Math Beyond Workbooks

GED-Grid Battleship

• skills involved: plotting points, practice with a GED-style grid


• materials needed: a sheet with two grids on it (GED style or, if more apropriate, regular coordinate axis from -5 to 5) To print out a GED-type game board, click here.

Students can play this variation of Battleship® to practice plotting points on the type of grid that is now used on the new GED exam. This grid looks like this:

If your students are not preparing for the GED, or if you would rather practice with a "traditional" coordinate axis, they can play using a regular 10 x 10 grid with the coordinate axes in the center.

1. The game is played by two players. Both players use a pair of "bubble grids".
2. Each player draws three battleships on one grid and records shots at the other player's ships on the other grid. A battleship consists of four adjacent points on the grid, either horizontally or vertically. The coordinates must be whole numbers.
3. The players should not be able to see each other's grids (It works well to hide the grid sheets insid ethe cover of a book...) They take turns firing volleys of three shots at a time by giving the coordinates of each point. When hits are made, they are acknowledged immediately.
4. A game ends when a player has lost all three battleships.

I find it helpful for students to write the points they call out as a coordinate pair, such as (2, -3), on the side of their paper to settle disputes that may arise if a point is plotted incorrectly.

Variations: To speed up the game, students can agree to inform each other whenever a shot is within one unit of a battleship. Also, players may agree to allow ships to be placed diagonally as well as vertically and horizontally, and they may vary the number and length of the ships.