When you feel your students understand what a factor is, introduce the Factor Game. The rules for the game and a sample game are given in the investigation, but the best way to get students started is to play a game against the class using the game board . Rather than reading all the rules at the start, explain the rules as the need arises during the game. When you play against the class, we suggest that you take your turn first and that you choose a non-prime number, such as 26, for your first move. This way, students can discover the power of a prime first move.
Students can either use printed copies of the game board or use the provided interactive applet .
In the Connected Mathematics curriculum, we assume that students have access to calculators at all times. However, we hope that students will develop good estimation and mental arithmetic skills. This means that you need to give your students guidelines about the appropriate uses of calculators. In some classes, students may be ready to do all of the arithmetic in the Factor Game without the help of calculators. In other classes, students may need to use calculators to check their mental computations.