Measure out an even share using scales and measuring spoons.
After you have shared all three cakes, talk with your friends about the different ways of sharing a cake. Which one is fairest?
What’s happening?
There is no single way to share all things. Instead there are many different ways, and each has good and bad points.
‘I cut, you choose’ might sound fair, but if you’re cutting several slices, there’s a good chance one of them will end up a bit smaller than the rest. This means ‘I cut you choose’ isn’t fair for the person cutting.
The ‘Moving knife’ method is reasonably fair as long as no one tries to get more than they deserve. However, if all players try to get more than their fair share, some people might end up with very little.
‘Measuring exactly’ might be the fairest way in this activity, but it’s not necessarily the best way. For many people, a pile of icing and a pile of cake crumbs isn’t as nice as a complete slice of cake.
It’s useful to consider different methods for sharing things. If you’re just sharing a muesli bar, then a simple method, like ‘I cut, you choose’, is quick and gives a pretty good result. If you’re trying to share out chores around the house, a more complicated method might be useful.
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