Problem Solving

If you are interested in improving the spatial reasoning of your students, then this workbook is for you. I have used these activities for years in my third, fourth and fifth-grade classrooms, and now I make it available for you. You will find thirty-six printable pages to help your students develop the oft-neglected critical thinking areas of the brain.

The goal of each page is to divide the zoo animals into separate enclosures by drawing two, three, four or five straight lines (fences). On some pages, students separate the predators from their prey (panther and sheep), while on other pages each hungry animal is enclosed with its food source (a bird with a worm, a spider with a fly, a penguin with a fish). Students can use wooden skewers (from WalMart or the Dollar Store) to help them separate the animals before marking the page with a pencil. As students place a skewer here or there, they employ the strategy of Guess and Check. The increasing difficulty level within this packet will surely capture the attention of your students, and an answer key will keep you from pulling your hair out.