The goal of this project was to creat a game that included at least ten tectonic concepts and some type of probability.
For this project I was in a group with Clare and Ben. I enjoyed getting to work with them and get know them better over the course of this project.
We started by trying to design the game. We quickly discovered that we needed to lean a lot more before we could successfully create a game.
We did an experiment to learn about convection. We were given 250 millilitres of water in two different beakers. The blue was cold water, and the red was warm water.
Then we poured the warm and cold water into either side of a container with a divider in the middle. My hypothesis was that the warm water would rise to the top. I thought this would happen because I know that hot air rises, so I figured that it would be the same for water.
⬇️ We pulled out the divider and here is the result ⬇️
The reason the hot water rises is that hot water is less dense then cold water. This experiment helped us to lean how convection works.
After reading multiple textbooks, we started making our game. We decided to base our game off of a game called Forbidden Island. By the end of the project I regretted that decision.
We spent a lot of time writing our rules. I had a few days when I felt like giving up, but I kept persevering. ⬇️ Here are our final rules ⬇️
Then we started designing our game pieces. It took a while, a lot of frustration and a few revisions, but we finished them. ⬇️ Here is all of our final game ⬇️
As always this project was made to teach us about some competencies. Here they are.
Evaluating: Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence.
We extended by including over ten concepts in our game. One component in our game was tiles. We made the tiles represent continental plates. We used multiple different tectonic plate movements and their linked natural disasters. For example the Convergent Plate Disaster card caused a volcano to erupt and destroy the designated continental plat.We read multiple textbooks and from what I learned I think that the theory of plate tectonics is probably correct.
Questioning and predicting: Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest.
We used all of our class time for creating our game. We spent time writing our rules and making parts out side of school hours. We communicated with each other via iMessage when we where planning or creating our game. For example when someone created a game piece they would send it into our groups chat for critique.
Understanding and solving: Develop, demonstrate, and apply mathematical understanding through play, inquiry, and problem solving.
Our game used probability very heavily to determine the outcome of the game. There is a very low probability of drawing a Slab Pull card, but when you do draw it makes the game more challenging. The probability of winning our game gets smaller the more Slab Pull cards are drawn.
At the start of this project we made mind maps to organize what we already knew about tectonics, questions we had about plate tectonics and game ideas. We revisited our mind maps at the end of our project and added our new knowledge and answered some of our questions.
⬇️ Here is my mind map ⬇️
Then it was game day. Our game was too complicated. Most people sat down to play our game, tried to read the rules, then got up and found a different game to play. I got to try to Nolan’s (and Declan’s) game. It was very well made, and I had fun playing it. I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to play any other games. And now to answer our driving question:
How are thematic and mathematical elements used in game design?
Themes are huge parts of each game. Our game had a theme of plate tectonics. There we loads of thematic elements in our game. We had tiles that represented continental plates, cards that caused convergent, divergent and transform plate related disasters. There is math, more specifically, probability in every game. Probability determines the outcomes of every turn and ultimately the end of the game. Drawing cards, rolling dice, it’s all probability.
⭐️ Star (what I think I did well) I think I did well on writing the rules, and leading my group (not as much as previous projects, Clare and Ben don’t need as much leading).
☄️ Wish (what I could have improved on) If I could go back and do this project again I would not have based it so heavily off of another game. I would have tried to make our game as simple as possible.
💭 Think (what I found challenging or just a thought) I found writing the rules and trying to incorporate ten concepts into our game very challenging. I also wish we could have had more time to play other groups’ games.
This project had its ups and downs but I learned a lot! I can’t wait for our next project after winter break.