Pair Fluency Match 7 - Single Use Plastic

Introduction

With Pair Fluency games players ask and answer set questions as fast as possible. With Match 7 there are usually 7 "yes" answers and 5 "No" answers. The aim is to find all the "yes" answers within a time limit.

To play, one player takes a question board and seven counters. The other player takes an answer card. The usual time limit is one minute. This can be shortened for experienced players or lengthened for beginners.

Single Use Plastic

Plastic is one of the great environmental challenges facing humanity. Plastic debris kills more than one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year. It's predicted that there will be one tonne of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish by 2025 and more plastic by weight in the sea than fish by 2050

We all need to use less plastic and reuse and recycle more plastic yet in 2016 of the 335 million tonnes of plastic produced around half was for single use plastics. This game lists twelve: plastic bags, plastic cocktail sticks, plastic cotton buds, Plastic cups, plastic cutlery, plastic drink stirrers, plastic food trays, plastic plates, plastic straws, plastic toothbrushes, plastic water bottles and plastic wrapping.

Various questions can be asked. Here's a sample:

The player with the card looks at it and responds accordingly. For every "Yes" answer the questioning player covers the matching image on the board with a counter. When the timer goes record the number of points scored and players reverse roles. How many points can the whole class accumulate in 2-4 rounds?

Variation

One player makes sentences based on a card and the other simply listen and places counters on the board. For example, one player could run through all 12 items randomly, "I recycle plastic bags and cocktail sticks but I don't recycle straws." and so on; or to make it easier just list the "yes" items on the card. This method works well for younger players.

Notes:

Players should be somewhat familiar with the vocabulary before doing this game. As a follow-up players can consider real answers for their own actual families.

When doing the game with young players it is best to demonstrate by having a group share one board and take turns asking the teacher questions while the teacher answers from a card. Then reverse roles. The teacher holds the card so the group can see it but the teacher can't. The teacher asks the questions and puts the counters on the board according to the answers the group gives.