Gamification Auction Mechanic

On a previous assessment, Mrs. Tabor asked her students three different questions to assess their science-centered critical thinking. Based on the answers, she gives each student a chip with a different color and value (much like the suns in Ra). Students who demonstrated an “average” level of critical-thinking skills get chips worth 3 or 4; students who demonstrated greater critical-thinking skills get chips worth slightly less (2 or 3); and students who struggled a bit get chips worth more (4 or 5). Students are then told to assemble themselves into teams of three where the team’s combined chip value is 9–12. This will ensure that the assembled groups will be well mixed and not unbalanced.

Over the course of the lesson, groups of students use their chips to bid on a variety of substances as they come up for auction. The purpose of each round of bidding is to add new substances to the group’s “workbench” of materials purchased in previous rounds. At the end of the last round of bidding, each group will have a variety of substances that students then have to analyze and interpret. Using previous lessons on chemical reactivity and materials you have provided, students should be able to assess what happens when the substances they purchased in the Auction portion of the lesson interact.