Maharashtra Board Class 5 English Balbharti Unit Four Chapter 31 Give your Mind a Workout PDF Download

Give Your Mind A Workout

The proverb 'A sound mind in a sound body' simply means that one's body and mind should both be kept fit and healthy. We need a healthy diet and proper exercise to keep our body fit. What do we do to exercise our mind? The answer is quite simple. Just as we 'work out' or play games for physical exercise, we can use puzzles, riddles, board games, jokes, etc. to exercise our mind. Let us look at some interesting examples of games, puzzles, riddles and fun facts.

Nine Men's Morris

This game is played with two players. Each player has nine pieces, one set black, one set white. You may simply draw the board as shown alongside and use buttons, beads, seeds, etc. as pieces. The players take turns to place their pieces (men) in the empty spots, one at a time. If you are able to place three 'men' in a row or column, you form a 'mill'. Then you can remove one of your opponent's men. You cannot remove men in your opponent's mill, unless he/she has no other men left on the board.

Once you have placed all your men on the board, you can start moving them only to an adjacent empty spot.

If you have only three men left, they can 'fly', that is, they can move to any vacant spot on the board.

If a player has less than three men left, or is unable to make a move, he/she loses the game!

Teacher's Note

This game is like Tic-Tac-Toe but more interesting. You can play it with your friends at school during lunch time. It helps you think better and make smart moves.

Exam Trick

Remember: When you form a 'mill' with three pieces in a row, you get to remove one piece from your opponent. Just like scoring a goal in football!

Points to Remember

Nine Men's Morris is a game for two players.
Each player has nine pieces to place on the board.
If you make three pieces in a row, it is called a 'mill'.
You can remove one of your opponent's pieces when you form a mill.
The player who has less than three pieces left loses the game.

A Mathemagic Trick

Take any three-digit number in which the first and the last digits differ by two or more. For example, 145.

Write the number in reverse order, which is 541.

Now subtract the smaller of the two numbers from the bigger one. (541-145)

The difference is 396.

Now reverse this number, you get 693.

Add these two numbers. The result is 1089.

No matter which three-digit number you start with, the result is always 1089!

Try this trick with your friends or family members and surprise them by telling the answer yourself!

Teacher's Note

This trick works because of simple math rules. When you teach this to your students, they will feel like mathematicians! Show them how 145 and 541 always give 1089 when you follow these steps.

Exam Trick

Remember: This trick always gives 1089 as the answer. Write down the steps and practice once, then you can amaze your friends without a calculator!

Points to Remember

Take any three-digit number where first and last digits differ by 2 or more.
Write the number in reverse order.
Subtract the smaller from the bigger number.
Reverse this new number.
Add the reversed number to the difference - you always get 1089.

A Puzzle

Pintu invited ten of his friends for a birthday party. He had 10 pencils in a box. He gave each of his friends 1 pencil as a gift. After that, there was one pencil in the box. How did that happen? Explain.

Jokes

Teacher: Neena Aunty gave you and your younger sister a guava and asked you to share it equally. How much of the guava will you get?

Ananya: All of it! My younger sister doesn't like guavas.

Teacher: Saurav, tell me, who makes changes in his environment?

Saurav: Sorry, Madam, but I didn't do anything!

Teacher's Note

These jokes are funny because the answers are unexpected. Students learn best when they have fun. Share these jokes with your class and let them find the humor in simple everyday situations.

Exam Trick

Remember: In the puzzle, one pencil stayed in the box because you gave it to a friend while it was still inside the box. The trick is to read carefully!

Points to Remember

Puzzles and jokes make your brain think in new ways.
Always read puzzles carefully - the answer is often in the words themselves.
Jokes are funny when the answer is not what we expect.
Games and puzzles help you stay smart and alert.
You can find more such games and jokes in books and on the internet.

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