Skyscraper Templates

A while ago I was introduced to Skyscraper Puzzles (I believe they were invented by BrainBashers).  I’ll explain below about the specifics of how to play, but basically they are a great way to help our students think about perspective while thinking strategically through each puzzle.  Plus, since they require us to consider a variety of vantage points of a small city block, the puzzles can be used to help our students develop their Spatial Reasoning!

I’ve written before about how to help your students persevere more in math class and I still think that one of the best ways to do this involves physically and visually thinking about tasks that involve Spatial Reasoning.

While I loved the idea of doing these puzzles the first time I saw them, I was less enthusiastic about having these puzzles as a paper-and-pencil or computer generated activity because it is difficult to help develop perspective without actually building the skyscrapers.  So, I created several templates that can easily be printed, where standard link-cubes can be placed on the grid structures.

Below are the instructions for playing and templates you are welcome to use.  Enjoy!

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How to play a 4 by 4 Skyscraper Puzzle:

• Build towers in each of the squares provided sized 1 through 4 tall
• Each row has skyscrapers of different heights (1 through 4), no duplicate sizes
• Each column has skyscrapers of different heights (1 through 4), no duplicate sizes
• The rules on the outside (in grey) tell you how many skyscrapers you can see from that direction
• Taller skyscrapers block your view of shorter ones

Below is an overhead shot of a completed 4 by 4 city block.  To help illustrate the different sizes, I’ve coloured each size of skyscraper a different colour.  Notice that each row has exactly 1 of each size, and that each column has one of each size as well.

Top View

Below is the front view.  You might notice that many of the skyscrapers are not visible from this vantage point.  For instance, the left column has only 3 skyscrapers visible.  We can see two in the second column, one in the third column, and two in the far right column.

Front View

Below is the view of the same city block if we looked at it from the left side. From left to right we can see 4, 1, 2, 2 skyscrapers.

Left View

Below is the view from the back of the block.  From left to right you can see 1, 2, 3, 2 skyscrapers.

Back View

Below is the view from the right side of the block.  From here we can see 2, 2, 4, 1 skyscrapers (taken from left to right).

Right View

When playing a beginner board you will be given the information around the outside of your city block.  Each number represents the number of skyscrapers you could see if you were to look from that vantage point.  For example, the one on the front view (at the bottom) would indicate that you could only see 1 skyscraper and so on…  The white squares in the middle of the block have been sized so you can actually make the skyscrapers with standard link cubes.

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Templates for you to Download:

Beginner 4 by 4 Puzzles – Use this link if the first is restricted

Advanced 4 by 4 Puzzles – Use this link if the first is restricted

Beginner 5 by 5 Puzzles – Use this link if the first is restricted

Advanced 5 by 5 Puzzles – Use this link if the first is restricted

NEW Skyscraper Puzzles (if links above aren’t loading)

Skyscraper Puzzle templates for Cuisenaire Rods

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A few thoughts about how you might use these:

• How will you introduce these puzzles to your students?  How much information about strategies and tips will you provide?  Will this allow for productive struggle, or will you attempt to remove as much of the struggle as possible?
• Would you use these as an activity you give all students, or something you provide to just some.  Why?
• How would giving a puzzle to a pair of students be different than if you gave it to individuals?  Which were you assuming to do here?  What if you tried the other option?
• How might using physical blocks be different than paper-and-pencil or electronic versions?
• How will you orchestrate a conversation for your class to help consolidate the learning here?
• What will you do if students give up quickly?  What questions / prompts will you provide?

A belief I have: Teaching mathematics is much more than providing neat things for our students, it involves countless decisions on our part about how to effectively make the best use of the problem / activity.  Hopefully, this post has helped you consider your own decision making processes!

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I’d love to hear how you and/or your students do!