Quark Card Game
by
Helio Takai
[email protected]
(and dice game)
The Quark Card Game was created to convey students the
concept of the Standard Model - the existence of quarks,
substructure of mesons and baryons, particle decay, and
the concept of color charge.
It addresses the population of students in Junior and
Senior years, in the US Educational System, i.e 16-18
years old.
Each deck has 52 cards, with quarks and leptons, and four
Wild Quarks. The Wild Quarks can be used in varying
numbers from zero to 4.
Game - The only game that is currently developed and
played in the US is Hadron Hold’em, and played using the
same rules as Texas Hold’em that is popular in the US
media.
Betting - You have to bet to play Hadron Hold’em. We
introduce poker chips that are graded in eV (electron volts).
The general idea is that you win because you made more
stable or more particles.
Rules - are the same as Texas Hold’em. Before each
round player places bet. Then receive two cards each. On
the table dealer puts 3 cards face up and two face down.
Based on possible combinations one bets more. Dealer
turns another card face up, more betting, then final card is
turned up. Final bet, and winner takes it all.
You can always fold!
Hands
Atomic Flush - proton + electron
Cosmic Flush - baryon + meson
proton, neutron - baryons
mesons,
etc....
Quarks
u
s
t
d
c
b
Cards
Joe Cool playing cards
Students Playing Cards
Teachers need a “lot” of instructions!!
Cards are portable!
Quark-Tzee
Dice Game
with Sergio Novaes, IFT - CMS.
Quark-tzee is a dice game that plays following Yahtzee
rules.
The idea is that you start with 6 dies, and you can roll three
times. On each roll you keep the dies that you consider the
best to make certain particles.
First roll - all dies, keep as many you want to create
mesons and baryons
Second roll - only dies that are not used on the first roll,
and so on
You have to complete a given table, and you play by
number of rounds.
Available as stickers to paste on top of dies.
Quarktzee Score Card
Baryons
Particle Anti Particle
Mesons
Particle Anti Particle
It is fun to play, and students in particular like the game
because it is “portable” and can be played anywhere.
They can “hang out” anywhere.
Future - We are working on a on-line version. All using
volunteers and it will take some time... Dice game is first.
There is no formal educational evaluation, but students
smile, so it must be good... or just hilarious!