Dashing States™ Level 1-2
Cards Used: GeoPlunge Map cards, Answer key. There is only one state in red on each Map card. Shuffle the cards before the game begins and after each race.
Players: Two teams with 1, 2, or 3 players per team
Level 1:
Objective: Dashing States™ is a series of races! During each race, each team tries to, as quickly as it can, determine the identity of the states in red on 4 of its 5 Map cards so that it can sort those cards in alphabetical order by state name, and the first team to do so then announces the state names and state capitals of those states. A team earns 2 points for winning a race, and each team receives a point when a race ends in a tie. Play a race at a time until one team wins the game. A team needs 10 points to win the game.
For each race:
Step 1: Deal each team 5 Map cards face-down. Teams do NOT turn over or look at their cards until everyone at the same time says, “Ready, Set, GeoPlunge!”
Step 2: The teams then turn over their cards and the race begins. Each team tries to place 4 of its 5 states in alphabetical order by state name, and then shout “GeoPlunge!” The unused card must be turned face-down before shouting GeoPlunge. The first team to shout GeoPlunge then announces the names of its four states and the capitals of those states.
Determining Who Wins the Race: The first team to shout GeoPlunge wins the race and gets 2 points if it: 1) correctly placed its 4 states in alphabetical order before shouting GeoPlunge, 2) turned its unused card face-down before shouting GeoPlunge, and 3) after shouting GeoPlunge, correctly identified its 4 states and capitals. Otherwise, the other team wins the race and gets 2 points. If both teams shout at the same time, the race is a tie and each team wins 1 point, unless only one team successfully completes step 2. If that happens, that team wins the race and gets 2 points and the other team does not get any points for that race.
Level 2:
Level 2 is the same as Level 1, with the following exceptions:
Objective: For each race, each team tries to, as quickly as it can, determine the identity of the states in red on 6 of its 7 Map cards (or all 7 Map cards if it wants to try to earn a bonus point) so that it can sort those cards in the manner described below, and the first team to do so then announces the state names and capitals of those states. A team earns 2 points for winning a race, and it also has an opportunity to earn a bonus point (i.e., a third point) as described in these rules. Teams receive 1 point each when a race ends in a tie. A team needs 15 points to win the game.
- For Odd-Numbered Races: The Map cards a team uses must be placed in alphabetical order by state name.
- For Even-Numbered Races: The Map cards a team uses must be placed in alphabetical order by the name of the state capitals.
The first team to sort the Map cards it is using in alphabetical order as described above, and then shout GeoPlunge, must then correctly identify the states and capitals of the states it is using as follows:
- 1 Player on a team: That person announces all of the information.
- 2 Players on a team: Each player on that team announces all of the information for 3 of the cards WITHOUT help from his/her teammate, as follows: the player on the left must identify the information for the 3 cards that are most to the left, and the player on the right must identify the information for the 3 cards that are most to the right.
- 3 Players on a team: Each player on that team announces the states and capitals on 2 of the 6 map cards WITHOUT help from his/her teammates, as follows: the player on the left must identify the information for the 2 cards that are most to the left, the player in the middle must identify the information for the 2 cards in the middle, and the player on the right must identify the information for the 2 cards that are most to the right.
If the first team to shout GeoPlunge does everything right (i.e., placed 6 of its 7 cards in alphabetical order in the manner described above before shouting GeoPlunge, turned the other card face-down before shouting GeoPlunge, and after shouting GeoPlunge correctly identified the state names and capitals of the 6 cards it is using as described above), it wins the race and earns 2 points. Otherwise, the other team wins the race and receives the 2 points. If the first team to shout GeoPlunge is also seeking to get the bonus point, it needs to do everything right with respect to all 7 of its Map cards. In that instance, if there is more than one player on that team, any player on that team is permitted to announce the name of the state and the capital for the seventh Map card. If that team does everything right, it wins that race and earns 3 points. If not, the other team wins that race and receives 2 points.
Other variations to the game you may want to try:
- Have a U.S. map available for players when first learning
- Require the first team that shouts GeoPlunge to announce only the names of the states, but not the names of the capitals
- In Level 1, award one bonus point to the first team that shouts GeoPlunge if it uses all of its cards, and then correctly announces the names of its states and capitals
- In Level 2, allow a single player to announce all of the state names and capitals
- Play for a different point total (e.g., play to 10 points in Level 2 for a shorter game)
- Play for a period of time rather than for a point total, and whoever is winning at the end of that period of time wins
- Instead of shuffling the cards after each race, place the cards that were just used at the bottom of the deck. For Level 1, shuffle the cards only after every 5th race. For Level 2, shuffle the cards only after every 3rd race.
- Only use cards of specific regions (e.g., only states that are primarily in the eastern or central time zone)
- Change the number of cards used in the game or the number of cards that need to be placed in alphabetical order (e.g., deal out 6 cards and have teams alphabetize and identify only 4 of them)
- See “Other Learning Activities Using GeoPlunge” documents