JEOPARDY

This is our very low tech version of Jeopardy!- I would love to get a big pocket chart to make it fancier, but the boys don't seem to care. :)

We have done this twice now- once for Discovering America and once for our Solar System. The boys love it!! The numbers on the board indicate minutes awarded to a given question (the boys play for Webkins or Lego Universe minutes on the computer).

I used this flashcard maker to create the cards that go with the game (not needed, but makes the game feel official)- I made 5 questions for each category (5 categories). Even though there is a large age span between the boys (11, 9, 6), they all participate- James (6) knows that he can get an "easier" card by going for a lower number, but occasionally he pulls off a high point card. For the most part, he earns just a few minutes less than his brothers.
We don't play to beat each other to the answer- each player chooses his category and the number of minutes he wants to play for- I read the chosen card and that player is allowed time to answer. If one of the other players knows the answer, he quietly sets out a marker on his desk to indicate this- if the player who chose the card is unable to answer the question, the player who set out his marker first gets a chance to answer.

If a player blurts the answer when it is not his turn or causes commotion that puts pressure on the answering player, that player is out for the round (this was a bit of a problem at first).

Prepping for the "big game" and playing makes a great way to bring all the information learned in a unit together. It really cements it for the boys.

A few of our cards to give an idea of how we played:

Solar System:
*The length of time it takes a planet to rotate on its axis. (What is a day?)
*For every hundred pounds you weigh on Earth, you would weigh 4 pounds on this (dwarf) planet. (What is Pluto?)
*The force that attracts one object to another. (What is gravity?)
*This terrestrial planet has deserts with wild dust storms and deep canyons. (What is Mars?)

Discovery (Vikings and Christopher Columbus):
*This ship was wrecked on a corral reef before returning home. (What is the Santa Maria?)
*Name this country. - a blank map was shown indicating which country- for the game we did Iceland, Greenland, Italy and Spain (What is... ?)
*The body of water Christopher Columbus sailed as a young man. (What is the Mediterranean Sea?)
*Columbus crossed this vast ocean to reach the New World. (What is the Atlantic Ocean?)

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