Circles and Stars (3
rd
)
You need:
Two players
One die
Player A rolls the d i e, th en draws th at num ber of fairly large circles.
Player B ro lls the die and does the sam e .
Player A rolls the d i e an d draws that nu m b er of stars in each of his circles .
Player B ro lls the die and does the sam e .
Each player writes the num b er sentence that tells how m a ny s t ars he or she has (e.g. f our
circles with 3 stars in each circle wo uld be 4 x 3 = 12 stars). Play six rounds, then
determ ine th e total num ber of stars th at each p l ay er has.
** Variation : For each ro und, after Player A draw s stars in his circle, determs stars in his circle, determ
ine the
probability that Player B will end up with more stars than Player A.
Ada p ted f r om Ma th b y a ll Mea n s : Mu ltip licatio n b y Ma rilyn Bu rn s
How Many Row s ? How Many in Each Row ? (3
rd
,4
th
)
You need:
Two players
One die
Recording sheet for game (has one 1 0x10 grid for each p l ayer)
Player A rolls a die two tim e s. The fi rst roll determ ines the number of rows and the
second roll determines the num ber of squares in each row. Player A draws a rectangles
that corresponds to the rolls in any location on the grid on the recording sheet, then writes
the num ber sentence (e.g. 3x4=12) in the rectangle.
Player B ro lls the dies tw ice. Again, the firs t roll determ ines the num ber of rows and the
second roll determ ines the num ber of squares in each row. Player B draw s the rectang l e
that corresponds to the rolls in any location on the other gr id, then writes the num ber
sentence in the rectangle.
Players take turns. Each rect angle drawn cannot overlap a prev ious rectangle. Each player
continue s un til h e or she is unable to place a rec t a ngle on the grid. At th at stage, the
player records both the total num ber of square s covered by rectangles on the grid, as w e ll
as the num ber of uncovered squares.
**Variation: Af ter rollin g the die twice to determ ine a produ ct, the p l ayer can m a ke any
rectangle that covers that num ber of squares.
Ada p ted f r om Ma th b y a ll Mea n s : Mu ltip licatio n b y Ma rilyn Bu rn s
Ma th ema tics Ed u c a
tion Collaborative (MEC)
Building Support for School Mathema tics: Working with Parents and the Public