Players: 1 (Solitaire) Or Whole Class in Cooperative Teams

Sweet Sixteen Players: 1 (solitaire) or whole class in cooperative teams Equipment: 1 thirty-sided (1-30) die; cards Ace – King (Ace =1, Jack = 11, Queen= 12; King = 0)

All teams build a 4 x 4 grid drawing sixteen random cards, face up. The goal of the game is for each team to remove all the cards from their grid. All cards remaining at the end of a round equal their face value score AGAINST the team (e.g. 4 and 3 left –score against = 7). The lowest and best possible score per round is zero.

Beginning play: The teacher rolls a target number for the first round with the die. This number will be used by all cooperative teams. Teams now begin finding combinations that equal the target number rolled – all operations may be used. Players may take off three, four, or five card combinations.

Example:

Target rolled = 9 The team made the following combinations and removed the cards as follows: 1. J – 2 + K = 9 2. 10 + 8 – 9 = 9 3. (10 – 7) + 6 = 9 4. (4 + 5) x 1 = 9 5. (3 – 2) x (4 + 5) = 9

No cards remain – Score for round one = 0

After each round a new grid is drawn from the remaining deck and a new target is rolled by the teacher. Teams play five rounds and accumulate their score against one another. The team with the lowest score wins.

An important part of this game is analyzing all the cards before removing any simple combinations. Try not to give any strategy tips – let the teams discover this as they play. Have teams record all combinations and take the time to discuss strategies, difficulties and successes.

Variation: Black cards are positive and red cards are negative.