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Magic Stars

Under Review

Magic Stars is a fun addition challenge. Numbers are missing from the star and the Magic Number may be missing. Each line of the star must add up to the magic number in each direction and a number cannot be used more than once in the star.

Options for number ranges, adjusting the number of clues, and showing or hiding the Magic Number can provide control over the degree of challenge this exercise set provides.

Change the number of exercises

  1. Click on the box labeled "Number of Exercises" in the options panel.

  2. Type in a new number or use the up and down arrows to change the value. You can choose any number from 1 to 200.

Change the number of exercises in a row

  1. Select "Exercises per Row" in the options panel.

  2. Click the down arrow to choose a new number from the list or use Auto.

Notes:

  • If you are using the default auto settings, the number of questions per row will change automatically when you adjust the font size or the low/high number ranges.

  • For word problems exercises sets, you can only choose 1 or 2 exercises per row.

Change the row spacing

Set the spacing between rows of exercises in 100ths of an inch (25 = 1/4 inch, 40 = 1cm).

  1. Select the input field for the Row Spacing option in the options pane.

  2. Type a new value in the field or use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the value. Valid range is 0 to 300.

Show title

  1. To show the exercise set Title, select the check box for the Show Title option in the options pane.

  2. To hide the exercise set title, deselect the check box.

Show instructions

  1. To show the exercise set Instructions, select the check box for the Show Instructions option in the options pane.

  2. To hide the exercise set instructions, deselect the check box.

Show duplicate warning

When this option is selected, a warning is displayed if there are any duplicate exercises in the exercise set. To hide the duplicate warning, uncheck the Show Duplicate Warning option in the options pane.

Base and Increment Values

The Base and Increment values control the range of numbers that will be used as the starting point - Base - and the Increment used between the values.

Suggestion: To get an idea of the relative effects of the changes for Base and Increment, set all Ranges to 1. Each magic number will be 26 and the numbers in the stars will range from 1 through 12. Then adjust Increment High and Low Ranges to 2; leave the Base Ranges at 1. This time the stars are numbered starting from 2 and counting up by 2; so 2, 4, 6, 8, up through to 24. You can experiment with these ranges to generate the type of puzzles suitable for the students you are working with.

Change the range of values

To achieve values within a set range, set the the high end of the range and the low end of the range.

  1. To set the high end of the range, select the input field for the Range High option in the options pane and enter a new value to the maximum allowed for that exercise.

  2. To set the low end of the range, select the input field for the Range Low option in the options pane and enter a new value to the minimum allowed for that exercise.

Note

To locate the range for any particular option, check the definition area at the bottom of the options pane when an option is selected. Some exercises allow negative values to be entered for either the high or low end of the range by using the hyphen as the negative sign, i.e. -10, -999, -1000.

Show or hide the magic number

Check this option to show the magic number for each star; uncheck to hide the magic number. Providing the magic number for each star makes the puzzle easier.

Change the number of clues

  1. Select the input field for the Clues option in the options pane.

  2. Type a new value in the field or use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the value. Valid values are 1 to 8.

Change the star size

Sets the star size in 100ths of an inch (25 = 1/4 inch, 50 = 1 cm).

  1. Select the input field for the Star Size option in the options pane.

  2. Type a new value in the field or use the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the value. Valid values are 25 to 100.

Change the magic number label text

To change the magic number label text, select the Magic Number Label Text option in the options pane and enter your custom text directly into the input field.

Optional Display Settings