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TRAIL AHEAD: MOTION AND FORCES OF NATURE (First Draft of Storyboard - Beginner Level) |
The game "Trail Ahead" is set in Myrtle Brown Park, which has several trails. As you might know, any outdoor activity has inherent risks and challenges. These include: weather, terrain, wildlife, unexpected conditions, and so on. In this game, you will be presented with several challenges and activities (questions posed by the players to each other and the computer asking other questions) as you set out hiking (walking) with your friend. You can check your scores at any time as you progress in this game. As you advance through each level of this game, your understanding of the concepts of force and motion (movement), and how scientists use them, will have increased. At any time, you can click on HELP (? Symbol) to find a dictionary and multilingual dictionary (to find the meaning of new or difficult words), and instructions about what to do (in case you have a problem). There is a separate icon for HINTS that might help you answer some questions. However, everytime you use a hint, you will lose 1 point. On your journey along the trail, as you face different challenges and complete your activities, your scores will be recorded to keep track of your progress in the game. The game is a TEAM effort, and the scores are the combined scores of the two players. You can talk and discuss with your friend before answering any questions in your OWN words. Please try to think and give scientific answers, and include details, in the spaces provided. Your scores will be based on key words that we are looking for. You can check you’re your scores and the correct answer after each question, when both of you have finished answering questions during your turn. If your combined score is at least 80 points in a game at the Beginner level, you will be allowed to move to the next level – the Intermediate level. With the minimum 80 points in the Intermediate level, you can move to the Proficient level and finally to the Expert level with another 80 points. Your teacher will discuss these answers and explain all about "motion and forces in nature" in your next class. To
start the play, choose one of these characters (avatars) below to represent
you in the game, and assign her or him a name. |
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| Now click on weather
to check out today's weather and pick up additional gear and drag them on
yourself to be read for the Trail. |
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Why did you choose a . . .? |
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Why did you choose . . .? |
| Choosing your footwear is critical for several reasons as you set out on this Trail. You need to understand this well, and a special kind of force makes this important. This special kind of force is what helps you sit, walk, write on paper, start and stop a car, and so on. It is called . . . . . . . . . . . . HINT |
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Why did you choose . . . . . . . . . . . . .? HINT |
| Juan asks Carla, what
do you think the word "force" means in science (physics)? Carla says, I think . . . Juan says, I think . . Carla asks Juan, what do you think the work "motion" means in science (physics)? Juan says, I think . . . Carla says, I think . . . |
 Carla & Juan in our red SUV on the highway wondering how the Trail was going to be. Will it be tough, safe? |
A view from inside our car as we race towards the trail |
| Carla and Juan are all excited now because they can see several cars parked at the entrance of Myrtle Brown Park and they are less afraid to take the Trail with families visiting the park today. |
 Several cars parked at the entrance of Myrtle Brown Park. Bidding farewell to their parents, both Carla and Juan pick up their day packs and enter the Trail. |
| Hey, this is cool! Look at that the Rookie Trail. |
 Entrance to the "Rookie Trail" |
| The general rules for the trail and the "Park Map" will be have some introductory information about the park and the Trail. |
 Close-up View To Access Myrtle Brown Park Map (and the various Trails there) |
| The Trail as Carla and Jaun as they stroll away. |
 Hiking into the "Trail" |
| Watch out Juan, Carla yells. |
 Oops! A huge branch on our path |
| Juan looks surprised |
| Since the branch is
blocking the trail, Carla asks Juan, Juan to clear it using his feet and
say how he's going to do it? Juan says, I will . . . |
| Juan in turn asks Carla,
how will you clear this from our path using only your hands? Carla says, I will . . . |
| Do you know what we
just did was we applied forces to move the branch out of our way? Now the
two of you have to think and come up with two FOUR letter words (starting
in P) to describe forces. Each of must complete this space with the correct
words. Carla says, force could be a . . . , which might move an object. HINT Juan says, forces could also be . . ., which might move objects. HINT |
| Now that you know what
a force is, can you think and write down the "force" which made
the branch fall down. What type of force is it? Juan says. . . . . . . (Add some story about Newton here possibly to pique thier curiosity) HINT |
| Now that they've discussed this a while, they look up and find these awesome trees. |
 Looking around to find these trees |
 A modification of this to be more realistic? |
| After all the disussions, they continue walking they start observing a beautiful stream that runs along the trail. |
 Passing by a lovely stream along our Trail |
| Look at this Carla,
Juan says. What's it Juan? Juan says . . . |
 A long trail of ants to be illustrated. |
Carla, can you think
of one way in which the motion of the ants is similar
to the motion of us sitting in the red car in the highway, Juan asks? |
| Juan, can you
think of one way in which the speeds of motion of the ants
and our car are different? Juan says, the . . . . . . . . . HINT |
| The two continue walking along the Trail, a little tired (of walking and thinking : ) and wonder if they could sit somewhere to eat something. |
 We continue hiking into the Trail |
| Carla, look finally
some flatland, Juan says. Great, we can finally sit down somewhere here to snack. |
 Finally some flat land where we might sit down to have some food! |
| The two find a clean spot, open
their daypacks and get some knick-knacks to eat. After eating silently for
sometime (understandable, they were tired), Juan asks Carla, do you think
you and I could found out how much "force" we applied to drag
or kick the branch out of our path? Carla says, I don't think we can do this without using a . . . (Clue: Use a four letter word that starts with a T) |
| Carla picks up an elastic band
and tells Juan that she thinks they could have used the elastic band to
get some idea about the force. Do you know how Juan? Juan says, I know: The . . . of the rubber band will give them a measure of this "force." HINT |
| Discuss this together, and then complete the blanks in turn. More the . . . , more the . . . HINT (Add a story about Robert Hooke here, and possibly some interesting acts on account of rivalry with Newton) |
| Cool, we invented something here. Both Carla and Juan are happy with their invention and decide to return on time to get picked up by their parents at the entrance of the park. Of course, they continue talking as they retrace their paths. Is this how they find out how many pounts of fruits or vegetables we picked up in supermarket checkout counters, Juan asks Carla? Carla says yeah, but instead of pull, in a supermarket, the fruits or vegetables . . . the scale down. HINT |
 Carla imagining a supermarket scale! |
| Now that the two of you have almost completed your Trail successfully, let's summarize (should allow the players to go back and review the game so far).. The two of you have to answer these questions separately when your turn appears. |
| What makes objects
move? Juan . . . . . . . . . . HINT Carla . . . . . . . . . .HINT |
| Each player must describe one quality of motion (Clue:
recall the movement of ants and car!) Juan, objects can move in . . . . . . . HINT Carla, objects can move . . . . . . . . .HINT |
| What is a force? Juan . . . . . . . . . . . HINT Carla . . . . . . . . . . .HINT |
Name one other object that
can exert a force. |
| . . . help us . . . or find out "how much" in science (physics). For example, the . . . in supermerkets helps the assistant in the checkout counter find out how many pounds of fruit or vegetable we picked up, before they calculate our bills. HINT |
