Science Infoblog

Phun lets you move objects around in 2D obeying the laws of physics. You can control gravity, how things collide, friction and the strength of motors. Download the software and see if you can make a simulation like this one on YT. Enter the competition

Competition:

1 Tell Mr West you want to enter the competition (three categories, junior, senior and interested parents/members of the community.

2 Download Phun (see previous post to dowload the software or Mr West for a copy)

3 Use the software to produce a simulation/cartoon (you will have to interact with some physics as you do this!)

4 See Mr West or Mr Duff if you need help to get started.

5 Email your simulation to Mr West (john.west@greenbayhigh.school.nz) or bring it along to E11 on a memory stick.

Entries must be in before the end of term 1

A very handsome trophy will be awarded to the winner in each category.

Have phun….get physical or use your artistic talents and get creative.

Have you ever wondered how cars, bikes helicopters and people move around in games like Grand Theft Auto 4.

Objects that move around in the real world follow Newton’s laws of motion. To develop software that mimics the real world you need to understand the physics of motion.

Rockstar North is the developer behind Grand Theft and they are based in Edinburgh Scotland. They are currently advertising for a physicist and people to test their games to check that they are realistic!

Phun is an educational, entertaining and addictive piece of software for designing and exploring 2D multi-physics simulations in a cartoony fashion and you can download it for free.

ICT Challenge trophy

Release your artistic and scientific skills. Dowload PHUN and use it to illustrate a physics concept (friction, gravity, collsions, billiard table etc)

There are three different categories for junior and senior students and a separate category for enthusiastic parents.

email mr West as an expression of interest and for further details ( john.west@greenbayhigh.school.nz ). Have PHUN

Sim City was one of the first simulation programmes. In the game you are the mayor and chief architect of a city you are responsible for building and manufacturing. You attract SIMs, simulated citizens who build houses, stores factories - generate a tax base that funds the cities finances and allows further development. Perhaps John Banks needs to play the game as he struggles with the problem of funding developments at Eden Park.

In learning terms the game is interactive and student centred using realistic contexts. Don’t forget that pilots play games as they learn the complexities of flying a large passenger plane, they use flight simulators. Chemists also play with simulation games at university as they design molecules with particular geometries and polarities. Sixth form chemists use pen and pencil to do the same thing in exams using theory that is over 30 years out of date. Listen to the designer of Sim City as he describes his latest game Spore. Hard to imagine learning about evolution without playing this game

Ewan McIntosh is a Teacher and Social Media Specialist who is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He speaks internationally leading student and teacher workshops and conferences.

As a new technologies research practitioner he has been involved with integrating blogging, podcasting, wikis gaming and other emerging technologies into classroom life from nursery to secondary within the East Lothian Council district of Scotland.

Ewan delivered the keynote speech at the Ulearn conference. The conference focused on integrating new technologies to empower learning and transform leadership in education.

Ewan recognises the power of play in learning. Ludic learning can happen in secondary science but students do a huge amount of unsupervised and unrecognised learning as they play computer games and access social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook. He has recognised their potential in the classroom. In workshops he has discovered the effectiveness of games in expanding student horizons and imaginations when they are speaking and writing creatively or transactionally.

He highlighted the example of Tim Rylands who uses the unsettling landscapes in Myth III during literacy exercises. Tim is a real performer in the classroom although his academic rigour while playing games is evident. He apparently uses a walking stick that he doesn’t require as a prop. It magically turns into a flute! Look at the engagement of his students.

He asks students to describe the rocks in the landscape at one point. Perhaps we need to rethink literacy issues in school and be less reliant on the book paradigm in science