About Try It!

This is not your typical math book. In fact, you will find that very little math is required. The accent here is on THINKING and TRYING. Breaking away from the standard drill and practice routine, Try It! is a collection of offbeat, open-ended problems designed to make even the most problem-averse person excited about working through these challenging yet accessible problems.

Our Strategy:

The 25 illustrated problems vary in difficulty, motivating triers to think creatively on their own, or to engage in teamwork and cooperation within a group. The Hints and Solutions sections guide teachers and other leaders to probe, suggest, and encourage triers to explore their most unusual insights on the way to a solution.

What’s a Trier?

You are a trier if you worked on a problem and tried hard to solve it. The problem could be a new game, a new job, a new thing to build, or even a new habit. You simply tried something that was new or different for you. At first, this new task was difficult, but as a true trier you hung with it, and over time you got better at it and even mastered it. You are a trier!

THE PROBLEMS

The purposes of the problems are to engage and challenge. We want to give students a break from the steady routine of drill and practice found in standard math lessons. But even more important, we want students of all backgrounds (and ages) to have a chance to think and grapple with an array of problems, whether alone or with others.

THE ACCENT IS ON ALL

After many in-class experiences with students with a variety of achievement levels, the author and other teachers realized that the so-called bottom third of math achievers were not only actively participating but were often coming up with unusual insights leading to solutions. So, we concluded that this series would appeal to all students. In this series, we target students from grades 5 to 12. Keep in mind: this collection does not require specific grade level achievement, just a bit of courage to jump in and take a crack.

BE SPONTANEOUS

These problems are different from what you see in schools. They are not connected to the usual lessons or to the yearlong curriculum of any grade. Even more, they are not intended to be inserted at any specific time during the year. Simply stated, they are not aligned to any part of school teachings. Of course, that could be a stretch since with a bit of effort you can find a place and a time to insert a problem here or there in your normal program. We suggest that you don’t.