Looking at it sideways

Let’s take a look at lateral thinking. How about a puzzle called “Manhole Covers”, found at the http://www.mycoted.com website. “Creativity & Innovation; Science & Technology” is the catchphrase of mycoted.com, making it a great place to look for different ways to look at problem solving. I have looked at several other examples of lateral thinking puzzles – some I got, some I didn’t get. Some I got because I looked at other examples. In the manhole covers problem, you are looking at why manhole covers are round rather than square. My solution was that they are very heavy, and if they are round they fit into the hole in the ground the first time. You don’t have to match corners with a circle, because there are none! Once I had my solution formulated, I looked at the posted solution. To my surprise, two were offered. (Spoiler alert!) One was that round manhole cannot fall through the hole like a square one can when held perpendicular and diagonal to the hole. The secondary solution was that the workers were able to roll the round covers, rather than carry them. Perhaps, as my solution was also in the “manholes are heavy” solution range, it would pass muster. Perhaps not.

The point is, lateral thinking problems are not solved by knowing formulas, or having quick facility with basic facts. They are an activity which finds itself in Bloom’s Application level, where the thinker would determine the varying attributes of a round and a square manhole cover, then determine how those attributes relate to the manhole itself. Having said that, an argument can be made that the question could also be on the Analysis level, as the thinker has to analyze the factors involved, and use the information to come up with a response.

Some advanced elementary students and many middle school students are ready to solve a problem such as Manhole Covers. Out of 27 fifth graders, probably three quarters of them would come up with some solution. When I do the problem with my students, I will supply them with paper and have them do a think-pair-share activity with lots of paper and pencils so they can draw as they think. Toward the end of the class, the students would share their solutions with the entire group so they could learn from each other. Following the solution to Manhole covers, I would ask the students to look at other lateral thinking problems to enhance their ability to think outside the box.

An example of a slightly different puzzle is the “eggs in a basket” question. In this question, there are six eggs in a basket. Six people each take one, yet there is one egg left in the basket. This one was not as obvious to me, and the answer really requires thinking outside the box. **(Spoiler alert)** I did not come up with the correct answer, which is that the last person to take an egg takes it in the basket. This did not make as much sense to me. In the “manhole problem”, it is identified as both a logic problem as well as a lateral-thinking problem. For me, logic may be more understandable.

No matter what the puzzle type, giving your students one unique problem a day will help them expand their thinking and questioning techniques, as well as giving them a life-long interest in finding out-of-the-box solutions!