Kudzu Capture

About this game:

Plants can be friend or foe. They can be an amazing source of nutrition and medicines. Explorers search far and wide to find botanical specimens to develop the latest medicines to cure diseases and improve all health over the world. Or plants can be an invasive species disrupting ecosystems and becoming an eyesore. In turns out that the southeastern United States has a rapidly growing vine, Kudzu, that is both! It is an invasive vine that kills native trees but it also has important nutrition and medicinal values.

In this game players try to capture as much Kudzu as possible as a win-win opportunity. Good for the environment and good for the pocketbook! Because in this game, the weight of Kudzu that can be harvested corresponds directly with the elevation, wise harvesters will head to the top (more difficult problems) first.

Skills:

Uses: Skip Counting

Develops & Uses: Multiplication

NCTM Standards:

Pre-K - 2

N/A

Grades 3 - 5

1.2.1 Understand various meanings of multiplication and division.

1.2.2 Understand effects of multiplying and dividing whole numbers.

1.2.3 Identify and use relationships between operations, such as the inverse of multiplication to solve problems.

1.3.1 Develop fluency with basic number computations for multiplication and division and use these combinations to mentally compute related problems, such as 30 x 50.

1.3.2 Develop fluency in adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers.

6.1.0 Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving.

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

Grades 6 - 9

N/A

Tips & Tricks:

Teachers, you can introduce this game with your units on nutrition, medicine, and or ecology. Have children write a paragraph imagining uses for kudzu. Then look up and discuss its actual history and some of its uses (www.wikipedia.com is a good source of information).

Response to Intervention Tier:

1,2, 3