GAMES:

Mountain Goat Scramble I

About this game:

Mountain goats are amazing to watch accomplish amazing feats of derring-do as they scramble up craggy mountains. Roll the dice to determine which goat can move. At this most basic level only addition and subtraction are used. When a player gets a goat to the top, he/she gets to say what the goat finds there to eat. As more goats get to the top it becomes more challenging to combine the numbers on the dice to get the remaining goats up too!

This is one of our most popular games and the game we recommend for the first game you play( either at this basic level or the more advanced level. While the stated objective is to get the goats to the top, our real goal is to have players use math skills to further reasoning and problem solving abilities.

Ages: 6 - 7
Number of Players: 1 - 4
Length of Play: 15 - 20 Minutes
Collaborative/Competitive: Collaborative (players share one goat per staircase) or Competitive (players each have their own goat on each staircase).
Activity Sequence Number: B.7

Skills:

Uses: Addition, Subtraction

Develops & Uses: Problem Solving, Creativity

NCTM Standards:

Pre-K - 2

1.3.2 Develop fluency with basic number combinations for addition and subtraction.

1.3.3 Use a variety of methods and tools to compute including objects, mental computation and estimation.

6.1.0 Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving.

6.3.0 Apply and adapt a variety of strategies to solve problems.

Grades 3 - 5

N/A

Grades 6 - 9

N/A

Tips & Tricks:

If the players vary widely in ability and any of the players with less skill are a little intimidated, allow them to record the roll of the dice, and what each player decided to move. By the end of the game, it is likely they will be writing number sentences of possible moves on their own.