Battleship Sunk! – Using The Game of Battleship To Practice Graphing
Students will be so excited to challenge each other in a new version of the famous game of Battle Ship that they won’t even realize they are learning!
Battleship is a game based on coordinates. Each player strategically places their ships on a grid, and takes turns calling out specific coordinates. If the coordinates called out hit the place where the opponents ship is placed, the ship is considered sunk. The first player to sink all of his/her opponent’s boats is the winner.
To turn this game into a great math practice opportunity, you only need a few supplies. Round up some graphing paper, a binder to set up in between players as a barrier, and colored pencils or crayons. Have the students fold the paper so there is a crease going horizontally through the middle. Draw a box in the top segment and another box in the bottom segment. These boxes should be exactly 10×10 and have an X and Y-axis, splitting the box into four quadrants. The 10 boxes across the top can be labeled 1-10, and the 10 boxes going down can be ladled A-J. The square in the top segment of the paper is where each student will keep track of his or her “hits” and “misses” for the opponents ship. The bottom box will be where the student places his/her own battleships. Have each student place their ships in the bottom box by placing 2-5 dots in a row and connecting them with lines. The “ships” can go up and down, left and right, or even diagonally. They can all be placed in one coordinate, or spread out in all four quadrants. Each student takes turns calling out a set of coordinates “Is there anything at coordinates 4,C?” The player will use the grid to see if a ship occupies that point. If so, the student can mark that coordinate with an X and tell his/her opponent that he has struck the ship. The first player to correctly sink his/her opponent’s ships is the winner!
This is a fun way to practice graphing coordinates and can be played just about anywhere! This is a great rainy day activity, on the road travel game, and can be played just about anywhere where kids need something quiet and fun to do.
