|
Chess in the Mathematics Classroom.
Chess
Wars! Pawn Racers!
Created by Justin Olmanson
Video available soon on the internet at http://www.iteachilearn.com
.
Pawn Racers! challenges students to discover patterns and extrapolate on the
basis of their findings. The activity also encourages learners to prove their
reasoning and test the rationale of other student groups.
According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), outside of
middle and high school algebra courses, learners receive little explicit
instruction in the field. Moreover, the presence of algebra integrated with
geometry beginning in kindergarten and continuing through high school is seen by
the Council as vital if the US hopes to produce more confident, capable pro-math
students.
Pawn Racers! was designed with individuals in the third through 5th
grade in mind. It combines algebra and geometry in a manner that elicits student
cooperation and construction of hypothesis and finally- proofs. The exercise
gives learners an opportunity to test and retest their ideas relating to
patterns while guiding them to make their own transitions from the concrete to
the abstract.
Overview of
Pawn Racers!
Students are given a brief review on pawn movement and placement on a
chessboard; this activity works best if students have played a few games of
chess before (for a quick chess tutorial see Justin Olmanson’s online
presentation “Chess in 15 minutes”) it is not paramount however that
students understand the concept of check-mate.
Learners are
divided up into groups of 2-4 students with a chess set for each group. The
facilitator poses the question, “on an empty board how many turns would it a
pawn need to travel from its home position to the other end of the board?” The
instructor models with the use of a hanging chessboard. Students are given time
with their group to come up with their answer(s). After a consensus has been
reached between the groups the facilitator will ask the students to find the
number of moves necessary for two pawns to reach the 8th rank (final
squares) following the same pattern of group testing and class analysis /
consensus. After the same question is put forth to find the correct answer(s)
for three and four pawns, the facilitator asks students to come up with graphic
depictions of their findings. “How might we represent our findings
symbolically (with numbers)?” is the next question the facilitator poses,
sending the students back to their groups to come up with numerical explanations
for their answers. “What pattern do you see developing? How could you use the
pattern to predict the number of
moves it would take 5 or 6 or 8 pawns to move across the board?” Student made
proofs would be tested and finally put into words. Extension questions could
involve the use of other chess pieces (esp. the knight).
-
15 Minutes and You're Playing Chess! (on-line
video)
-
Checkmate and basic strategy (on-line video)
-
Chess Wars! Pawn Racers! (on-line video)
| 
