Would you rather…? Maths reasoning questions № 4

Here's the fourth of our Maths reasoning questions for KS1 or KS2 Maths lessons. It's ideal for use as a starter activity or as a puzzler to settle children as they arrive. It's part of our new series of 'Would you rather…?' Maths reasoning questions.

These fun, visual problems are challenging, but open to interpretation by your pupils. For many of them, there is no 'right answer', but a choice of answers which children must first identify and choose from, then justify their choice using maths.

You'll find an explanation of the Maths involved in this 'Would you rather…?' Maths reasoning question directly underneath it, as well as links to all of the other questions in this problem-solving series.

'Would you rather…?' Maths reasoning question № 4:

Which train journey would you rather take? Why?

Download this Maths problem as a PDF

Teacher's Notes

Download the image above to display on your board.

The 'solution':

The first journey takes 2 hours and 57 minutes, arriving at 12.07.

 

The second journey takes 2 hours and 49 minutes, arriving at 12.04.

 

Although the second journey departs later and arrives earlier, it may not be preferable for a non-mathematical reason: there are two changes! 

There are opportunities for discussion with this problem, as there is no 'right' answer. You might also like to discuss how these travel schedules could be made clearer, so travellers can decide on the best journey more easily.

Check out the other 'Would you rather…?' Maths reasoning questions.