Children's Museum of Houston

What you need

• Small paper or plastic cups
• Score sheets
• Marker and Pencils

What to do

1. There are only three ways a cup can land: open side up (up-cup), open side
2. down (down-cup) or on its side (sider).
3. The rules are:
   • Sider beats the up-cup.
   • Up-cup beats the down-cup.
   • Down-cup beats the sider.
   • If both cups land the same, there is a tie.
4. Working in pairs, each person tosses their cup at the same time.
5. When tossed, the cup must reach higher than your head to be considered a fair throw.
6. Use the rules above to determine the winning cup.
7. The cup that wins gets a point. If it is a tie, no one gets a point.
8. The first person to get 5 points wins!

What to ask

• Which way does the cup land the most?
• Which way does the cup land the least?
• If you played this game again would it turn out the same way?
•  Why or why not?

What’s next?

• Change the game so that you get a certain number of points if your cup wins based on how your cup lands. Which one would you give the most points? Is this a fair game?
• Try a different game where three people play together. Whoever’s cup lands different from the other two gets a point. If all three land differently, then everyone gets a point. Is this a fair game?
• Make up your own game!