Want to Be a Millionaire?

• Break students into groups and tell them that each group can choose the salary for their future job. They can choose any of the following salaries:
  
  1. $1 million a year
  2. $100,000 the first month, $200,000 the second month, $300,000 the third month, etc.
  3. One penny the first day, two pennies the second day, four pennies the third day, etc.
  
  Which one would they choose? Have the groups do calculations and discuss which salary is the smartest choice. After they finish their discussions, have them vote on the best salary and defend their responses. This game will help them understand the difference between a constant number (Option 1), a steadily increasing number (Option 2), and an exponentially increasing number (Option 3). It's perfect for students who are just starting to comprehend exponential math.
  
  

How Old Are You?

• Give your students several problems about age differences between two or three people. For example: Jon is four years older than Tara. In four years, Jon will be twice what Tara's age is now. How old are Jon and Tara? Help the students solve the problems using algebra. In this case, they would make Tara's age x and Jon's age x+4. They would then plug these values into an equation based on the second clue. Then encourage students to write their own age problems based on people they know--family members, neighbors or friends. Give several children a chance to share their age problems with the class, and then allow them to discuss their relationship to the person in the problem for a minute or two. This game allows students to connect math to their everyday lives.
  
  

Exponent Match-Up

• Give each student two index cards and have them write equivalent expressions with exponents on each card. For example, one card might read "(xy^4)," while the other reads "x^4Xy^4." Collect the cards and check them to make sure that the exponents are indeed equivalent. Divide the stack of cards in half, making sure not to split up a pair, and pass out one card from the first pile to each student. Have them circulate in the classroom until they find a peer who has a card with the exponent equivalent to the exponent on theirs. After all of the students have found a pair, have them show their exponents to the rest of the class.