Equal
peaceful island
The Equal game offers the opportunity to think and learn about equality and overcome gender stereotypes. In today’s society, new generations constantly meet new challenges. Therefore, it is crucial to be able to differentiate between gender stereotypes and the actual differences, opportunities, and uniqueness of each individual. Raising awareness of Equal Opportunities means bringing future generations towards an inclusive society that won’t thwart any chance of growth, choice, and decision-making.
Material needed
Modalities
Duration
Learning objectives
SDG
A deck of 30 cards with jobs and professions; 1 spinner; 1 scoreboard; 1 QR code card to download the Book of curiosities; 1 Board Template to write the answer, 1 timer, blank sheets & pens
8-12 years old, in the classroom or at home, reading perfectly
50 min.
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Pedagogical interest
General pedagogic interest: Discovering different types of professions in-game rounds, players discover curious facts about events and episodes which contribute to breaking down culturally determined stereotypes about men and women. Children thus have the opportunity to develop new points of view on roles and opportunities.
Topic 1 - History: Characters and works reveal past and present times. Children can discover ancient cultures. The questions are designed to stimulate pupils’ curiosity. They discover curios facts, events, and episodes about the roles that some women and men had in our history, politics, science, and sports, gaining the perspective of equal opportunities for girls and boys.
Topic 2 - Geography: Every profession may be an opportunity to open up new discussions and insights into several geographical features. From natural and man-made elements, flora, and fauna of the sea, rivers, lakes, and mountains to Europe and the division of the nation-state.
Topic 3 - Science: Children can discover the differences between scientific fields such as biology, chemistry, and medicine. The maps of the proposed professions have been carefully selected to help pupils understand the differences between scientific disciplines.
Topic 4 - Sports: Are there sports only for females or for males? Through curious facts about sports professions, children are surprised to find out that gymnastics is not only for girls, and football - is only for boys. On the contrary, they will understand that the world of sport is nuanced and full of opportunities for everyone!
Transversal topics - General Culture & Gender Equality
Overall, after undergoing tests, pupils discover curious facts about professions, today's customs and traditions, as well as relevant events and episodes which could break down culturally determined stereotypes about girls and boys. In this way, they have the opportunity to form new points of view on roles and opportunities.
The transdisciplinary commitment
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Generates knowledge through listening: by comparing with other teams, pupils are motivated to learn more and more.
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Acquires new knowledge and skills: a practical activity that enables pupils to acquire new abilities through repetitive exercise;
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Strengthens collaboration: the activity takes place in small groups, and pupils reflect and take a shared decision before answering;
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Stimulates socialization: questions refer to a familiar reality to pupils, and they can address the themes learned in different contexts, outside the game;
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Embraces difference as a value and makes the most of one's skills while having fun: even if just one player knows the answer, the whole team benefits;
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Values the importance of rules: a rule is a tool for coexistence that allows everyone to play equally;
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Acquires new knowledge on different topics and themes (from History to Art, Literature and news);
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Tackles gender stereotypes; demonstrates examples of female success stories;
Game rules
The game universe: EQUAL is a board game inspired by the better-known Time's Up one (https://www.asmodee.it/linea_timesup.php). Winning the game is determined by successfully guessing professions in a series of tests. The game allows discovering different professions, their definition, their area of expertise, and some the of tools they use, which leads players to discover curios facts, events, and episodes about them contributing to overcoming gender stereotypes. The game entails: competition, socializing; discovering; winning points;
What makes the player move forward and win? The game is based on 3 phases + 1 final bonus spinner phase. Players are divided into teams. Teams that guess the professions (depending on the phase of the game) get 10 points. Teams that pass the bonus spinner phase get 20 points. At the end of the game, the team with the most points is the tournament winner.
The Setup. Before starting playing, the teacher:
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Divides the classroom in small teams of (4 / 5 children);
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Prepares the 30 "jobs" cards and organises the deck according to the number of teams involved;
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Distributes to each team a score board (see the template in the "Printables" section);
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Prints and prepares the spinner (see the template in the "Printables" section);
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Ensures a stopwatch.
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Determines the starting team and manages the clockwise rotation.
Object: Obtain the highest score by passing the different phases
The turning team (speaker):
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Picks up a "jobs" card;
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Depending on the round that is being played performs one of the 3 steps/phases indicated on the card: 1. reads out the job definition; 2. mimes the profession, or 3. draws the tool of the profession;
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At the end of each turn, returns the card to the deck to shuffle;
During the final (bonus) phase, each team has 30 seconds to associate the job indicated on the card with the name of a character from the history, video games, cartoons, films, or books.
What is the role of the teacher? The role of the teacher is crucial in leading the game to open discussions or exchanges. By observing and moderating the dynamics in the class, the teacher could develop a holistic approach to the gameplay and to introducing the topic of equality (i.e., facilitating the process between students - explaining and monitoring the order of winning points, ensuring the rules are respected, dialoguing, etc.). Teachers further make room for deepening specific topics raised during the game and which take part in the curriculum.
The teacher is the facilitator who:
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Stimulates the class through interaction with the game;
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Tracks time for the responses of each phase of the game to ensure the participation of all pupils;
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Turns the spinner during the bonus phase;
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Marks the score;
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Decides when to read the insights from the Book of curiosities.
Open discussion. Discuss at the end with students who performs these jobs, based on their imaginations (either male or females) and why they imagine in that way. Evidence that we use stereotypes to represent collective ideas, but that these stereotypes are usually unfair.
Rounds
Round 1
At the beginning of Round 1, each team picks up a card from the deck (NOTA BENE: the number of the cards in the deck = the number of the teams playing).
The first team that picks up a card, reads out the job description written under the label "Round 1: Description". The other teams have 10 seconds to guess and write down on their score boards the supposed profession corresponding to the given description (see the game's score board in the "Printables" section).
For example, the first team reads out: "Round 1: a profession that studies ancient cavities and artifacts through excavations". The other teams write down their supposed answer on the game's score board and then the first team reveals the correct answer: "Archeologist".
10 points per correct answer by a team.
The game proceeds with the same dynamics by time all teams have had their turn .
At the end of Round 1, each team returns the cards to the deck and then they are shuffled. The winning team is the one that reaches the highest score.
Round 3
At the beginning of Round 3, each team picks up a third card from the deck (NOTA BENE: there is the chance that the team picks up the same card as Round 1 and 2) and, in turn, draws an object/tool linked to the profession described in the card under the label "Round 3: drawing the object". The other teams have 10 seconds to guess and write down on their score boards what job title corresponds to the drawing.
For example, the first team has the profession "Archaeologist". Members of the team agree an object to draw between the list of three options given under "Round 3: drawing the object: pickaxe, broom, trowel, lens" The other teams write down on their score board the supposed profession linked to the drawn object. At the end, the first team reveals the correct answer.
10 points per correct answer by a team.
The game proceeds with the same dynamics by time all teams have had their turn .
At the end of Round 3, ALL TEAMS KEEP THE CARD.
The Teacher may decide to end the game. In this case the team that has received the highest score from the three rounds wins the game. The teacher may also decide to proceed to Final (bonus) round.
Round 2
At the beginning of Round 2, each team picks up a second card from the deck (NOTA BENE: there is the chance that the team picks up the same card as Round 1 ) and, in turn, mimes the job suggested by the card.
The first team that picks up the card, mimes the job profession written at the top of the card. The other teams have 30 seconds to guess and write down on their score boards the profession they think is corresponding to what has been mimicked (see the game's score board template in the "Printables" section).
For example, the first team has picked up the profession "Archaeologist". One member of the team, uses their body and facial expressions to mimic the profession without making any sound. The other teams write down their suggested answer on the game's score board and the first team reveals the correct answer: "Archeologist".
10 points per correct answer by a team.
The game proceeds with the same dynamics by time all teams have had their turn .
At the end of Round 2, each team returns the cards to the deck and then they are shuffled. The winning team is the one that reaches the highest score.
Final round
The teacher turns the spinner over.
Each team has 30 secs to associate the job indicated on its card with the name of a character from History, video games, cartoons, films or books, depending on what is instructed by the spinner.
For example, if a team has the card of the job profession "Archaeologist" and the spinner points at "main character in a film or a cartoon", the team may answer "Indiana Jones".
20 points per correct answer by a team.
The teacher turns the spinner over. The team finally wins the game is the one that has received the highest score from all rounds (Round 1,2,3 and the optional Final round).
submit your work
Equal
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Going further
Topic 1 - The Book of curiosities on jobs and professions
Players can find further information on the jobs in the "Book of curiosities on jobs and professions", downloadable through a special "QR" card. Here is an example of the information that will be made available:
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Did you know that the first female referee in history in a Champions League match refereed Juve-Dinamo Kyiv on 2 December 2020?
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Did you know that the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics was Marie Curie?
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Did you know that Alain Ducasse is the chef with the most stars in the world?
Topic 2 - Inclusivity & Equality
To find out how to teach inclusivity and equality in class you may wish to refer to:
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Other Unplugged quests, e.g. Form Factor, Live in Harmony, Cookies and Peace, Clay and Sculpture
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https://minds-in-bloom.com/how-to-teach-equality-and-diversity-in/
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have a look at the Equal game of the Unplugged universe.