Problem Solving
Warm-Up Activity
Each student will select a piece of paper with one of the
following scenarios. The students should suggest as many solutions
as possible.
Problems
- An
essential piece of evidence is locked inside a waterproof, unbreakable
box. No key is available. How will you retrieve the piece of evidence
without destroying it along with the box?
- You
are a guest at a large country house where you are expected to appear in a
costume for the party that evening. Your luggage was lost, including your
Egyptian outfit. You can’t ask your host or one of the other guests for a
costume. What will you wear?
- A gang
of international kidnappers has locked you into a room. You are tied to the
bedpost, and a guard is posted outside the door of your room, which is on
the third floor of the building. How could you get away?
- One
morning you wake up, stumble into the bathroom, and glance into the mirror
to find you are looking at a totally unfamiliar face. You look nothing at
all like you usually look. How can you explain the situation?
- You
are visiting a large farmhouse belonging to distant relatives. While you
are out walking, you meet an impressive old gentleman who talks to you for
half an hour. Later that evening when you tell your relatives about the
man you met, they tell you that he sounds just like old Mr. Sanderson, who
died twenty years ago. Who is this man?