SOLVING THE COUNTER GAME PROBLEM:

IS IT A RICH TASK?

BRETT FAWCETT

EDUC 522 (A)

NEIL FENSKE

ASSIGNMENT #1

JANUARY 24, 2018

 Part One: Solution to the Problem

Counter Game
Andy, Bobbie and Chris were playing a game with a box of 40 counters - they were not using all of them. They each had a small pile of counters in
front of them. All at the same time, Andy passed a third of his counters to Bobbie, Bobbie passed a quarter of his counters to Chris, and Chris
passed a fifth of his counters to Andy. They all passed on more than one counter. After this they all had the same number of counters. How many
could each of them have started with?

The first thing I decided was to figure out was what the lowest amounts of counters each

player could have would be. Since they are passing more than one counter each, I looked at the

fractions and figured out how much each player would have based on how many counters they

might be passing around. So I made a chart:

# of Counters Andy Bobby Chris

2 6 8 10
3 9 12 15
4 12 16 20
5 15 20 25

I quickly realized that if they each passed the same number of counters, they would all just

end up back where they started, which means at least one of them must have passed a different

number of counters. I also realized that, since Andy passed the biggest fraction and got the smallest

fraction passed to him, he would have lost the most and gained the least and still been equal to the

other two, so he must be the one who passed a different number of counters. I did this by quickly

drawing out what a third, a fourth and a fifth would look like:

1/3 ¼ 1/5
Since Andy lost the biggest chunk and gained the smallest chunk and ended up equal to everyone

else, he must have started with a bigger number. So I did trial and error: maybe Andy started

with 9 and passed 3, Bobby with 8 and passed 2, and Chris with 10 who passed 2.

Andy Bobby Chris

9 8
-3 -2
=6 =6
+2 +3
=8 =9

Immediately, I saw this was wrong, so I tried with 12 for Andy instead.

Andy Bobby Chris

12 8 10
-4 -2 -2
=8 =6 8
+2 +4 +2
= 10 = 10 = 10

This worked, and confirmed that Andy started with 12, Bobby with 8, and Chris with 10.

Appendix to Part One

I’ve realized that I didn’t even need to try giving Andy 9 counters, because, as mentioned,

he has to have the most counters of the three of them, and if Andy has 9, that’s obviously less than

Chris’ 10. I should have jumped right to 12. For some students, the pictorial representation of a

third, a quarter, and a fifth wouldn’t be necessary, but for others, actually having that in front of

them could help them make the logical inference that Andy must have started with the most

counters. (A concrete representation in the form of actual counters for some students may also

help, but I’d need to think further on how to show that to them elegantly—maybe by asking them

to make three piles of the same number of counters and show a third, a quarter and a fifth of each

pile?
 Part Two: Extension

There can be a follow-up question: This time, the boys were playing with 75 counters and

were using all of them. After this, the question is identical, with each boy passing the same

proportions of counters and coming out to the same number.

The students could do a couple things here. One is that they could extend the table with

the number of counters until the sum of the counters came to 75 (students would be able to project

what the next numbers would be based on the earlier table by recognizing patterns):

# of Counters Andy Bobby Chris

2 6 8 10
3 9 12 15
4 12 16 20
5 15 20 25
6 18 24 30
7 21 28 35
8 24 32 40
9 27 36 45
10 30 40 50

They could try trial and error at this point, and could apply the same reasoning: Andy must

have a larger number than Bobby and Chris, so they could take one of Andy’s possible numbers

of counters, look for the closest example of Chris having a lower number, and then try to apply

those numbers to the question. For example, they might say Andy has 18, and since the next

number Chris could have that is lower is 15, we could try those numbers with Bobby having 12

(since we remember that in the last problem Bobby passed the same number to Chris as he gave

away to keep the final numbers consistent). This would indeed yield a consistent number 15, but

the problem is that adding up 18, 12 and 15 doesn’t get us to 75. Possibly another table would be

in order:
 Andy Bobby Chris Sum
21 16 20 57
24 16 20 60
27 20 25 72
30 20 25 75

A still easier way would be to recognize that 12, 8 and 10 are a ratio of 6:4:5 applied to the number

2. Recognizing that 75 is divisible by 5, a student could apply 5 to this ratio and also come to the

correct answer of 30, 20 and 25. Confirming either of these would be a simple matter of

calculation: 30 loses 10 and gains 5, 20 gains 10 and loses 5, 25 gains 5 and loses 5.

Part 3: Evaluation

“Rich tasks offer the opportunity to transform student thinking, make new connections in

their conceptual network, expand their ability to act in a mathematical space, and to notice what

they had not previously noticed. Tasks should employ mathematical processes (e.g. reasoning,

problem-solving, and communication) and help cultivate dispositions of inquiry” (30).

In my view, this is a rich task. I say this because I had the tangible experience of figuring

out a way to solve it, only to realize afterwards that there were other ways I could have solved it

(or at least more efficient means within the ways I had found) if I tried different ways of looking

at it; I have drawn attention to this in the appendix to Part One. I believe it compels students to

think about the implications of the different kinds of fractions in a way that is both

pictorial/symbolic and also has an element of logical reasoning to it; this is the kind of question I

could imagine showing up on an LSAT. It encourages different kinds of mathematical thinking

and an overall more mathematical caste of mind. “Using manipulatives, acting it out, drawing a

picture, making a graph, or creating three-dimensional or dynamic computer models are ways to

help represent, understand, and communicate a mathematical context” (32).

 It also seems to fit several other examples provided on page 32. Visualizing can be helpful

if someone has a strong visual imagination; I think pattern recognition would be helpful, as I’ve

tried to draw attention to in my expansion (I also think that my extension is an example of

simplification), and, again, speaking from experience, I found myself making predictions (which

is a quick way to compound your frustrations as they keep getting refuted).

As far as variable entry points goes, I think this applies. A more patient and tactile student

could take 40 counters and try to solve this by sorting them into groups and trying to replicate the

question with different groups of counters; it would get tiresome to me, but with enough trial and

error, it would absolutely work. This could also all be shown pictorially, or it could be purely

symbolic, as with my table. As I have, once again, existentially discovered, there are also multiple

exit points: there are different ways to show how to get to the answer.

I barely feel like I need to justify saying that this included high levels of cognitive demand.

All I can say is that it was cognitively demanding on me, though perhaps that doesn’t prove much.

As far as relevant contexts go, I can’t say that I really see any. Even the game they are

playing isn’t clear to me—is the objective to try to get to the same number, but everyone must pass

some counters, and they can only pass neat fractions of their pile? That being said, I wonder

whether a teacher couldn’t make that an actual game for her classroom…. But as far as cross-

curricular connections go, I couldn’t think of any, which may be the only poverty in this otherwise

rich task