Narrow It Down: Asking Yes-No Questions

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In this activity, the learner asks yes-no questions to identify a secret object (similar to Twenty Questions). This game is easy to adapt for different ages and different kinds of contexts. Each group spreads out a set of objects (coins, stamps, rocks, or just about anything), and one person, The Leader, secretly chooses one of them. Other players take turns asking yes-or-no questions to identify the object. They may ask about characteristics of the objects, but they may not ask if an object is the secret one. The player who identifies the object wins. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:
5 to 10 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
free per group of students
Age Range:
Ages 4 - 14
Resource Types:
Activity, Game
Language:
English

Materials List (per group of students)

  • Assortment of objects per group
  • Easy. 10-15 objects
  • Medium. 15-25 objects
  • Hard. 25-50 objects

Keywords

Subjects

  • Mathematics
    • Algebra
      • Patterns
    • Data Analysis and Probability
      • Data Collection
    • Geometry
      • Plane Geometry
      • Solid Geometry
    • Reasoning and Proof
  • The Nature of Technology
    • The Design Process
      • Problem Solving
  • The Nature of Science
    • The Scientific Process
      • Asking Questions
      • Gathering Data
      • Formulating Explanations

Informal Categories

  • Games

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see

Learning styles supported:

  • Involves teamwork and communication skills
  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

Source Collection

  • Mixing in Math

Rights:

  • , © 2010, TERC, Inc., MA., 2010

Funding Source:

  • NSF, ESI-0406675 and DRL-0713537