Honor System

Count Dino's Number Marathon

Discovery Toys, Inc., 1993
For two to four players / ages 6 years to 8 years.

OBJECT OF THE GAME:

The first pLayer to get all four of his or her dinosaurs across the finish line wins the game. (Note: Players do not need an exact roll to cross the finish line.)

PREPARATION:

Each player chooses one herd of dinosaurs (e.g., the Stegosaurus herd) and places all four members (purple, green. yellow, red) on top of the matching dinosaur in the appropriate corner of the game board.

HOW TO PLAY:

Basic Game Play:
1. Each player rolls the green number cube. The player with the largest number starts the game.

2. The first player rolls all four white number cubes and arranges them in his or her colored place value boxes to make any four-digit number desired. The digits 1,2,3 and 4 can be arranged in 24 (different ways (see examples).

3. The player then moves his or her dinosaurs along the matching color tracks. The red dinosaur, for example, moves the number of red spaces indicated by the thousands digit, the yellow dinosaur moves the number of yellow spaces indicated by the hundreds digit, and so on until all four dinosaurs have been moved.

You may wish to have children count their moves aloud to make the connection between the numbers and their place value. For example, for a number such as 3,000. the player can count the move as follows: One thousand, two thousand, three thousand: no hundreds: no tens; and no ones.

4. Play passes to the next player to the left, and so on around the gameboard.

5. If a player’s dinosaur lands on the same footprint as another player, the two players have a "Showdown.” Each tosses the green number cube. The player with the larger number wins and moves his or her dinosaur forward that many spaces. Players must first move all dinosaurs according to their roll before completing any necessary Showdowns.

6. For added challenge, players must make the largest or smallest number they can with their number cubes.

GAME VARIATIONS:

Beginning Play (recommended for ages 6 and up)

Begin play by choosing either one or two number cubes. For the simplest one-cube game. use purple dinosaurs and travel along the purple “ones" track. For a two-dinosaur game, use green and purple dinosaurs, place 2-digit numbers in the green and purple place value boxes on the gameboard and travel only on those tracks. Later, you can add the yellow dinosaur and a third number cube to play with 3-digit numbers.

For players ages 7 and up (may require adult player if child is not reading independently)

1. All or Nothing Showdowns (step 5): By sending the player who loses the Showdown roll back to START, the Showdown winner gets to stay on the disputed footprint.

NOTE: This extends the play of the game.

2. Dino Math Action Game (footprint cards)
Shuffle the 36 Dino Action Number Cards and place the pack face down on the left-hand rock in the center of the gameboard. Each player, in turn, plays steps one through three of the Basic Game Play. Then the player draws one card from the stack, reads it and moves his/her dinosaurs the correct number of spaces indicated by the card. The card is then placed face-up in a discard pile on the right-hand rock in the center of the gameboard. When players run out of cards, the pack is shuffled and placed face down again. If the Action Card does not apply to the player, then the player should draw again.

NOTE: This game variation can be played without the white number cubes. Players simply pick up the top Dino Action Number Card and move their dinosaurs accordingly.

For ages 8 and up.

3. Prehistoric Problem Solving Game (fern leaf cards)
Shuffle the 36 Dino Problem Solving Cards and place the pack face down on the left-hand rock in the center of the gameboard. Each player, in turn, plays steps one through three of the Basic Game Play. Then the player draws one card from the stack, reads it and moves his/her dinosaurs the correct number of spaces indicated by the card. The card is then placed face-up in a discard pile on the right-hand rock in the center of the gameboard. When players run out of cards, the pack is shuffled and placed face down again. If the Problem Solving Card does not apply to the player, then the player should draw again.

NOTE: To encourage cooperation and teamwork, players can work together to find the answer to the Problem Solving Card.

For added fun, children can create their own dinosaur word an story problems instead of using the cards provided.

Solutions for Dino Problem Solving Cards:

1. forward 40
2. forward 2000
3. back 2
4. back 100
5. 30
6. 15
7. 1123
8. forward 1000
9. forward 10
10. 375 dino-steps
11. 500 dino-stages
12. 120 dino-steps
13. 160 blocks
14. 410 animals
15. 2232 pies
16. 1122 altogether
17. 211 dinosaurs
18. 1000 ferns and trees
19. 250 dino-stages
20. (the current year minus 1899)
21. 2 fewer neckbones
22. 44 feet / l4 meters longer
23. 30 feet / 9 meters longer
24. 30 tons
25. Triceratops, 2 fewer
26. Suzy. II
27. Brachiosaurus, 2 inches / 5 cm wider
28. 3003 times
29. 70 dinoberries
30. 90 leaves
31. 5 each minute
32. 12 dinosaurs
33. 12 trucks
34. 2 dinosaurs on each
35. 24 horns
36. 14 toes in all


BRACHIOSAURUS (BRAK-ee-uh-sawr-us) The Jurassic Period Brachiosaurus was one of the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived. He was as tall as a 4 story building and weighted as much as 50 cars! Brachiosaurus was a plant eater. He had a long neck like a giraffe's and long front legs. Both of those things helped him to feed on the leaves and branches on the tops of the trees, where other dinosaurs could not reach. Because Brachiosaurus was so big he was very slow. But he did not have to worry too much about running away from the meat eaters. He was twice as big as his enemies!	TRICERATOPS (try-SER-a-tops) The Cretaceous Period Triceratops was a huge dinosaur. He could weigh up to 6 tons, and his head was 6 feet long. (That the size of a grown man) Triceratops, had one small horn near his nose and one long, sharp horn over each eye. His neck was covered with a frill made of solid bone. Triceratops was a plant eater. That meant he did not attack other dinosaurs - unless he was attacked first! If a meat eater decided to try to have a Triceratops for a meal, he was up for a tough fight! Triceratops could use his sharp horns, beak and teeth to defend himself. Triceratops was one of the last dinosaurs to live on the planet Earth.

TYRANNOSAURUS REX (Tye-RAN-uh-sawr-us-REKS) The Cretaceous Period Tyrannosaurus rex was a huge and fierce meat eater. His name means "king of the tyrant lizards." His jaws were bigger than a hippo's and they were filled with long, sharp, deadly teeth. Tyrannosaurus rex used his powerful jaws to prey on his victims. This giant dinosaur was taller than most giraffes are today. Wich his head up that high, Tyrannosaurus rex could spot his victims from a long distance away. He had three long claws on each foot that were as sharp as knives. What terrible weapons! His arms were very short with two claws on each hand. They may have helped him pushed himself up after lying down. Tyrannosaurus rex was thought to have weighed 7 tons (much more than an elephant)!	STEGOSAURUS (STEG-uh-sawr-us) The Jurassic Period Stegosaurus means "roofed lizard." He was given that name because the plates on his neck, back, and tail were like a roof. They protected Stegosaurus from his enemies. Stegosaurus needed protection, because he was very slow. His back legs were twice as long as his front legs. That made it hard for him to run. Stegosaurus was also a slow thinker. His brain was the size of a walnut. That is pretty small for a creature bigger than an elephant. Stegosaurus was a plant eater. His mouth looked like a beak in front, and he had small, weak teeth. But he did not need sharp teeth to bite his enemies because he had very sharp spikes on his tail which he could swing at them.

DIMETRODON (die-MET-ruh-don) The Triassic Period Dimetrodon was a meat-eating reptile taht lived before the dinosaurs. His name means "two sizes of teeth". He used his long, front teeth for attack. He used his back teeth to chew the meat up. Dimetrodon had long spines on his back that were covered with skin. He looked like he had a sail or a fan on his back. Dimetrodon was cold-blooded. This means he needed to wrm up before he could move fast. His "sail" helped him to catch the sun's rays so he could warm up quickly.