Lesson Plan and Game Details for Teachers
Grade levels
“Get 40” is an adaptable game that can be played and analyzed on a variety of levels. However, we recommend that the game be used mostly in the late high school years (grades 11-12) because it does not represent a “typical” probability situation—choice is involved, and that can provoke interesting discussion among students already comfortable with the basics of probability.
Required materials
• A standard six-sided die
• Pen/pencil and paper
Instructions
• The participants draw a 2x2 grid on their paper
• The teacher rolls the die and announces the number to the group
• Players can choose to put the number into any of the four elements in the grid
• The teacher rolls again and announces again
• Players can choose to put the number into any of the remaining three elements
• This process continues until the grid is full
• Players then have the choice to add or subtract the two digit numbers (formed by rows) to try to get the target number (their “final answer”)
• Goal: to get 40 as a final answer
