Simplifying doughnut
An algebra task which depends on members of the group noticing the
needs of others and responding.
Age
14 to 18
Challenge level
Problem
This is one of a series of problems designed to develop learners' team working skills. Other tasks in the series can be found by going to this article.
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What are you aiming to do?
For the task:
The aim is for every member of the team to end up with a set of four dominoes which join together to form a "doughnut" where touching ends are algebraically equivalent. Like this:
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The task is only successfully completed
when everyone on the team has completed their domino
doughnut.
As a team:
- Responding to the needs of others
- Helping others to do things for themselves.
Getting started
You will need to work in
a team of four. If you have a fifth person available - use them as
an observer (see guidance below).
In silence:
Distribute the 16 domino cards randomly
amongst the team (four cards each).
Tackling the problem
How to play
Players pass dominoes to other team members in order to help one another complete their doughnut.
Rules
- No one can talk or give non-verbal signals to other members of the team.
- Each member of the team starts with four dominoes in front of them.
- The dominoes in front of each person should be visible to everyone.
- Team members can only give dominoes; they cannot take dominoes from someone else.
- Each team member must have at least two dominoes in front of them at all times.
Use an observer to check that the team obeys the rules and to keep a record of when members of the team help someone else (rather than, for example, when they just pass a piece on without looking at what the other person or team actually needs).
Observers can offer one of the hint cards if after a period of five minutes the team is not making any progress.
Student Solutions
Teachers' Resources
Why do this problem?
This team-building task is designed to develop learners' team-working skills. If you wish to learn more about these skills and find other team-builder tasks look at this article.This task depends upon members of the group noticing the needs of others and responding. It requires learners to:
- respond to the needs of others
- consider the needs of the whole group
- help others to do things for themselves.
Possible approach
Share the purposes of the activity and the rules with the group.Ask team leaders to hand
the cards out
randomly- four dominoes to each group member.
If you have more than four people in a group then use an observer
to ensure the team obeys the rules and notes when there is evidence
of members of the team responding to the needs of others, as well
as to place a hint card in the middle if one is needed.As teams finish, ask them
to discuss the key things they have learnt about working together.
Use observers to feed into the discussions. Then spend some time
discussing observations you have made or teams have made as a whole
class activity, talking about how they might work more effectively
next time.
Key questions
As this task is designed
to be carried out in silence, the use of key questions is
inappropriate during the task but can inform discussion of team
behaviours when the task is complete.
- Can you give any good examples of when someone noticed what you needed and tried to help?
Possible extension
The dominoes can also be
arranged into a pair of doughnuts or one large doughnut. Ask the
team to try and create these shapes.
Other skill-building
tasks can be found by going to this article.