Object: Create a fraction that is larger (or smaller) than your opponent’s fraction.

Set-Up: A game consists of two battles, and each battle contains five jousts. Each player is given 12 cards before the first battle. Two cards are used in each joust, so each player will have two cards remaining at the end of the first battle. An additional 8 cards will be given to each player before the second battle.

Play: In each joust, you will use two cards to create a fraction — one card will be the numerator, the other will be the denominator.

In the first, third and fifth jousts of a battle, you will attempt to create a smaller fraction than your opponent. Points are earned if you make a smaller or equivalent fraction.

In the second and fourth jousts of a battle, you will try to create a larger fraction. Points are earned if you make a larger or equivalent fraction.

Winning the Game: The winner is the player with more points when the last joust of the second battle is completed.

Math Concepts: Fractions, Greater Than, Less Than, Equivalence, Inequality

What You Can Do: Fractions are incredibly useful in describing situations mathematically. However, fractions are a difficult concept for most students, possibly because kids don’t receive enough exposure to them in environments beyond the classroom.

Look for opportunities to use fraction concepts in daily life. As a very simple example, having a child split a treat with a friend is a natural occurrence of 1/2. When a child is picking out clothes to wear in the morning, mention that 4/5 of the shirts being considered are blue. It’s this continual exposure to fractions in daily life that helps students become familiar with the part-whole relationship between the numerator and denominator.

For comparing fractions, a fraction chart or fraction strips can be very useful.

Math in the Game: Players create fractions that are larger or smaller than their opponent, which makes the math in the game immediately evident. However, students can learn more about fractions by using the Fraction Bar Chart. Using this tool, students can see that the fractions 1/4 and 2/8 are equivalent, or that 2/3 is greater than 4/7.

Related Resources:

Investigating Fractions with Pattern Blocks
Students investigate the relationship between parts and wholes by comparing pattern blocks of various sizes. For instance, 6 green triangles have the same area as 1 yellow hexagon, so the area of the green triangle is equal to 1/6 the area of the yellow hexagon.

Making and Investigating Fraction Strips
Students make and use a set of fraction strips to discover fraction relationships and work with equivalent fractions.