ON-SETS
Developed by Professor Layman Allen of the University of Michigan, Peter Kugel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Martin Owens of Mitre Corporation in the mid-1960s, On-Sets is a game that teaches set theory, the foundation of modern mathematics.
Using game rules similar to Equations, players in On-Sets explore the concepts of union, intersection, difference of sets, complement of a set, set identity, set inclusion and the null and universal sets. Here, students are also challenged to use their mathematical knowledge and skills in progressively creative ways and to learn more from applying their knowledge in the competition than they do in their normal classroom studies.
The game consists
of a playing mat, a set of cards with
various combinations of the colors Red,
Blue, Green, and Yellow (including a
card with no colors), and cubes that
have numbers, the four colors, the
various set operations: Union (U),
Intersection(∩), Set Difference (—),
and Set Complement ( ' ), the Universe
(V) and Null symbols (Λ), and the
restriction set operations: Equal (=)
and Subset (Є).
One player sets out six to ten of the
cards (possibly more for higher
divisions). These cards are called the
universe. Another player rolls the cubes
and sets a numerical GOAL (such as 3).
The purpose of the game is to figure out
and name a specific group of cards that
matches the goal. This is called the set
name. An example of a set name is R U G,
which names all cards in the universe
that have the color red or green. More
sophisticated expressions are created by
high school players.
Valuable in teaching about spatial relationships, real-life applications of On-Sets reference to the use of the Internet. When researching a particular research article, one will probably utilize a search engine. The fundamental concept of filtering out information to get the right article is highly developed in the game.
On-Sets teaches students the basics of set theory and symbolic logic, and helps form the foundation for further study into algebra and advanced math. In MAGLOA, the adventurous version of the game is played. Special rules called Variations are in used in each division. Variations reinforce what is taught in the mathematics curriculum for each grade level.
