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

Exploring shapes and puzzles with Toothpicks

Toothpicks, with something to join them together(blutac, Marshmallows, wine gums, jubes etc) are a great way to explore and create two and three dimensional shapes.

This activity starts with a 24 toothpick puzzle builds into looking for patterns and then into creating 2 and 3 dimensional shapes  Based on an original idea in "The I Hate Mathematics Book" by Marilyn Burns published by Cambridge University Press-1988.

Support for Home Maths Activities- from Overseas.

These sites have some ideas for teachers to share with parents, or if teachers check them out first, then you may wish to share the sites or the activities.

NCETM  a UK site dealing with supporting maths Education.(clicking on NCETM takes you to this page)

youcubed, Jo Boaler is also focus on Home Activities.(Click on youcubed to got to their website)

Hello youcubians, Welcome to our third week of #YoucubedAtHome newsletters! This week we have some freshly adapted activities, as well as some brand-new ones. Our goal is to continue sharing tasks and videos to support math learning at home. Again, please do share this newsletter with others, as well as a link to our site (https://www.youcubed.org/resource/youcubed-at-home/) that has our collection of activities and videos from the last two weeks. We would love it if you use the hashtag #YoucubedAtHome on social media to share your students’ work with us and our community. Check out the descriptions below for a chance to have your work shared in a future newsletter! We love creating these lessons and videos, we hope you are enjoying them too. Household supplies only: Count on me (K-12): This activity inspires students of all ages to take a new look at counting with their fingers. From figuring out different ways to show 3 to figuring out every possible way to count to 10 on both hands, this activity has something for everyone! Indoor with technology / other supplies: Foot Parade (K-2): This activity allows students an opportunity to think creatively about numbers. Students use animals to model different ways to make a total by adding the number of feet in their parade.  Math Cards (3-6): In this activity we use the familiar structure of flashcards, but we have moved the emphasis to number sense and the understanding of multiplication without any time constraints. This activity encourages students to make connections between different representations of numbers and gain flexibility with multiplication. Outdoors: What’s Going On Outside Your Window? (K-12): This activity encourages students of all ages to take a deeper look at a familiar view: right outside their window. Students are asked to collect data on what they see and report it in a creative visual representation.  Family activities: ‘And I’m a mathematician’ (K-12): Everyone is a mathematician! Make posters sharing the many aspects of your identity and add to it “and I’m a mathematician” - because we all are! Tweet us your posters @youcubed with the hashtag #YoucubedatHome! We will feature some of the most creative posters in next week’s newsletter. Cheers and good health, Youcubed Content Team

What's Going On Outside Your Window? (K-12) And I'm A Mathematician (K-12+)

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Daily Dollar Deals: Maths Activities for year 1 through 4

Created by Bill Ellwood-retired Maths Teacher based in Christchurch   ( have a set so can really recommend them.)

Parents, Teachers!
I have just written 3 weeks of Daily Dollar Maths problems
for Year 1 students. 5 and 6 year olds!
Wide variety. Many from Mathsweek which I used to write!
Contact me if you wish to have them.
I will send them by return email. No charge. 3795 Kb pdf file.
Regards,
Bill. bill @mathsdigest.net

Co-Ordinate Noughts and Crosses(Tic Tac Toe)

A nice little activity for some of the older children. It reinforces their understanding of using Number Pairs to find points on the Graph.

Remember with a Number Pair (3,4) 
the first number, 3, is always the X axis(Horizontal) so three steps across
the second number, 4, is the Y(or function of X) so four steps upwards.

With normal Noughts and Crosses we usually put the X or the Y in a space, here we put it at the intersection of (cross point) of 3,4

Perhaps tomorrow I should resurrect "Battle Ships" on a coordinate Grid?

Why Mathematics Matters-Prof Bill Barton Auckland University

I just came across this clip of Bill speaking at Limerick University in Ireland (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpnimKeQPS8

Bill Barton, some of the older people who read this column, may remember fronted a series of TV Programs on TVOne!!  probably 20 years ago.  I know I suggested to him, last time we met, that they should be re-aired, he was not so sure!!!

In this Keynote he talks about the need for all students to be competent and find maths pleasurable/enjoyable, not necessarily in the whole gamut of maths but in one small area.

He suggests that the Timms and Pisa Tests should be seen for what they are Longitudinal  Studies of where we are NOT ranking systems

He also suggests we are not the problem with the academic success or not but our curriculm and lack of ongoing professional development as happens in nearly every other profession - During Work Time not at the weekends!!!

Above all we should be not allowing any students to fail-we need to change the curriculum- and we should not be using Mathematics as a Gatekeeper.

It is time we as teachers/educators took the power of driving school/national curricula back into our hands.

For those who know he mentions, in passing, the work of Jo Boaler!

Pentominoes-exploring with 5 Congruent Squares

Pentominoes, once found, can be used for all sorts of explorations from tiling a space to deciding which ones will fold up to making an Open Box (a cube with out the lid!)

Start with having 5 squares about 2cm a side made out of cardboard(easier to use than paper ones) or plastic squares from Lego or Duplo.

The rule is that each full side of a square must attach to another full side.  No half to half!

Enjoy the exploring and creativity.

(I would love to hear about some of your creations with using Pentominoes along with Justifications about the number of Pentominoes you found)