Partage équitable

Fair share — Division and fractions

Ages 8 to 12 · about 6 minutes · 8by8verse Chess Lab

What it teaches

Division as equal sharing, and finding a fraction of an amount.

The story to tell first

In a real tournament, players often finish on the same score. The usual answer is simple and fair: add together the prizes for the places they share, and divide equally. Every arbiter does this sum.

Three questions to ask

• Is it fairer to share the prizes, or to give everything to one of the tied players? Why?
• Two players share second and third prize. Is each share more or less than third prize alone?
• What is a quarter of 800? How did you find it?

Without a screen

Run a five-minute class tournament of any game. Invent a prize list in sweets or points, and let the class work out the shares.