Grade level: 7-9 (the game itself); 9-12 (minimum cards to guarantee a set; magic squares)

Materials: 1 SET card game per group of 4 students, 1 copy of student worksheet per student. Colored markers (to draw possible sets) may be helpful, but not necessary.

Learning goals: Younger students should be able to understand the rules of the game, recognize patterns in the cards, and see ‘sets’ in the groups of cards.

Older students should be able to reason why 12 cards are not necessarily enough to guarantee a set (post-Algebra II students should be able to outline the sketch of a proof); understand what a magic square is; apply the rules of magic squares to the SET game; create their own SET magic squares.

NCTM Standards Correlation:

Algebra (pattern recognition)

Data analysis (older students: guarantee of a set in 12 cards)

Problem solving (‘optimal’ methods of pattern recognition)

Reasoning and Proof (older students: guarantee of a set in 12 cards)

Communication (playing the game; discussions of pattern recognition. Older students: explanations of magic squares)

Connections (worksheet, wrap-up questions)

Preparation: Pre-sort cards to be used in discussions of magic squares. In order to facilitate the discussion on 12 cards “guaranteeing” a set, it may be useful to ensure that there will be at least one set within the initial 12 cards (if students see that 12 cards yields a set right away, it may lead to more critical thinking about the problem). It may also be useful to have a few examples of valid sets (and some of invalid sets) in order to demonstrate the rules to students unfamiliar with the game.

Before the game, students should have some introduction to patterns and pattern-recognition. Older students should have experience with matrix logic and magic squares.

Read more...

Objective: To be the first player to get your pawn to the zero space.

Number of Players: 2-4

Equipment: Tokens, One or two dice, Main Deck (see next page for examples), Help Deck (see next page for examples), Game board (see p. 3 for a photo)

Basic Play:

• To start, every player rolls two dice (or rolls one dice twice).  The product of the two outcomes is the starting position of the player.
• Shuffle the two card decks and place them facedown on the game board.
• Pick a player to go first and then proceed clockwise.
• On all turns, take the top card from the main deck and move accordingly (i.e. if the card says "+1", move 1 space in the positive direction; if the card says "-1", move 1 space in the negative direction).  Then, place card on the opposite side of the board, face up.
• If a player is stuck at positive or negative infinity for more than one turn the player may choose a get out of infinity free card from the help deck.  Someone else reads the card to them. If the player answers correctly, the player moves as directed by the card.

Notes:

• When a player pulls an infinity card they must move their pawn to the respective infinity space (either positive or negative infinity); they'll remain there until they pull a positive card (if on negative infinity) or a negative card (if on the positive infinity), until then the player forfeits their turn.
• Bump another player to infinity. One card allows you to go to the position of an opponent and send them to infinity.
• 2, 3, 8 and 11 cards allow the player to choose to move forward or backward.
  • The 11 card also allows the player to switch places with any of the other players.
  • The 2 card also allows you the player to draw again.

Advanced Play

All regular rules apply except:

• At the beginning of the game every player is given three cards from the main deck.
• On all turns, the player must choose their next move from their hand.  They then place that card in the out pile while picking up a new card from the original pile.
• If a player plays an infinity card, then they don't move but the next player must move to infinity and forfeits their next turn.

  Read more...

Teacher Instructions

Grades: 5-8 (Once algebraic equations have been introduced)

Materials:

• Uno Deck (use only 0-9)
• Use wild cards to make operations (10 each of +, -, *, /), variables (10 each of X, Y), and 10 equals signs (cover original wild cards with paper)
• One spoon for each player
• Score Card
• Scratch paper
• Large sheets of paper to hide equations

Learning Goals: Practice and become comfortable constructing and solving algebraic equations with one and two variables.

Game Type: Develop Skills and Use Mathematical Notation

Preparation: Students should already be comfortable with the concept of algebraic equations and basic strategies for solving such equations.

NCTM Standards:

This game satisfies the following National Standards:

MATHEMATICS: Algebra

GRADES 3 - 5

NM-ALG.3-5.1 Understand Patterns, Relations, and Functions

NM-ALG.3-5.2 Represent and analyze mathematical situations and structures    using algebraic symbols

NM-ALG.3-5.3 Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships

GRADES 6 - 8

NM-ALG.6-8.1 Understand Patterns, Relations, and Functions

NM-ALG.6-8.2 Represent and analyze mathematical situations and structures    using algebraic symbols

NM-ALG.6-8.3 Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships

Directions:

Groups should be 3-5 students of similar skill level to begin with. The teacher may introduce the game by playing an example round with two volunteers in front of the class, and/or by having the class work on a few word problems that involve creating algebraic equations to solve for the answer. After introductory activity, distribute a game deck and spoons to each group.

Deal 5 number cards, two operation cards, one variable, one equals sign and one spoon to each player. Remaining number and operation cards are placed in 2 separate draw piles; remaining variable cards and equals signs are left out of play until Round 3 (rounds described at end of instructions).

Read more...

Grade Level: Middle School to early High School

Learning Goals: Developing a deeper understanding and increased fluency of numbers and operations, Improving mental math speed and accuracy

Materials:
50 Number Cards
50 Symbol Cards
8 Goal Cards
1 Timer/Stopwatch

NCTM Standards:
Reasoning with Algebra
Representation of Number and Operations
Problem Solving and Sense Making
Communication

The purpose of this math game is to help students gain a stronger understanding of numbers and order of operations and its applications in computational procedures. This activity represents operations to encourage students to visually represent equations as well as apply reasoning and problem-solving abilities to find the optimal solution to the problem given his or her constraints (or in this case, numbers and symbol cards). Students are required to use sense making to represent quantitative relationships and to look for patterns that will help improve his or her accuracy and mental math speed. Lastly, after students have played a few rounds, students are prompted to discuss with each other their thinking processes to illustrate understanding of the subject and to articulate what patterns and skills they have developed through this activity.

Read more...