Are you looking for a quick, fun way to have students practice critical and creative thinking in science class? Perhaps you’re looking for some science bell ringers that will engage students while you check homework or take attendance too? Some teachers will have students answer review or preview questions or have students write in their science journal. Unfortunately, those science bell ringers lack the fun factor. If you’re looking for another type of science bell ringer to start your class that gets your students to think outside-of-the-box, try using some puzzles. Specifically, logic puzzles.

Logic puzzles are nothing new. Consider math games like sudoku and ken ken – these are just logic puzzles. That is, they are problems that have a set of conditions that participants need to follow when solving the problem. Math has a tonne of puzzles – but what about logic puzzles for science? Where can we find good logic puzzles for our science bell ringers?

Lucky for us, fivethirtyeight.com publishes weekly puzzles under their Riddler section. These puzzles take 5-10 minutes to complete. And, even if students don’t complete them, it generates some fun discussion. I’ve used some of the following puzzles for my science bell ringers – and students enjoy them. Below, I list 5 puzzles that are sure to generate some fun discussion in your science class. Handouts (ie. puzzle solutions) are available for download at the end of the post.

Logic Puzzles for Critical and Creative Thinking

To gets students to exercise their critical and creative thinking muscles, we need to get them to apply their science knowledge in other disciplines. Of course, this is nothing new. And, logic puzzles are nothing new either. The LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) has a whole section on it. However, what’s important is not just throwing any puzzle at our students – but puzzles that have a focus on science (we are, after all, teaching science). Below are our favourite puzzles to date, all available at fivethirtyeight.com.

Puzzle 1: Thanos

With a snap of his fingers, Thanos, the all powerful supervillain, can destroy half of all beings in the universe. But out of 7.5 billion people on Earth, how many would survive if there were 63 Thanoses, each snapping their fingers after each other?

Puzzle 2: Twelve Billiard Balls

Out of 12 billiard balls that look and feel identical, one is either slightly heavier or lighter than the rest. However, you don’t know which it is (heavier or lighter). Using only a balance scale a maximum of three times, how can you determine which ball is different, and whether it is heavier or lighter?

Puzzle 3: Where in the Square?

Given an empty 4-by-4 square and one marker, students can color in individual squares or leave them untouched. Can students design a 4-by-4 square such that they can identify the position of any 2-by-2 square cut from it?

Puzzle 4: A Maze

Consider maze consisting of a 10×10 grid of numbers ranging from 1-7. The number in each box tells you how many spaces up, down, left or right you must move. (No diagonal moves allowed.) Starting in the bottom left corner of the grid, what is the fastest way to make to the end of the maze (ie. to the asterisk on the grid)?

Puzzle 5: Kidnapped and Marooned

You’ve been kidnapped and dropped off on an unknown beach. Given only a satellite phone with enough battery life to sustain a one minute phone call, how would you get someone to rescue you from the beach?

Wrap Up

If we believe that science is a skill that students can apply to situations outside the classroom, then we need to give students ways to do so. This is where logic puzzles come in. Logic puzzles are quick to do and require little set up beyond the question. Logic puzzles require students to practice critical and creative thinking. And, logic puzzles generate student discussion – which is an awesome way for students to learn from each other. We hope you give some of the puzzles above a try in your science class. And, if you have some logic puzzles that you use in your classroom, please let us know. I’m always growing my own list. Click on the link below to download the handouts to this post. And, enter your email address in the bar at the top of this screen to join our email list and receive regular e-newsletters. Finally, share our posts with your colleagues and help us spread the word. Thanks!

Until next time, keep it REAL!

Resources

Handout(s): 55 – Puzzles by 538dotcom

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