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Discover Your World with NOAA

NOAA's Building Blocks

Do you know what NOAA does? Play this game and find out!

What You Will Need

  • Jenga® or Uno Stacko® game
  • Two sets of “NOAA’s Building Blocks Game Cards” - Make two copies of the “NOAA’s Building Blocks Game Cards” page and cut the cards out. The cards will last longer if you photocopy them onto heavy paper called “card stock” or “cover stock.” It will be easier to tell the difference between “Problems” and “Solutions” if you use one color of paper for “Problems” and another color for “Solutions.”

How to Do It

  1. Follow the instructions that come with the game. If you are playing with one or more other people, divide into two teams. Each team gets 24 blocks, and stacks these into eight layers of three blocks per layer. Each layer should be at right angles to the layer below. Shuffle the Game Cards, and place a set of the Cards in front of each team.
  2. One team at a time draws a card from the top of the Game Card pile. There are “Problem” cards and “Solution” cards. For every “Problem” there is a “Solution” somewhere in the pile of Game Cards.
    If you draw a “Solution” card, read the card aloud and then:
    • (a) Keep the card until you need it to solve a “Problem;” OR
    • (b) Remove one block from the top of your team’s stack, and place the card in a discard pile separate from the Game Card pile.
    If you draw a “Problem” card, read the card aloud and then:
    • (a) Remove one block from any layer of the stack except the top layer, and stack it on top of the stack; OR
    • (b) Solve the Problem by reading a “Solution” card that your team has drawn and saved previously
    When you have finished (a) or (b), place the card in a discard pile separate from the Game Card pile.
    Players may use only ONE hand when removing and stacking blocks! Blocks that are stacked on top of the pile should be at right angles to the layer below. If more than one person is on each team, team members should take turns drawing cards and moving blocks. If you run out of Game Cards, shuffle the cards in the discard pile and use these as a new stack of Game Cards.
  3. Continue playing until one team’s stack falls, or one team has removed all of their blocks from the stack. If your team is first to remove all of the blocks from your stack—you win! If your stack is the first to fall—you lose!