Algebachee Ball Electronic Version

HOW TO PLAY:

You and your partner sit on chairs about five feet from the monitor screen. Make sure you each have a paper airplane. Get your scorecard or paper ready.

First, you will roll the die to determine the sign of the variable. If you roll an even number the sign is POSITIVE. If you roll an odd number the sign is NEGATIVE. Record this on the scorecard or on the paper.

Second, you will roll the die again to get the value of the variable. Your value will be the number which comes up on the die. Record this on the scorecard or paper.

Third, players will get the terms for the expression.

Click HERE to get an electronic gameboard. Use your scroll bar to ceter it between the top and bottom of your screen.

The first player throws her airplane at the screen three times. She should aim for the terms that will give her the highest value when evaluated with the value of the variable.
(Don't forget to take into consideration what happens if your variable is NEGATIVE.)
Both players write these terms down on their scorecards in the terms boxes. Then the second player throws his airplane three times and both players record these results.

NOTE: If a plane hits the edge of the monitor or does not hit a cell on the gameboard, it must be thrown again until a term is selected.

At this point, each player is on their own. They have 3 minutes to arrange the terms and sets of parentheses into an expression that they believe will generate the largest value once the variable is inserted. Each symbol +, -, *, /, ( ), ^2 must be used at least once.

Each player must show the expression on the paper, show the substitution of the variable into their expression, and then show all the work to evaluate it.

The final value of the expression will then be placed in the "Score this round:" box.

Players need to CHECK EACH OTHER'S WORK, for if one of them is wrong, BOTH must record zero points for the round.

As each round progresses, the "Total Score" column should be updated with the points earned by the player.

At the end of eight rounds, players combine their total scores. If they have 1,000,000 points or more, they win the game.

NOTE: If more than two people want to play, set up several teams. The team with the most points at the end of eight rounds, wins.
*Teams can always challenge another team's work by checking any expression with a scientific calculator. If they are wrong the points for that round must be lowered to ZERO.

Click HERE to roll the dice.

Click HERE to get a game board.

VARIATIONS ON THE GAME:

SELF PLAY TIMED:

Set a timer for 10 minutes. See if you can make 10,000 points before it rings.

SELF PLAY UNTIMED:

Play four untimed rounds to get a baseline total score for yourself.
Challenge yourself to beat your best total score with the next four rounds.

COMPETITION VERSION:

Two players play. They have 3 minutes each round to create and evaluate the largest expression. The player with the largest round score wins the round. Play as many rounds like this as you both agree to at the beginning.

ROLL THE DIE:

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