I Have, Who Has - Equations

An I Have, Who Has game is not a new concept. The premiss is that each person gets a card that has two statements. One is the "I have" statement and the other is the "Who has" statement. In this case the "I have" statement is a simple equation "Who has" statement which is the answer. The way the game works is that a person starts by reading their "Who has" statement. For example, someone might say "Who has 7?". Someone else will have a card where their equation has an answer that equals 7 so they would say " I have 2x = 14". Who has negative 4?" That is, they read their equation that has an answer that equals 7 and then asks their "Who has" statement. Then someone else will have an equation that matches -4 and the game continues. If done correctly, it should end up with the person who started giving their "I have" statement. It works really well as a warm up and one of nice things about this is that you could do it multiple days and kids will likely get different cards.

• Gr7PA - solve linear equations of the form ax = c or c = ax and ax + b = c or variations such as b + ax = c and c = bx + a (where a, b, and c are natural numbers) by modelling with concrete materials, by inspection, or by guess and check, with and without the aid of a calculator NOTE - only use the 9 card set if doing this for grade 7 as there are a few multi step equations;
• Gr8PA - solve and verify linear equations involving a one-variable term and having solutions that are integers, by using inspection, guess and check, and a “balance” model 
• MPM1D, MFM1P - solve first-degree equations, including equations with fractional coefficients, using a variety of tools (e.g., computer algebra systems, paper and pencil) and strategies (e.g., the balance analogy, algebraic strategies);

• There are two sets of cards that you could download here. One set (pictured here) has only 9 cards in it (you can see that the card on the top left has the "I have" to match the "Who has" of the card on the bottom right). Depending on the size of class you have you might want to use this set multiple times (ie groups of 9) or use the larger set of 27. Either way, in order for the game to work, all cards need to be passed out. So some students may need to have more than one card.
• Regardless. Print out the set you want (ideally on coloured card stock) and we also suggest lamination to lengthen the lifespan of the cards.
• Be sure to print out a set for yourself that you don't cut out so that it will be easier for you to check as students play the game.

1. Distribute the cards one per student. All cards must be handed out so some students might need more than one card.
2. Tell each person to solve their "I have" equation and check their answer with at least one other person. 
3. Once students are confident with their answer all students should stand and then you choose one to read their "Who has" statement. The person who's equation has the same answer should read their "I have" statement followed by their "Who has" statement and then sit down. Eventually the last person standing should be the person who started. 
4. A variation might be to have students walk to the front and stand next to the person who they were matched with and eventually form an entire loop around the class.

• IHaveWhoHas-Equations-9cards (pdf) (doc)
• IHaveWhoHas-Equationss-27cards (pdf) (doc)
• IHaveWhoHas-BlankTemplate (doc)

Did you use this activity? Do you have a way to make it better? If so tell us in the comment section. Thanks