#421. Positive and Negative Dominoes

Mathematics, level: all
Posted Wed Jun 10 06:18:43 PDT 1998 by Sandie Walser (walser@arn.net).
Palo Duro High School, Amarillo, Tx, USA
Materials Required: 2 sets of double 6 dominoes per group
Activity Time: 15 minutes and beyond
Concepts Taught: Positive and Negative Dominoes

Students from 12 to 18 all seem to enjoy this. I often have
students come in during lunch to play on their own time.

Before class and using a permant marker, color half of the
dominoes red. These will be your negative numbers. Suggested
in one set of dominoes color all of the 1's, 2's, and 4's
red. In the other set color the 3's, 5's, and 6's red. These
two sets of dominoes now become one game set.

The students will play dominoes with regular dominoe rules
with some modification. Every student will keep everyone keep
score. Every count will be used--not just the 5's as in dominoes.
Modify the rules as needed to fit your class, but be consistent.
On the overhead, go over some scoring before you pass out the
dominoes helps in class management. The students count
the outside points using white dots as positive and red dots
as negatives. This creates a large amount of drill work.

Extension:
After the students have learned the multiplication rules for
positive and negative numbers, have them multiply the outside
points and then add the positive or negative result to
their score.