Grade
1

Math in Our World: Dominoes

6 dominoes standing up. 4 more dominoes are facedown (2 red and 2 black). The standing dominoes are red, black, red, black, red, black. Each standing red domino shows 6 dots on the bottom. Each standing black domino shows 6 dots on the top.The first two standing dominoes each show 9 total dots. The second 2 standing dominoes each show 10 total dots. The last two standing dominoes each show 11 total dots.

I love to play with dominoes.

I carefully place them in a line.
Then I knock them all down!

Sometimes I like to make patterns with the dots, too.

  1. Show or tell what is happening with the dominoes in the picture. You can  use drawings, numbers, or math words.
  2. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
  3. What math questions can you ask about the dominoes? Answer all the questions you can!
  • Sketch the dominoes. Think about the total number of dots on each domino.
  • Do you notice any patterns?
  • Try writing an addition fact that matches each domino. Do you see any patterns?

Show your work to someone else. Use numbers and math words to explain your thinking. Did they understand?
Ask whether they have any other questions you can answer!

Make your own pattern with dominoes and share it with someone else! If you don’t have any dominoes, you can draw dots on pieces of paper to look like dominoes.

Printable Version

Google doc for printing and copying

Reference for Educators

Sample problems and solutions