During this past term we started a new math unit and learned about polynomials. To help us better understand this unit we went the basics to make sure we had an understanding of prime factors, powers and a couple simple expressions. We also learned how to convert mixed radical numbers to entire radicals. While we were learning about these we were introduced to our unit project which is to show our understanding of our learning in a different way then just writing it on a test.
The project that was introduced to us as a partner project where we had to create a game using Algebra tiles. Algebra tiles are square and rectangles that are supposed help students who find algebra hard easier to solve algebraic expressions. For me personally I didn’t find these helped too much with the polynomial as I understood how to solve the equation quite well.
For this project I paired up with Sydney and I think that we worked very well together using communication and team work skills to create the best product possible. To start off the project we began brainstorming about different game ideas that we could use algebra tiles in. Our original idea was a board game that was similar to monopoly and every time someone landed on a property they would have to solve an algebraic expressions to be able to buy a property. Instead of this idea we decided we wanted to be a little more unique and personalized by creating more of a game show game with a spinning number wheel and a sheet you have to fill out with algebra tiles. We decided that we wanted to go with this game as we thought many other groups wouldn’t be doing anything similar.
To start off we brainstormed ideas about how we were going to create the game and the rules that people were going to have to follow. We then created the rules for our game next which was a little more difficult than we thought to make as we knew how to play the game because we came up with it. However people who don’t really know the game we need detailed instructions so people can understand how to play.
Here are our instructions:
Spin the wheel to start
You get to keep the points you get when you spin (1 pt – 10 pts)
There is a “loose all your points” section of the wheel
The person who spun the wheel, gets a chance to put one of their algebra tiles on the board (instead of phrases, its math equations)
If they are right, they get to spin the wheel and go again
If they are wrong, the next player gets a turn
At any point in the game, if one of the players wants to solve the whole equation, they can but it will be timed (only 2 minutes to solve it)
Solving the equation will automatically give you 5 points
Once the equation is solved, the player with the most points wins that round
There are multiple rounds to this game
Once we created the instructions we started to create our spinning wheel and our algebra tiles for our game board. Our original idea for this was to create a wooden wheel from scratch using some ideas we found online. After discussing ideas for how to make the wheel we ended up using an old lazy Susan then putting card board on top and painting it to look like a game wheel. We then put nails between each of the coloured areas of the wheel for the arrow to hit when spun. The arrow was made our of cardboard and painted black. We then glued our wheel onto a plank of wood and painted “Mathathon: A Race To The Finish” on it. Overall I am very proud of the final product of the wheel. The algebra tiles were made our of different coloured paper, the negative ones were red and the positive ones were green.
After making the wheel we created a video to show how to play the game and the algebra skills needed to play the game. We used iMovie to create our film and made sure to use different camera angles to make the video more appealing. We also made sure our video wasn’t too long to make it more engaging and appealing to whoever is watching. This video took quite a long time to make but I’m very happy with the final product.
Here is the video: