Whitleigh Community Primary School, Lancaster Gardens, Whitleigh, Plymouth, Devon, PL5 4AA

Tel: 01752 706383

Main Contact: Lisa Richards

office@whitleighprimary.co.uk

Chair of Governors: John Bale

Whitleigh Community Primary School

Children at the heart of the school - School at the heart of community

10th December 2021

 

Psychic Number Trick

Oh, the mystery of maths. Maths is magic, that's all there is to it.

 

Your guest writes four numbers down on a piece of paper and totals them. You have that total inside your envelope. Minds. Blown.

What you'll need:

Piece of paper

Pen

Envelope

How to do it:

- Before you start, write down the number which is 2x the current year's date. So if we are now in 2020 the number will be 4040.

- Put the number in an envelope and seal it.

- Show commences. Ask a helper to write down the year they were born.

- Ask them to write down the year an important event in their life took place. For example, the year they started school, or the year a sibling was born.

- Ask them to write down how old they'll be by the end of the year.

- Ask them to write down how many years have gone by since the year of the important event. (All these numbers must be accurate and have to be whole numbers)

- Ask them to add all these four numbers up, or ask an assistant to do it.

- Open the envelope and show them the number you have inside. That number should be the total of the four numbers your guest gave you!

Example: This year is 2020, so the number in the envelope is 4040. The child born in 2010. Turns 10 this year. Started school in 2015. This year is 5 years after they started school. Total - 4040.