Cube-O...which was also our introduction to positive/negative numbers - Whew, are we ever a smart bunch!

This last Friday (sorry this has taken so long to be posted!), Room 8 was introduced to the math game of Cube-O. Here's how it works:

The class is divided into groups. Each person has a calculator and some scratch paper.

Each group is given 4 die - 2 are numbered 0-5, and 2 are numbered 5-10.

One person rolls the die and each person in the group records the numbers.

THEN, I give a 'target number.' At that point, each member of the group is trying to use each of their 4 numbers - and using each number only once - to reach the target number. They can add, subtract, multiply, divide...but they can only use those 4 numbers.

For scoring, if the group reaches the target number, their group receives a -10 points. Otherwise, the number of points they receive is how many points away from the target number they are. It's kind of like golf (which I know hardly anything about!) - you want the LOWEST score....so, as we learned, NEGATIVE TEN IS GREAT!
This group was certainly hard at work...Cayla, Ralphie, Emma, Amber, Austin, & Macey
Elijah, Mae, Jacob, Danielle, and Kamren were trying to reach the target number.
Devin, Dillon, Casey J and Casey O...looks like Devin is checking out Dillon's equation!

You may not notice Mary sandwiched inbetween all these guys! I don't think I realized she was the lone girl in this group until I saw this picture! Mary doesn't even have a brother, but she knows how to hold her own! Here is Michael, Edin, Branndon, Tyler, Mary, and Carlo.

And hold on a minute...there's a face we haven't seen on this blog! Well, meet Mrs. T! She now comes to Room 8 from 11:05 - noon - which is when we do MATH! We're delighted to have Mrs. T.Hey, who is this? Meet Mrs. W! Mrs. W will be with us in Room 8 after Christmas as our student teacher. We're fortunate to have Mrs. W and Miss C this year. In this picture, Mrs. W is checking out the equations of Trevor, Madison, Kyle W., Shawna, and Kyle A. Kyle A. looks VERY happy with his group...they must have hit the target number!
Um, now wait a minute. This is the same group from a different angle. Trevor DOES NOT look happy...maybe he was just thinking, 'Oh great. There's Mrs. J again with that camera!'... or maybe I just got him inbetween his smiles...or maybe they didn't get the target number.

After two rounds of play, we figured out the total for each group. I was amazed at how quick Room 8 learned to add positive and negative numbers. For example, we learned that -10 + 2 = -8 We also learned that -20 (because one group had this as their score!) is a LOWER number than -8. If you think about it, we've always learned that 20 is a HIGHER number than 8...so how can 20 be lower? Well, Mrs. J used a number line to show that when we get on the negative side, it's the opposite.

Well, it was certainly a fun day learning to play Cube-O and having Mrs. W join us for the day!