Bouncy Dice Explosion

Grades 3-5

The Big Idea

This week you re going to toss bouncy rubber dice to see what numbers you roll.
You ll also play War to see who s the high roller. Finally, you ll move onto a giant
human Bingo board, where you ll roll 3 dice and pick any number that could win!

Supplies
Bedtime Math provides:
★ Bouncy rubber dice: 32
★ Rock n Roll Bingo Numbers: 1 set
★ Weekly take-home flyer: 16
You provide:
★ Masking tape
★ Paper: 1½ sheets per kid
★ Stickers: 5 per kid
★ Writing surface, whiteboard,
blackboard or piece of paper

Room Set-up
★ You ll need open space, at least a 6 x 6-foot rectangle, to toss the dice.
★ If you have space beyond that, you can set up the Rock ‘n’ Roll Bingo
numbers ahead of time following the Challenge Guide in your Bingo numbers
packet.

Other Key Prep

Before the kids leave today, tell them that next week they re going to be secret
spies! Encourage them to come dressed as spies, and you can play the part, too;
On the day of the Spy Training session, wear a trench coat and shades, and greet
the kids in a darkened room with a shining flashlight: Do you have what it takes
to be a spy? Some coaches also play spy-themed music, like the theme from Pink
Panther or Mission Impossible!

© 2013-19 Bedtime Math Foundation. All rights reserved.

 Grades 3-5
What’s the Math?
★ Operations: addition, ★ Simple combinatorials
multiplication ★ Simple probability (as fractions)
★ Strategic thinking

Kickoff
Intro to the kids: Dice don t really roll, do they? Since they re cubes,
with straight lines and angled corners, they bounce and tumble
instead of rolling like a ball. Today we have some really bouncy dice
to toss!

Going Airborne (10-15 minutes)

Intro to the kids: First let s see what dice look like.
1. Hand 1 die to each kid. Have everyone count the sides and edges.
Party Fun Fact: What do you notice about the numbers on opposite
sides of the dice? (Discuss. See if kids catch that opposite sides
always add up to 7!)
2. Now collect the dice from everyone. Stand in the middle of a
cleared area and toss all the dice high into the air.
3. Once the dice stop bouncing, have each kid choose a die.
4. Each kid counts the dots facing up. Kids who got the same
number stand together. Count the kids in each group to find out
how many times each number was rolled. Explain that this is the
frequency of each number in the set.

Ask the kids:

★ Which number showed up the most often?
★ What s the smallest total number of dots we could have rolled?
★ What s the highest total?

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Bonus (optional): Ask the kids:
★ How often should each number show up? (Discuss.)
★ Then explain probability: Each of the 6 sides has an equal
chance of facing up, so it must be 1/6 chance for each. So each
number (1, 2, etc.) should show on about 1/6 of the dice on the
floor.
★ Calculate that answer for your number of dice! Ask the kids to
divide the number of dice tossed by 6! If they need a hint:
6=3x2, so they can divide the number of dice tossed first by 2,
then by 3.

War of the Dice (15 minutes)

Note: If you re running low on time (less than 25 minutes left), skip
ahead to Rock n Roll Bingo ‒ you won t want to miss it!

Intro to the kids: Has anyone played the card game War? If you
have, can you tell us how to play? (Discuss.) In our bouncy dice
version of War, you re going to roll dice instead of flipping cards!
1. Have kids pair off with a partner and spread out on the floor. If
you have an odd number of kids, you can make 1 group of 3.
2. Give each kid 1 pair of dice and 1/2 sheet of paper.
3. Give each pair or group of kids 10
stickers.
4. Each player rolls 2 dice and multiplies the
2 numbers to get the product.
5. The player who rolls the higher product
wins 1 sticker and sticks it to his/her
paper.
6. In case of ties, there s no winner - simply
roll again.
7. Have kids roll until all the stickers have been won.

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Ask the kids:
★ How often did each person win or lose? (Discuss.)
★ Each person has an equal chance of winning, so it should be
1/2 the time for each of 2 people, and 1/3 of the time for 3.
Why?
★ What s the lowest product you could have rolled? (Answer:
1x1=1) What s the highest? (Answer: 6x6=36)
★ What do those products have in common? (Discuss. See if kids
get that both 1 and 36 are perfect squares; you can multiply a
number by itself to get that answer [1x1=1, 6x6=36]. More
importantly, there s only 1 way to roll each product: a 1 and a 1,
or a 6 and a 6. So, you have a low chance or probability of
rolling them. )
A Touch of Class: Not only are we practicing our multiplication facts,
we re learning about the math behind probability, which is used to
forecast weather and help coaches make decisions on game day!

Rock ‘n’ Roll Bingo (25 minutes)

Intro to the kids: Who likes playing Bingo? Today we re going to jazz
it up. First of all, you re going to play on a giant Bingo board, where
you are the chips. Secondly, you ll get to roll 3 dice and choose where to
stand based on the numbers you roll! When 5 people are standing in a
straight line and yell Bingo! they win.

1. Set up the “Challenge” Bingo Grid by

taping the numbers to the floor. You’ll
find the Challenge numbers and set-up
guide at the back of the Bingo Numbers
Packet provided in your kit.
2. The first player rolls 3 dice and decides
where to stand: on a number shown on
any 1 die, OR the sum of any 2 dice, OR the sum of all 3 - their
pick! Encourage the players to work together to choose the best
move.

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3. If none of the numbers or sum of the dice match an open
square, the player may roll again.
4. Repeat for each player in line.
5. If you run out of players before anyone can yell Bingo! , use
shoes or other objects as placeholders. The players can start
rolling again from their places, in their original order.
6. The first 5 kids to form a straight row yell Bingo!

Ask the kids:

★ What did you figure out that can help your chances of being in
a winning row? (Discuss how you can choose a sum that lands
in a row with more people already standing in it.)
★ What do you notice about the spaces on the board? Are some
spaces less likely for people to land on? (Discuss. See if kids
notice that some numbers, like 9 and 6, appear twice on the
Bingo board.)

What else can boost your chances of being in a winning row? Are all
sums equally likely to be rolled?
★ What are all the ways you can roll a total of 3 using all the
dice? (Discuss. See if they figure out that there s only 1 set: 1,
1, and 1.)
★ What other number is like that? (Discuss. Let the kids discover
that 18 is equally unlikely: only 6, 6, 6 will work. If they suggest
12 (4,4,4) explain why 12 is not as hard to get: because other
sums add to 12! such as 1 ,5, 6, or 2, 5, 5, and so on.)
★ How about rolling a sum of 4? (Discuss. Let the kids figure out
that the only combo is 1, 1, 2. BUT, is that as unlikely as 1, 1,
1? Explain that it is more likely, because there are 3 ways to roll
that on 3 dice: 1, 1, 2 and 1, 2, 1 and 2, 1, 1. Use 3 different
colored dice to show this.)
★ What other sum do you think is like 4? (Discuss. Again, let
them wrangle with this till they realize it s 17: 5, 6, 6 and 6, 5, 6
and 6, 6, 5.)

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★ What if you want a combo like 1, 2, 3? How many ways can that
show up on 3 dice? (Discuss. This is a major question in math!
Let the kids work together to find the 6 ways that set can show
up:
1, 2, 3 2, 1, 3 3, 1, 2
1, 3, 2 2, 3, 1 3, 2, 1)
★ So if 3 and 18 are least likely, and then 4 and 17 are a little
easier…what total do you think is most likely for 3 dice?
(Discuss. See if the kids figure out that just as 7 is most likely
for 2 dice (the midpoint between 2 and 12), 10 and 11 are most
likely for 3 dice (split the midpoint between 3 and 18).)

Bonus: Let s prove that 10 and 11 really have more options on 3 dice
than any other number. Let s try to find all the possibilities!
1. Make sure all the kids have scratch paper and pencil.
2. Let kids choose different sums they want to explore. We ve
covered 3, 4, 17 and 18, but all the rest are fair game!
3. Remind them that some combos can show up just 1 way, some
can show up 3 ways, and some can show up 6 ways.
4. When they re done, see if anyone got all the options for 10 and
11! Here are the possibilities for the most common rolls:

For a sum of 9 (to compare): 25 possibilities

12 6 6 ways: 1 2 6, 1 6 2, 2 1 6, 2 6 1, 6 1 2, 6 2 1
13 5 6 ways: 1 3 5, 1 5 3, 3 1 5, 3 5 1, 5 1 3, 5 3 1
14 4 3 ways: 1 4 4, 4 1 4, 4 4 1
22 5 3 ways: 2 2 5, 2 5 2, 5 2 2
23 4 6 ways: 2 3 4, 2 4 3, 3 2 4, 3 4 2, 4 2 3, 4 3 2
33 3 1 way! 3 3 3

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For a sum of 10: 27 possibilities
13 6 6 ways: 1 3 6, 1 6 3, 3 1 6, 3 6 1, 6 1 3, 6 3 1
14 5 6 ways: 1 4 5, 1 5 4, 4 1 5, 4 5 1, 5 1 4, 5 4 1
22 6 3 ways: 2 2 6, 2 6 2, 6 2 2
23 5 6 ways: 2 3 5, 2 5 3, 3 2 5, 3 5 2, 5 2 3, 5 3 2
24 4 3 ways: 2 4 4 , 4 2 4, 4 4 2
33 4 3 ways: 3 3 4, 3 4 3, 4 3 3

For a sum of 11: 27 possibilities

1 4 6 6 ways: 1 4 6, 1 6 4, 4 1 6, 4 6 1, 6 1 4, 6 4 1
1 5 5 3 ways: 1 5 5, 5 1 5, 5 5 1
2 3 6 6 ways: 2 3 6, 2 6 3, 3 2 6, 3 6 2, 6 2 3, 6 3 2
2 4 5 6 ways: 2 4 5, 2 5 4, 4 2 5, 4 5 2, 5 2 4, 5 4 2
3 3 5 3 ways: 3 3 5, 3 5 3, 5 3 3
3 4 4 3 ways: 3 4 4, 4 3 4, 4 4 3

For a sum of 12: 25 possibilities

15 6 6 ways: 1 5 6, 1 6 5, 5 1 6, 5 6 1, 6 1 5, 6 5 1
24 6 6 ways: 2 4 6, 2 6 4, 4 2 6, 4 6 2, 6 2 4, 6 4 2
25 5 3 ways: 2 5 5, 5 2 5, 5 5 2
33 6 3 ways: 3 3 6, 3 6 3, 6 3 3
34 5 6 ways: 3 4 5, 3 5 4, 4 3 5, 4 5 3, 5 3 4, 5 4 3
44 4 1 way! 4 4 4

Ask the kids: If some sums are more likely than others, how does
that change your strategy? (Discuss. See if kids figure out that you
should choose rows where the unfilled numbers are likely sums.)

7. Repeat the Bingo game as time and interest allow, making sure
every player gets to roll at least once.

Each kid can take home 2 bouncy dice and the weekly flyer to keep
rolling with the math fun!