Factors and division

who: grades 3 and 4 at Baan Pathomtham
where: in school

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Sorry about the lack of pictures. This is a short and sweet note.

Dots & Boxes and Factor Game Mash-up

To start the year, we played a version of dots & boxes that integrates the factor game (here is one example). This is based on the game template from Mathified Squares Game that we used last year.
Instead of using dice to determine where each player can play, we introduce factors 1 to 6 at the bottom of the page and selectors.

As with the basic factor game, this version creates multiplication and division. This is the point we want to draw out for the game.

Homework

Play the game at home and write down 15 division equations that come up in the course of play.

*UPDATE* Having now played through this game fully, I really like this structure. Using the factor selectors drives some interesting thinking about common factors, especially during the middle and end-game phases.

We did find that it starts a bit slowly as players can make moves on distant parts of the board and decisions don't have clear connections to capturing squares. For the young kids, we recommend just pushing past that stage. For older kids, that can be an interesting (and difficult) strategic analysis.