Simulations+and+Games

__Strategy:__

 * __Simulations & Games__
 * The use of simulation and games in the classroom environment allows students an opportunity to engage in activities where they can visualize, model, manipulate, explore, and experiment with a variety of strategies while also gaining an increased understanding of the subject matter. Simulations are beneficial because they allows students to role-play experiences and make decisions that affect characters in certain ways, thus leading to additional scenarios in a non-linear format. Simulations are therefore extremely useful when applied to subject matter where the situation being learned would otherwise be too dangerous or expensive to experience in the normal classroom environment. The use of "gaming teaches competition strategies, cooperation and teamwork, and conflict resolution" (Neubecker, 2003). The best games for educational purposes also involve simulations where students can place themselves inside the story of the game itself.

=__Technology:__= Image Taken from: http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/coaster/section1.html __Software: Real Lives Simulation__ Image Taken from: http://www.educationalsimulations.com/tour4.html Image Taken from: http://www.food-force.com/index.php/game/mission/future-farming =__Education Challenge:__=
 * __ Web as a Resource: Amusement Park Physics __
 * ** Classroom Implementation: **  Upon gaining a basic understanding of force, energy and momentum in Science class the students will use the website http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/coaster/ to design and implement their own roller coaster design. They will be able to test the design and then make changes based on how effective they feel their design is. If their design is deemed to be unsafe they will not be able to implement it and will have to instead go back to the drawing board and read about roller coaster design in order to make an effective coaster. This would be a good project to have middle school students work on in small groups.
 * ** Rationale: ** By having students design their own coasters, using the websites prefabricated sections, the students are able to see how force and energy work in the roller coaster rides that they enjoy riding. This would be a web site that they could use to gain more information about roller coasters as well as for students to use to show their parents and others how they work. Using a website for this activity makes the process simpler for younger students to grasp the concepts and also allows for access beyond the classroom environment.
 * ** Resources: **  The school would have to have enough computers with Internet access for all of the students to be able to access the website either individually or in small groups. They would need to be directed to use the site http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/coaster/ to create their coasters.
 * **Cost:** The school would have to provide a computer lab with Internet access, which is standard nowadays. The website is free of charge, therefore no additional monetary expenses will have to be made to implement this technology resource.
 * ** Classroom Implementation: **  In the sixth grade students learn about world history and the cultures of the world that made it what it has become today. By using the software entitled Real Lives (information located at http://www.educationalsimulations.com/products.html ) the students would be able to take on the role of another human being. The students would be "born" in the game as anyone in any different part of the world. They would be responsible for making life altering decisions for that individual based upon their surroundings. The students could experience life as peasant farmer, lawyer, factory worker, policeman or one of many other occupations- that is if they make educated and wise decisions from the start to be sure they survive childhood. The teacher would need to change the settings in the software as to not allow for graphic events, such as child abuse to happen to the student's role-playing person.
 * ** Rationale: ** This software would be a great resource to use with students to get them to have empathy and think about other people who are in different situations from themselves. They will be able to see the consequences of their decisions immediately after they make them through the simulated effects. It would also expose the students to different cultures of the world that they are not familiar with. This would help to meet the strategy because students are "living" as another person through the simulation of that individual's experiences.
 * ** Resources: **  The school would need to have a computer lab with Internet access available for all the students to be on the software program at the same time. The software program Real Lives information can be found at       http://www.educationalsimulations.com/products.html.
 * **Cost:** Beyond the already incurred cost of a computer lab with Internet access for a class of students the school would need to purchase the software. The most appropriate license would depend upon the needs of the school district, as there are many options available. A lab pack of CD's that includes a 30-user license cost $699, a site license could be purchased at a cost of $1 per student enrolled in the school with a minimum of 500 students, or a site and home license could be purchased for a cost of $2 per student enrolled in the school. The site and home license would be the most effective because it allows each student to access the software from home by downloading it and entering a special code to unlock it.
 * __Web as Resource: Food Force Game__
 * ** Classroom Implementation: ** While learning about the different countries of the world students will discover that not every country is as fortunate as the United States in terms of being able to supply ample food for their population. The teacher will then direct students to the Food Force Game to reinforce the idea that hunger crises exist and that others can do something to help. By playing the game students will be able to explore the causes of hunger and malnutrition, learn about nutrition and the high costs of feeding the hungry, explore emergency response efforts, discover global food procurement, plan importing of food by land, and explore long term food aid projects. This will expand students' horizons beyond their familiar surroundings and force them to think about those who are less fortunate and the minor things they can do to help. The game will help to strengthen strategic thinking and decision making skills. This would be a good project to complete around Thanksgiving or after a natural disaster or other news event that involves people in need of food aid.
 * ** Rationale: ** By using a video game that is readily available online to expose students to a topic with which they are not very familiar they will become more informed and begin to show empathy toward those who are less fortunate. This game is an excellent way to show simulation of aiding others who are in need.
 * ** Resources: ** The students and teacher will need to have computers and Internet access in order to access the website http://www.food-force.com/index.php/game/missions/index.php?/game/mission/index.php to download the game to the computer they are using.
 * **Cost:** There will be no additional cost beyond the original procurement of a classroom computer lab with Internet access, as the game is a free download acquired from the United Nations World Food Programme website located at http://www.food-force.com/index.php/game/downloads/undefined
 * ====__ Student Motivation __====
 * According to the research provided on the Focus on Effectiveness website, in regard to student motivation, students need to make real-world connections to material in order to gain a better understanding of it. By having students use the Amusement Park Physics roller coaster simulation they will be able to use the concepts they have learned in class and apply them to something they enjoy doing. Most students have ridden some sort of roller coaster or carnival ride by the sixth grade and should be able to make a personal connection to how their experience was and relate it to the material they are learning, as well as the design of their individual coaster.