Unusual Games and Puzzles Featuring Space Mathematics

Find the changes! Students compare two, full-page photos and search for differences between them. An answer key is provided in these 3-page, PDF files. Note that the files are relatively large.

  • Mars Surface

    Find the 12 Changes - A photograph taken from the rocky surface of Mars becomes the focus of an intense search for rocks and boulders that were moved by resident martians to confuse earth-bound scientists. Can you spot the changes? [PDF, 426kby]

  • Circuit Diagram

    Find the 13 Changes - Students look at a detailed circuit diagram to find the typographical errors. Students explore the intricacies of a simple schematic diagram for a microprocessor and see how engineers design complex electronic systems from simple components. [PDF, 253kby]

  • Space Station Exterior

    Find the 12 Changes. Students examine a photograph taken by the crew of the Space Shuttle during mission STS-115 to add equipment to the exterior of the International Space Station. It's amazing how complicated the Space Station is when you examin it at small scales! [PDF, 524kby]

  • Large Hadron Collider

    Find the 11 Changes - During 2008-2009, the massive Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland will be powered up to search for the illusive Higgs Boson. Students will examine two photos of the ATLAS detector and search for altered components. They will also learn about the scale of the detector by examining the size of a technician in comparison. [PDF, 1.1 Mby]

  • Shuttle Control Panel

    Find the 11 Changes - A photograph taken of the flight console on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Can you spot the missing features? [PDF, 760kby]

  • NASA Radiation Laboratory

    Find the 12 Changes - A photograph of the beam line of the accelerator at NASA's Radiation Facility at the Brookhaven Radiation Laboratory in New York. Scientists and engineers explore the effects of radiation on electronic circuitry and organic tissues for future space flights.[PDF, 562kby]