{"id":1043,"date":"2013-02-06T14:00:57","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T11:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/?p=1043"},"modified":"2026-03-12T18:29:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:29:36","slug":"contents-myp-2-3-puzzlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/contents-myp-2-3-puzzlers\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro & Contents: MYP 2-3 Puzzlers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For students, The Puzzler<\/i> is a weekly challenging, critical thinking skills question that should keep you on your toes and thinking. They are thought provoking and based on either real-life situations I, or others, have come across, or they come from puzzler-type books or web pages  collected over the years. So, don’t be surprised if you find these or  similar problems elsewhere, in a book or another website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since mathematics is the language of science, some Puzzlers<\/i> will have a mathematics slant, however all will involve problem solving and the ability to think critically, the very attributes we expect of scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My own students would have about a week to struggle with the question, to talk with their parents and other folks, research as necessary then to write-up the answer in the proper Puzzler<\/i> format<\/a>. The write-up cannot just be a rehash of what someone else has told them or what they found elsewhere; it must display their understanding of the concepts involved, as well as both the problem and solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their write-ups would then be assessed using Criterion B (Communication) and Criterion C (Scientific Knowledge and Understanding). Check the task-specific rubrics<\/a> for details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sample Puzzler and write up<\/a> has been included in this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Term 1 Puzzlers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Hot Day<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Rotation Counter<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Two Cannon Balls<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Propelling the Boat<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Card Stack<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Salad Dressing<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Shut Door<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Term 2 Puzzlers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. The Chicken Truck<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. The Brick and The Dinghy<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. The Pendulum<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Winter Puzzler<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Don’t Lick That Tray<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. Bottle and Coin<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. From Fermi to the Frying Pan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Term 3 Puzzlers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Hole in Tea Pot<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Accident in Space<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. A Touch of Chill<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Space Travel<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      5. Woof, It’s Cold<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      6. Frozen Over<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      7. Falling Elevator<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        How and why I used challenging, critical thinking skills questions for IB MYP years 2 and 3 students, and links to some I have used in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,6],"tags":[4,16],"class_list":["post-1043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-myp-science","category-myp-years-2-3","tag-myp-science","tag-puzzler"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/M2-3-puzzler-featimage.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Y7Kk-gP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4101,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions\/4101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}