A Math Scavenger Hunt Game
–by Carolyn Morrison
This game can be made by a parent for older students, or by older students for younger students, or by older students for each other.
To prepare your own custom version of the game, take a trip through your family’s game shelves, making notes of game names, significant numbers, and the values they represent. My version can serve as a guide, because I do not expect anyone to own the exact same collection of games.
Once you have a long list of games, facts, and corresponding numbers, begin to write simple math problems using those numbers. As you can see below, I began with 17 values gleaned from our games, then used those numbers in 16 equations. Your list can be as long or as short as you desire, depending entirely on your students’ abilities. My sample used only basic arithmetic functions, since that was the level of math my elementary students were doing at the time. Older students may wish to throw in some more complicated operations — with my blessings! Try to stick with whole number answers unless you are really up to the challenge of fractional values.
Your final answer to your “Gee Whiz” quiz will probably be different from mine and different from every other quiz formed by other people attempting this. The object is to have fun with the scavenger hunt portion and also with the math portion. Assembling the quiz can be just as much of a challenge as solving it.
My students recruited the partnership of a neighborhood friend (public school student), and all three children had a great time! They chose to keep independent records of the number values and solve the equations independently, even though they worked together to search through the games for the required number values. When finished, they compared worksheets to see if their answers matched. It kept them busy for several hours in our cool basement on a boring, steamy, summer afternoon, and sparked interest in playing some of the table games later on, thereby extending the entertainment (and learning) value of the quiz.
Have fun!
Student Worksheet
Use the table games and card games listed here to find the value of “g” in this puzzle!
…A = total money in Even Elephants Forget
…B = total points on all regular vowel tiles in Scrabble (a, e, i, o, u)
…C = total number of Dominoes marked with yellow in double-12 set
…D = total of all spots on 2 Skunk dice
…E = rent value of Baltic Avenue with 4 houses in Monopoly
…F = number that moves only backwards in Sorry
…G = number of spaces marked “door” on a Clue board
…H = highest number of points possible to score for 6’s in Yahtzee on the top half of the score sheet
…I = where the “Rabbit Hole” sends you in Uncle Wiggily
…J = the difference in the number of letter cubes from Boggle to Big Boggle
…K = total number of holes cut in Inner Circle boards
…L = half the number of wrenches in Waterworks
…M = highest card number in Rack-O
…N = number of girls with hats in Guess Who
…O = number of colors of cards in Rummy Roots
…P = total number of cards in SET
…Q = total of the top and bottom numbers on a regular die
…R = L – O
…S = I + Q
…T = G + C
…U = K + J
…V = M + W
…W = H x N
…X = A + B + D
…Y = Z – E
…Z = P x F
…a = Z ÷ R
…b = a – X
…c = U + T
…d = c – S
…e = b – d
…f = e + Y
…g = V ÷ f
The final answer is g = ________. Gee Whiz!
Answer Key
…40… A = total money in the game Even Elephants Forget
…42… B = total points on all regular vowel tiles in Scrabble (a, e, i, o, u)
…13… C = total number of Dominoes marked with yellow in double-12 set
…40… D = total of all spots on 2 Skunk dice
..320… E = rent value of Baltic Avenue with 4 houses in Monopoly
….4… F = number that moves only backward in Sorry
…17… G = number of spaces marked “door” on a Clue board
…30… H = highest number of points possible to score for 6’s in Yahtzee on the top half of the score sheet
…13… I = where the “Rabbit Hole” sends you in Uncle Wiggly
….9… J = the difference in the number of letter cubes from Boggle to Big Boggle
…21… K = total number of holes cut in Inner Circle boards
….5… L = half the number of wrenches in Waterworks
…60… M = highest card number in Rack-O
….2… N = number of girls with hats in Guess Who
….3… O = number of colors of cards in Rummy Roots
…81… P = total number of cards in SET
….7… Q = total of the top and bottom numbers on a regular die
….2… R = L – O [5 – 3 = 2]
…20… S = I + Q [13 + 7 = 20]
…30… T = G + C [17 + 13 = 30]
…30… U = K + J [21 + 9 = 30]
..120… V = M + W [60 + 60 = 120]
…60… W = H x N [30 x 2 = 60]
..122… X = A + B + D [40 + 42 + 40 = 122]
….4… Y = Z – E [324 – 320 = 4]
..324… Z = P x F [81 x 4 = 324]
..162… a = Z ÷ R [324 ÷ 2 = 162]
…40… b = a – X [162 – 122 = 40]
…60… c = U + T [30 + 30 = 60]
…40… d = c – S [60 – 20 = 40]
….0… e = b – d [40 – 40 = 0]
….4… f = e + Y [0 + 4 = 4]
…30… g = V ÷ f [120 ÷ 4 = 30]
The final answer is g = 30 — Gee Whiz!
NOTE: This idea should be adapted to fit your own collection of games by altering the games, numbers, and answers to the equations as necessary. For younger students, try using just a few games and equations. For older students, use equations that are more complicated.
