monster school bus | strempletechtools

Math Snacks: Monster School Bus

Curator: Terry Cheng

Name & Link to Tech Tool or Tool Homepage: http://mathsnacks.com/monsterschoolbus.php

Brief Description of Tech Tool: Monster School Bus is an online game in which the player is a school bus driver who must pick up monsters at various locations and transport them to school. The school bus can only hold a certain number of monsters at a time, so the player/school bus driver must group the locations into sets based on the number of monsters at each location and how may monsters it takes to create a full load on the bus. For example, ten aliens will fit on the bus, but it takes 20 gremlins to create a full load. Creating full loads of students on the bus gives the player the opportunity to change the normal-looking buildings in the town into monster buildings.

Evaluation

Description of Learning Activity

According to the game's website, "Monster School Bus addresses number and operations standards as well as the process standard, as established by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). It supports students in:Understanding numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems.Visualizing numbers as sets and quantities.Building new mathematical knowledge through problem solving."Specifically, students practice recognizing base ten with whole numbers and decimals and performing operations with base ten.

1. Learning Activity Types

LA-Practice - practicing for fluency: The majority of the game actions center around recognizing groups of ten.

LA-Apply - applying mathematics to problems and situations: In order for players to progress through the game, they have to use number operations to create groups of students/monsters.

2. What mathematics is being learned?

NCTM Standards

Number & OperationsNCTM-N&0-understand numbers - understand numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems

NCTM-N&0-understand operations - understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another

NCTM-N&0-compute fluently - compute fluently and make reasonable estimates

VA SOL Strands

8.1 a - The student will simplify numerical expressions involving positive exponents, using rational numbers, order of operations, and properties of operations with real numbers;

Proficiency Strands

PS-procedural fluency - The game concentrates on procedural fluency as the player practices visualizing base ten groups and with whole numbers and decimals and adds groups together.

PS-strategic competence - Strategic competence is generally required in order for the player to do well in the game.

PS-productive disposition - Within the context of the game, mathematics is worthwhile because you get chances to change the appearances of the town buildings and get gold stars for how well you play the game. The belief in one's own efficacy and abilities is promoted through the achievements and when students successfully complete levels.

3. How is the mathematics represented?

Mathematics in terms of the groups of aliens/gremlins/monsters are represented graphically, symbolically, and numerically. The operations to create full loads on the school bus are not represented, except when the game tells the player that he has reached a full load.

4. What role does technology play?

Monster School Bus presents a fun an engaging way for students to practice base ten groupings and operations. Therefore, for students, this game does not have any negative associations with learning. It's all fun, and students may not realize they're practicing number operations.

Affordances of Technology for Supporting Learning

Computing & Automating - The game makes the work of learning seem like play.

Representing Ideas & Thinking - The game's graphical images allow students to visualize numbers as groups.

5. How does the technology fit or interact with the social context of learning?

This game is better suited as an individual activity, though I could see that pairs of students could play this game together.

6. What do teachers and learners need to know?

Teachers need to understand how the game mechanics and the concepts presented by playing it before offering it to their students. The game requires Adobe Flash Player, which means that it is not able to be played on an IOS or Android device. I was able to load it on a Microsoft Surface tablet. However, because the game requires the use of a keyboard arrow keys to move the bus, it is not easy to use on a tablet supporting Flash. You cannot move the bus using a mouse or touch. Therefore, this game can only be played on a desktop or laptop device with a keyboard.

7. How could this resource be used to supplement/facilitate PBL?

This resource could be used to supplement PBL. Students could play this game as an additional resource at home or in class to become more fluent on math skills.