Dominoes: Lesson 1

A simple poem to introduce the game:

Have you played Dominoes

Win you've lost everything

No blocks left-no points against
Free of spots-free of mind 

Will it be you or them?

Background information:

Many historians believe the game was invented by the Chinese some time around 1100 AD and it eventually arrived in Europe some time during the 18th century. A game similar to dominoes was also found in Tutankhamen's tomb in Egypt, which dates all the way back to 1355 BC. Each rectangular tile has a line dividing its face into two square ends, which are each marked with a number of black spots or a blank space. The word "domino" is French for a black and white hood worn by priests, which is probably where the name of the game comes from.

Maths Cafe Lesson 1

1. In small teams, pupils sort and display a set of dominoes to establish a missing domino (You have it in your pocket).

2. How many dominoes do you have in a complete set, can you workout how many spots there are altogether?

At this point turn the tiles over ready to play a simple game of dominoes but before proceeding go to number 3.

3. Subtract the number of spots seen on all the doubles(42) from the total spots(168), then as a problem solve: If you only have 126 spots, how many dominoes do you have?

4. Model a game, then play a simple game of dominoes.

Maths Cafe Lesson 2 to follow