Down with Darts

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Purpose

This is a level 2 number link activity from the Figure It Out series. It relates to Stage 5 of the Number Framework.

A PDF of the student activity is included.

Achievement Objectives
NA2-1: Use simple additive strategies with whole numbers and fractions.
Student Activity

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Specific Learning Outcomes

use mental strategies to solve subtraction problems

Required Resource Materials

FIO, Link, Number, Book One, Down with Darts, page 18

Activity

This activity is based on the popular darts game called 301 in which contestants have to reduce their total from 301 until they get to exactly zero. They must start and finish by throwing a double or a triple. This game is often credited with helping to develop quick mental strategies in people who failed to learn such strategies at school.
Make sure that the students understand how a double or triple is scored on a dartboard so that they can understand how Charlotte scored a double 8. It may also help them to appreciate the challenge involved in question 2b, when players are asked to score a double or a triple to finish. (To get double the score, the dart
must lodge in the outer ring. To get triple the score, the dart must lodge in the inner ring. Otherwise, your score is the number on the outside of the rim unless you score either 25 or 50 from the bullseye.)
dartboard.
Discuss the thinking strategies used by Charlotte and Lawrence. Ask a question such as “Why did Charlotte decide to take away 20?” followed by “How did she know she would have the correct score?” You could then ask: “Charlotte made the subtraction easy by changing the amount she took away, but Lawrence chose a
different strategy. What did he change, and how did it work for him?”
Encourage the students to discuss strategies for doing the subtractions quickly and doing them mentally rather than by working them out on paper.
You could challenge your students to find the least number of dart throws needed to win when starting from 100, apart from two red bullseyes. The answer is two throws because the first could score a triple 20, which leaves 40 to go, and this can be scored with a double 20 to finish on the next throw.

Answers to Activity

1. Charlotte. (She has 55, Lawrence has 56, and the lower score is winning.)
2. a.

table.

b. Charlotte: double 4; Lawrence: double 12 or triple 8

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Level Two