You Can't Take It With You

Briefing

One of the toughest things about producing energy is figuring out what to do with all the waste. The more power you crank out, the more waste you produce! You'll have to deal with that challenge in this Move Crew.

Activity

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Balloons (at least 24 of them!)
Masking Tape

GETTING READY:

Before the game begins:

A. Use the masking tape and marker to mark a starting point, a finish line, and 18 steps in between on the floor. Each piece of tape should be long enough that four people can stand side by side on it.

B. Blow up the balloons.

OBJECT:

In this game, the object is to get to the finish line. You do that by moving forward.

Here?s the catch: Whenever you move forward, you create waste. And if you build up more waste than you can handle, you're in trouble!

HOW TO PLAY:

1) All players line up at the starting point. Three or four players is ideal.
2) Choose a Referee to start all turns, give out and take away balloons, and enforce the rules of the game.
3) On the each turn, the referee asks each player "Advance or Clean up?" If the player says "Advance!" then the referee asks "How many steps?" The player chooses 1, 2, or 3 steps, and takes that number of steps forward.
4) After the player moves forward, the referee hands that player one balloon for each step taken on that turn. The balloons represent the waste you created!
5) Each player must hold onto his or her balloons at all times, except during a Cleanup (see below). Balloons MUST be held with hands and arms -- they can?t touch the ground, and you can't stuff them into your clothing.
6) If the player chooses to "clean up," he or she can drop up to two balloons, but CANNOT MOVE FORWARD on that turn.
7) Any player who drops more than two balloons during a Cleanup, or drops a balloon at any other time, must return to Start.
8) The first person to cross the finish line is the winner.

Debriefing

What was the best strategy in this game? Was it better to go forward as much as you could, no matter how much waste you produced? Or was it better to conserve your energy and take it slow so that cleanup was easier?

If you ran a power plant in real life, how much would you focus on producing energy, and how much would you focus on reducing waste?

If you've got your Case Journal, answer the questions in it now!