Drag Race 200



DRAG RACE 200                                                                           


Objective:                             To score as close to 200 as possible with 5 throws of two dice


Equipment:                           2 (1-6) dice


Why:                                       Practising addition and estimation, Intuitive probability, Place
                                                Value


How:                                     


1.        Leader throws 2 dice and calls out the numbers.
            Each player(or family) combines the digits in whichever combination they would like,
            e.g.     If a 5 and a 6 is thrown, the family may choose to score that as 65 or 56
                        If a 1 and a 3 it may be scored as 13 or 31


2.        After 5 throws, total the scores and the closest family/person to 200 is the winner.


3.        Play the activity 2 or 3 times


4.        Discuss the different strategies used byeach member


5.        Ask what mathematics has been used in playing the game


6.        Encourage families to try different strategies to see which is best for each          
            player.  Is there one best strategy




Variations:                          Players are not allowed to exceed the ‘speed limit’ of 200


                                            Have other 'speed limits'


                                            Start at 200 and race to zero or closest to zero


                                            What target would you make if you roll three dice?


                                            What target would you make if played with two 0-9 die?


 The maths behind the activity
The expected value for each dice is 3.5
                        (1+2+3+4+5+6 )   ÷ 6 =       3.5
With this value of 3.5 in each place value column, the expected value of two dice is:
                                                3.5
                                              35.0
                                              38.5
With rounding, this gives us an expected value of approximately 40.
                        5 throws of 40  = 200