At the end of this, talk is again stopped and we play a third round. Generally, in this round, all players show green. Teams average 3 points per interaction and players see how their team does better by cooperating with the other team. We then debrief the game in two ways. We talk about how individuals and group in such collective action problems can work together to maximize their collective benefit.
Students take five minutes or so and write down their answers.
They then each have the option of reporting their answer to their classmates. Most do, and their answers tend to be quite moving, as they explain ways in which they can do better by cooperating with others in the future. I have played this game with fourth graders, fifth graders, and sixth graders. This principle represents a strong underlying foundation upon which to build further ethical understanding as well as a workable princple to apply in choosing between alternatives in real-life. The contemporary philosopher John Rawls is famous for exploring the relationship between justice and fairness.