Poly Plug & Thinking Outside the Box Years 2 - 6

Summary The activity is simple. Three players in a group roll a dice in turn and keep a running score using one Poly Plug set. The teacher thought outside the box by recognising that the game could become an investigation if it were threaded and an increasing level of challenge was added each time. The teacher thinking outside the box in her preparation led to the students thinking outside the box in attempting the challenge. The photos and text below are a report from Valerie's classroom. Materials One Poly Plug per group of 3 One dice per group of 3

Acknowledgement

Valerie Saxton, Maranatha Christian College, developed this sequence of activities through a professional development program organised by Derek Hurrell for the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia.

The course is Engineering 'aha' Moments in Number for Years K - 8 and is available through the Maths on the Move programs.

Session 1 Students were placed in groups of 3. Each group was given a set of Poly Plug and a dice. They were instructed to take turns in rolling the dice, and to use Poly Plug in some way to record the score of all three players. After 20 minutes playing time they were told to stop play and determine which player had won the game.

Session 2 Students were allocated the same groups and equipment and asked to repeat the game. They were also told that they would need to show evidence at the conclusion of the game that confirmed who the winner was. No further equipment could be used. Students were given 15 minutes playing time and then asked to 'prove' which person in the team had won.

Session 3 Students were once again allocated the same groups and given the same equipment. This time they were instructed that they would be using pencil and paper after the game to record the play history of all three players. 15 minutes play time was given. Play was stopped, pencils and papers issued and the students were asked to record the play history of the game.

Session 4 This time around the game process was repeated. 15 minutes playing time was allocated. The students brainstormed what other information could be gleaned from the scoreboard at the conclusion of the game.

Results

Session 1 Whilst a few children could not think outside the box enough to record without a pencil and paper, most divided up the boards in some way for three players, and kept a running total. Conclusion: Students were using familiar processes in play.

Session 2 All students divided the boards up in some way and used the Poly Plugs as counters, thus three 'scores' could be seen in three 'tables'. Some students perceived that a six being thrown presented a problem as the boards were 5x5. They dealt with the problem by giving the player another turn. Conclusion: Again, familiar processes were used to solve a problem.

Session 3 Some students were only able to record a final result (eg: Jayben 22, Coen 15, Reilly 26) as they still were operating a running total only. Most of the groups had allocated one colour per player and were recording play in a snake formation.

Following discussion, students were given extra play time to enable them all to experience record keeping in a similar format. At close of play they were asked to record their results on the reverse side of the paper. This time around their record keeping became more detailed, with some drawing colour coded graphs and diagrams. (Examples below).

Conclusion:
Extended use of the resource materials resulted in students 'thinking outside the box'.

Session 4: Brainstorm What information can be gleaned from our Poly Plug scoreboards? Number of players Colour allocation Progress of play Final score Averages of play Percentages of play Fractions of play

Conclusion:
Students are keen to 'look for more' and enjoy 'thinking like mathematicians' in order to solve a problem. Concrete, tactile materials for hands-on discovery are invaluable.

Examples of Student Records

Return to Calculating Changes Activities