LEVELS

Grades 3 and up

SKILLS

• subtracting 3-digit numbers

PLAYERS

• 2 or more, or teacher vs. the entire group

EQUIPMENT

• playing cards Ace (=1) through 10 (10=0)
• one game board for each player (follow the link to our printable game board, or have students create their own)

GETTING STARTED

The object of this game is to make the smallest difference.

Place the deck face down in the middle of the playing area. A player draws a card from the deck and places it face up. Each player selects a space on their game board and writes the number of the card on that space.

Then players draw five more cards and fill in their game boards.

Example

The first card turned over is a 7. The second card turned over is a 2. The other cards turned over were 3, 6, 5, and another 2. The math problems needed to be written on their game boards could be:

Player 1

522 - 367 = 155

Player 2

657 - 232 = 425

Once players have filled in all spaces on their game boards, they complete the subtraction. The player with the smallest difference is the winner for the round and scores 1 point. In the example above, Player 1 has the smallest difference and is the winner of this round.

In the event of a tie, each player receives 1 point. Any negative difference causes that player to strike out for that round.

The winner of the game is the player with the most points after a set number of rounds or a set time limit.

As players gain more experience with this game, they will develop strategies to maximize their chances of winning.

VARIATION

Vary the number of cards to modify the level of difficulty.

from:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/boxcars/boxcars016.shtml