Given: (materials) quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies, 6 different colors of construction paper (communication items) pencil, ruler, sheet of typing paper, tin can, 2 marbles, spoon, paper lunch bag.
Devise a nonverbal communication system in which 2 communicators instruct 3 workers how many of each coin is to be paced on a given color paper. You have 5 minutes to think and practice and three minutes to perform.
Scoring: score is the value of the coins placed. 100 point bonus if the problem is completed. 2 point bonus for each unused second under the 3 minute limit.
Penalties: twice the coin’s value for coins over the maximum allowed on a given color. 25 point penalty for a coin not completely on a paper. 100 point penalty for each time talking occurs during the 3 minute work period.
Maximum Coins Per Paper
| Red | Yellow | Orange | Green | Blue | White | |
| Quarter | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| Dime | 12 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| Nickel | 4 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Penny | 7 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 |