Activity:

House of Cards
In this activity students will earn candy by
doing triceps dips.
Each round lasts 30 seconds and you can do as
many (or as few) dips as you want.
The card you picked determines how much
candy you can earn in each round.
 Round #1
Rules 1- You must count out loud
Rule 2- If your arm doesn’t bend near 90
degrees, your dip will not count.
The payoff for each round is always the
same:
Kings: 5 dips = 1 candy
Queens: 7 dips = 1 candy
Jacks: 10 dips = 1 candy
In round 1, only students with face cards are
allowed to do dips and earn candy.
Round 1 Debrief Questions:
1. Is it fair that some of you can earn
candy and others can’t?
2. What are possible solutions?
3. What’s wrong with anarchy?
4. What is the first step when making an
effective economy?
5. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of redistribution?
6. What might a market look like?
 Round #2
Kings, Queens, and Jacks can earn candy
from other people’s dips.
If you want to earn candy you need to
work out an agreement with the Kings,
Queens, and Jacks BEFORE the round
begins.
Agreements must be honored at the end
of the round.
You have 2 minutes to make agreements
Round 2 Debrief Questions:
1. Is this system fair? Why or why not?
2. In your economy what do the Kings,
Queens, and Jacks represent?
3. What does everyone else represent?
4. What must businesses do to attract and
keep workers?
5. What determined your wage?
6. Who did the most dips?
Congratulations! The person that did
the most dips is now a Jack
 Round #3
Your economy is at the risk because you
don’t have a way to prevent invasion or
civil war.
If a war breaks out, everyone will lose all
of their candy.
Your must vote on how much to collect for
police and national defense.
This amount must be paid before the next
round.
 Round #3
Determine how much you want
to spend and how you will
collect the funds
0 Candies = 100% chance of war
4 Candies = 50% chance of war
6 Candies- 20% chance of war
8 Candies- 5% chance on war
10 Candies- 0% chance of war
Round 3 Debrief Questions:
1. Does a society need government?
2. How did you decided how much to
spend on police and defense?
3. Is your tax system fair?
4. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of this system?
5. Who did the most dips?
Congratulations! The person that did
the most dips is now a Jack
 Round #4
Consider those that are injured or can’t
do many dips.
Determine how much you want to
redistribute
Here are a few suggestions:
No redistribution
Top half earners pay 2 candies to bottom half
Top ten earners pay 2 candies to bottom ten
Top five earners pay 2 candies to bottom five
All candy distributed equally
Round 4 Debrief Questions:
1. What is your attitude about those that
can’t do many dips?
2. Should you have a welfare system?
Why or why not?
3. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of redistribution?