Second, an attempt has been made to make the puzzle a little bit easier so that it isn't too frustrating for students. To do this, students are presented with two challenges instead of the original puzzle's one. The first challenge is to reorient the goalpost by moving three toothpicks. This is easy to do and gets them used to the mechanics of the puzzle. To do The Goalpost Puzzle , each student will need four toothpicks and a copy of the student sheet.
Students then follow the written instructions and begin working on the puzzle.
They should be able to quickly solve the first challenge, which has a number of different solutions. Encourage students who solve this second challenge not to share the solution with others. If they show others the solution, it will rob those who have not discovered the solution of the satisfaction of solving the puzzle for themselves. Worksheet As always, the answer to this puzzle will appear next month. This is done intentionally so that you don't accidentally see the solution before trying the puzzle yourself.