

Number of participants

20 classes, each of up to 30 students

Project Coordinators

Emmie Chen and Jack Tan (jahk@uiuc.edu)

How to register

Interested classes should submit at least one brain teaser (via e-mail) and its possible solutions, along with an e-mail address and a request to participate in this project. Please include the following information:

• Your full name
• Your e-mail address
• Your school
• Town and country of school
• Grade level of participants
• Subject areas

Timeline

Start: March 24, 1997
End: April 25, 1997

Each Monday, beginning March 31, we will update the list of brain teasers and include comments or solutions on each problem submitted by other students. During the course of the week, if there is a problem with a brain teaser, we will inform the students involved to clarify the problem. At the end of the project, we will post all the solutions to all problems.

Sample brain teaser

the [PippinTown] problem

Once upon a time, there was a little town called PippinTown. In PippinTown, there lived several masters and their apprentices. Each master was an expert in his area and did not speak with other masters. Each master, though, had one apprentice.

One day, the mayor of the town called all the masters into the town square for a meeting. The mayor said, "I have some sad news to report. I have been informed that there is AT LEAST ONE apprentice who is a thief and has been stealing from his master. I have verified it myself." Surprisingly, the masters were not surprised. Each master knew which of the other apprentices were thieves, but did not suspect his own.

"Now," the mayor continued, "to avoid name calling, each master is responsible for reporting his own apprentice if he discovers that his apprentice is a thief." The masters agreed that this was a good plan. "On the first day of the upcoming year, we will meet here again in the town square at noon. If any master knows that his apprentice is a thief, he should declare so. If no one comes forth, everyone can go home, and we will meet again each day until the thieves have been exposed."

Assuming that the mayor's words are true, on which day is each of the thieves exposed? Hint: the number of masters and apprentices does not matter.

Please include the reference [PippinTown] when responding to this brain teaser.