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Let’s Go Shopping! |
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| Instructional
Objective | Learners
& Context | Object
of Game | Game
Materials | | Time
Required | Rules
| Design
Process | References
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Instructional Objective The learners will be able to solve a variety of math equations as they
play the Let’s Go Shopping! board
game. The problems will be focused on the following seventh grade math
standards: 1.2 Add, subtract, multiply,
and divide rational numbers (integers, fractions, and terminating decimals)
and take positive rational numbers to whole-number powers.
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Learners & Context of Use The Let’s Go Shopping!
board game is designed for middle school students. The game can be modified
for younger or older students by changing the game cards for questions to
match different grade levels. The subject matter is mathematics, specifically
targeting consumer math. The game will be used primarily in a classroom
setting. It is designed to be played more than once, both to reinforce the
objectives after they are taught, and to review skills throughout the year.
Prior to playing the game, a lesson should be taught with problems that are
similar to those on the game cards. After playing the game a quiz containing
equations similar to the game card questions should be administered to the
students. Assess results for student understanding. |
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Object of the Game The first player to
correctly answer one question of each color and then answer the Final
Question correctly wins. |
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Game Materials This game requires the
following materials: §
Game Board: upper left,
upper right, lower left, and lower right §
One stack of question cards in each of these colors: red, green,
blue, and yellow §
One stack of final question cards §
Four tokens of different sizes, shapes, or colors §
One six-sided die §
One timer, capable of 60-second and two-minute timing §
Scratch paper §
Pencils |
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Material |
Description |
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Game Board The game board consists
of squares of five colors, each with a different meaning. It also has places
for each of the card stacks. |
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Red Percentage Cards These cards are blank
on one side, with a percentage question on the other side. |
You are
buying a model airplane. It is regularly $34.99, but it is on sale for 30%
off. What is the sale price of the model airplane? $24.49 |
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Yellow Addition Cards Blank on one side,
these cards have an addition question on the other side. |
You are
buying a pair of pants for $22.99, a shirt for $19.99, and a belt for $14.99.
What is the total cost of all three items? $57.97 |
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Blue Division Cards These cards are blank
on one side, with a division question on the other side. |
DVDs
are buy one, get one free. If the total cost is $12.44, how much does each
DVD really cost? $6.22 |
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Green Multiplication Cards These cards are blank
on one side, with a multiplication question on the other side. |
You are
buying three smoothies, which cost $3.49 each. How much will all three cost? $10.47 |
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Purple Final Question Cards These cards are blank
on one side, with a question that incorporates multiple mathematical
operations on the other side. |
Wow,
look at that! Jeans for $16.99 each. You want three. You have $60.00. If you
bought all three, how much money would you have left over? $9.03 |
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Tokens The tokens, or game
pieces, are used to represent the players on their journey through the mall. |
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Six-Sided Die Players use the
six-sided die to advance through the mall. |
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Timer The timer is used to
ensure players do not use more than 60 seconds to answer the question, and no
more than two minutes to answer the final question. |
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Scratch Paper and Pencils Players use the scratch
paper and pencils to work out the answers to the questions they are asked. |
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Before Playing Follow
these steps to create the game board and cards before playing.
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Time Required This game will take approximately 30 minutes to
play, with no carry over to another game session. |
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The
Rules Beginning the Game The game board is set
up in the center of the circle of players (Player A, Player B, Player C, and Player
D). Each colored card pile is set in the appropriate marked space.
Player C |
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Player A |
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Player D |
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Player B |
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Player C |
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Each player selects a
token to represent her space on the board. Each player places her token
on any space on the board. All players take turns
rolling the die. The player with the highest number goes first. Play will
then continue in a clockwise rotation around the board. |
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How to Play 1. The
current player (Player A) rolls the
die, and then moves that
number of spaces on the board. Player A must move clockwise around the board.
2. If
the player lands on a white space,
he acts as directed by the space. 3. If
the player lands on a colored space,
the person to the right of the current player (Player D) draws a card from the corresponding colored card pile. 4. Player
D slowly and clearly reads the
question on the card to Player A and sets the timer for 60 seconds after
reading the question. 5. Player
A has 60 seconds to work out the
correct answer to the question. While Player A is working, the other players
may also work out the correct answer to the question. 6. Play then moves to
the next player, repeating steps 1-4. When one player has
collected one card of each color, instead of rolling the die, she announces “Final question, please.” |
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Design Process Originally we conceived a budgeting game. In that game, players would
have some aspects of the game be preset, with others changing depending on which
chance squares they landed on during their roll. They would also keep track
of their budget as they moved through the months, which were represented on
the game board. The game required a lot of advance setup, with many choices
that had to be rolled for, such as occupation, housing, utilities, etc. At
our first group meeting, we discussed the game and tried to pick out the
flaws. Some that we determined were: §
Complication §
Time
consuming §
Too
random §
Not
fun So, we incubated for a while. During this time, we tried to decide
what was really interesting to us. We determined that we both really wanted
to create a math-based game. With that in mind, we started brainstorming.
Ruth came up with the great idea of a board that was set up like a mall. We
expanded that to a board that was mall based, with four different colors,
each representing different types of shops, like clothing, toys and hobbies,
entertainment, and food. We tried to figure out how to present the questions
to the players. After much deliberation, we decided to tie a type of math
problem to each color. So, in the food shops, the players would be required
to answer multiplication problems. In the entertainment shops, the players
would be required to answer division problems. In the other shops they would
answer questions relating to percentages and addition. We created questions
that were appropriate for seventh grade, challenging but doable. We decided
to allow the player sixty seconds to answer the question, using scratch paper
and a pencil that were provided with the game. At this point, another question was raised. What would the other
players do during this period? Would they tune out while the player was
working? How could we ensure that we retained their interest? The answer we
came up with was simple. Allow all players except the reader to try to answer
the question. The first one to give an answer would be the player who rolled
the die. But if the answer was incorrect, the other players would be given
the chance to steal the card. This aspect seemed likely to ensure we would
retain the attention of all the players. It also gave the other players some
control over the game. If they paid attention and worked out the correct
answer, they might be able to steal the card. When creating the rules, we started by challenging some norms. We
decided to have the player who rolled the lowest number go first, because it
seems like it is always the person who rolls the highest number who gets to
go first. We also decided to allow the players to move clockwise or
counter-clockwise around the game board. This would allow them to use some
strategy, moving to colored squares they needed, instead of landing on
colored squares they had already answered. Without realizing it, we did not
include any negative consequence elements to the game. We also chose to allow
players to start anywhere on the game board, because it seemed easier to
write the rules that way. With a rough draft of the game prepared, we began to test it. A bit
to our surprise, the first thing we noticed was how engaged the players were,
even though they were outside our target audience. They liked the game and
were challenged by the problems, though the challenge was mostly not to look
stupid in front of their peers. There was an overwhelmingly positive response
to the game; however, our players did raise some questions and concerns. §
Why
are the corners of the game board free spaces? §
Why
does the lowest number start first? §
What
do you do when you land on a colored square you have already answered? Once we finalized those elements, we were confident in our game. We
thought it would make a fun addition to a seventh-grade classroom, allowing
players to practice skills taught in this grade. |
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References Books & Journals
Electronic |
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