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Game for Science

What it is: Game for Science has to be one of the coolest virtual worlds for kids.  This virtual world is dedicated to getting kids excited about science and technology.  Students can explore various virtual islands where they will learn about health, aeronautics, genomics, environment, engineering and more.  Students can learn more about science careers, what scientists do, play games, learn interesting facts, and explore science photos and videos.  Students can play the Game for Science as a tourist without registering, or they can register for an account (this requires an email address with confirmation).  This is an outstanding way for kids to get excited about science and technology.  As students travel through the virtual world, they can collect neurons (smart stars) by answering questions and playing games.  The neurons can be used to purchase items for their avatar. How to integrate Game for Science into the classroom: Game for Science is a great way to introduce new science topics or areas of science.  The virtual world will capture interest and keep students wanting to learn more about each topic.  If you teach younger students (without email addresses), visit the virtual world as a class on the interactive whiteboard or the projector.  Give each student a turn to direct the journey through Game for Science.  The rest of the class can jot down observations in a science notebook that can be used in later learning and experiments.  Students who can read independently can visit the site individually on classroom computers as a science center or in a computer lab setting.  Older students can register for an account and earn neuron points for their characters.  This is a fun site for students just to explore and interact with; however, for use in the classroom, you can direct students to specific islands to study.  For example, as you begin a unit on the environment, students can visit the corresponding island.  Game for Science makes for a great jumping off point that will grab students attention and interest in the subject they will be learning about. Tips: There is a chat feature on the registered version of Game for Science, this allows students to interact as they discover new islands and talk science. Please leave a comment and share how you are using Game for Science in your classroom.

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iboard: Crossing the Water

Posted by admin | Posted in Fun & Games, Interactive Whiteboard, Math, Primary Elementary, Secondary Elementary, Websites | Posted on 22-12-2009

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What it is: Crossing the Water is a great logic game for the interactive whiteboard that encourages problem solving as students try to get a family across the water safely.  Teachers can set up the activity with a set number of adults and children, students guess how many trips will have to be made to get the whole family across the water.  If there is too much weight in the boat, it will sink.


How to integrate Crossing the Water into the classroom: Crossing the Water is a fun logic and problem solving activity for students to work out.   Use Crossing the Water as an introduction mind bending activity to begin math class.  Students can work individually or in small groups to work out their strategy.  Call groups up to the whiteboard to demonstrate their solution.  Compare the solution with the way that other groups solved the problem.  Because you can change the number of adults and children in the problem, each day can present a new challenge.  Crossing the Water could also be used as a math center activity on classroom computers.


Tips: iboard has a variety of activities for the interactive whiteboard that can be purchased.  Crossing the Water is one of their freebie samples.


Leave a comment and share how you are using iboard: Crossing the Water in your classroom.

Comments (2)

iLearn Technology » Blog Archive » iboard: Crossing the Water | H2O Report said on 23-12-2009

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Melissa Edwards said on 31-12-2009

I see this as a great way to lead into Problem-based learning activities. I have found that at first students seem to struggle with explaining their solutions/strategies, but this would be a good way to provide extra practice that could be easily integrated.

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