The power of ‘If ___ is the answer, what could the question be?’

At some point every day, I like to spend a few minutes doing ‘If ___ is the answer, what could the question be?’ where I provide a number and my class write questions that have that number as an answer. I’ve done this with every class I’ve had, and I’ve always seen very similar progression. When we first start it in September, they tend to opt towards simple questions such as 17 + 1/ 10 + 8, etc., but throughout the year, their confidence always begins to grow. As we discover square numbers, Roman numerals, fractions and the order of operations, they have more to add to their armoury. Instead of writing 100, they could use 10². Instead of using 2, they could use √4.

In the examples below, you can see where they have become more confident with representing numbers in different ways and reordering calculations. One of my favourites is where a child took the calculation 77.6 x 10 = 776 and flipped it around to read 776 ÷ 77.6 = 10, then took it one step further by realising that 776 could also be represented as 776/1. This shows that they not only have a good understanding of multiplying and dividing by 10, but also equivalent fractions and how to represent whole numbers. There are several other examples here where children have shown their confidence and ability to manipulate numbers in different ways.

A benefit of spending a few minutes a day doing this is that it gives children a chance to constantly revisit key learning (e.g. square numbers) but in a creative way- and creativity in maths is a great opportunity! To support them with beginning to be more adventurous, I might model my own example and show them how to incorporate the learning that we have been doing, and also make sure that I build a culture where mistakes are absolutely fine. To begin with, there were children who didn’t want to share their questions for fear of being wrong, but they soon realised that if it WAS wrong, we would work together to make suggestions to fix it.

The best thing about this activity is that it is so broad. A child who is less confident with maths can access it just as easily as a child who is very confident. For me, it is one of the most beneficial 5 minutes of the day!

If you’re interested in trying it in your school, I’ve made a guide to help you to introduce it to different classes. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cXkBn8AfV0tjtSbCDUDjqPpXSdHxNWWu/view?usp=share_link

Have you tried this? Does it sound like something you’d like to try? I’d love to hear your thoughts!