Skip over navigation
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.
Algebra Match
Age 11 to 16
Challenge Level 
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.
What are you aiming to do?
For the task:
Every member of the team
has to end up with a set of four cards in front of them that are
related to each other in a similar way. The task is only
successfully completed when everyone on the team has completed
their set.
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 cards
randomly amongst the team (four cards each).
Tackling the Problem
How to play
Players pass cards to other team members in order to help one another complete their set.
Rules
- No one can talk or give non-verbal signals to other members of the team.
- Each member of the team starts with four cards in front of them.
- The cards in front of each person should be visible to everyone.
- Team members can only give cards; they cannot take cards from someone else.
- Each team member must have at least two cards 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 the team actually needs).
You may also like
Algebra from Geometry
Account of an investigation which starts from the area of an annulus and leads to the formula for the difference of two squares.
Simplifying Doughnut
An algebra task which depends on members of the group noticing the needs of others and responding.