Narrow it Down: Numbers

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In this activity, learners will ask yes-no questions to identify a secret number (similar to Twenty Questions). Combine logic and numbers in this game for all ages. One person chooses a secret number and announces the range in which it falls, for instance: “I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 50.” Other players ask yes or no questions to identify the number. The player who identifies the secret number wins. This game is easy to adapt to different ages: young children can ask and reason about “more than” and “less than” (Is it less than 7? Is there a 1 in the 10’s place)? and older ones can ask about multiples, factors, or number relationships (Is it a multiple of 3? Is it a square number?). [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)

  • Paper and pencils (optional)

Keywords

Subjects

  • Mathematics
    • Algebra
      • Patterns
    • Data Analysis and Probability
      • Data Collection
    • Number and Operations
      • Decimals
      • Exponents
      • Fractions
      • Multiples and Factors
      • Number Systems
      • Operations
    • 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

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

Source Collection

  • Mixing in Math

Rights:

  • , © 2010, TERC, Inc., MA., 2010

Funding Source:

  • NSF, ESI-0406675 and DRL-0713537