The Siege of Magnetoss
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Overview
Students learn to use the principles of magnetism to help the people of the imaginary planet ‘Magnetoss’ trap and relocate a crazed robot that has been terrorizing their village.
It's perfect for individualising classroom instruction and ideal as a self-motivating homework task.
Special features
- Each 3D mission further develops students' understanding of magnetism.
- Attractive, easily accessible reference material includes interactive displays and explanatory videos.
- The interactive puzzles require the same type of thinking used in real life science experiments.
- Each mission concludes with a very short self-correcting multiple choice test to reinforce student learning.
- The entire learning unit was specifically designed to appeal equally to both girls and boys.
Game objective
The game’s objective is to assist in teaching the topic of magnetism to junior secondary school science students. Scientific principles are the tools the students use to solve problems within the context of the three-dimensional game. It has been our policy to fully integrate the science with the gameplay, providing motivation to learn through gaming.
Content is loosely based around Australian school syllabus requirements. Emphasis has been placed on understanding general concepts, as well as targeting some areas that are less well understood by students. The game specifically avoids controversial issues often found in ‘entertainment’ computer games, such as violence and gender bias.
The story
The player takes on the personality of "Selwyn Ogilvie" or "Ariadne Peabody" and must use principles of magnetism to gain access to the village and deactivate a crazed robot that is terrorizing the citizens of Magnetoss!
The reference pages
Pages of background information appear automatically as the player moves around the game. More detailed reference pages are available at any time via “Info computers” in the game levels.
The puzzles
At different points within each level, students must solve puzzles that simulate science experiments. These are easy and fun to complete and broaden the student‘s experience of science within the game.
Using the game
Although it is designed to be used in the classroom, this game is similar in gameplay to many other 'entertainment games' students play at home providing significant motivation for learning to occur. The game is aimed at the junior secondary level, but younger and older students enjoy playing it. Since the game is a self-teaching unit it can be used to help teachers cater for individual differences within the classroom. It can be used to extend younger and/or brighter students, to help slower students to catch up with the class, or for revision in Years 11 and 12.
The game is expected to take students 1 - 1.5 hours to complete, fitting comfortably in a normal lesson, or lesson/homework situation. Students can play the game through in sequence, or select a mission. This allows teachers to identify missions they want students to play and makes the game suitable for use with a class for a whole lesson as an introduction to magnetism, or for revision, or to supplement a particular section of the topic.
Relevance to school science syllabuses
The educational component of the game follows a learning sequence designed by experienced science teachers. It has divided the topic of magnetism into five separate ‘missions’.
Mission 1:
Common items that contain magnets.
Magnets attract iron.
Mission 2:
Ferromagnetism.
The compass.
Composition of permanent magnets.
Mission 3:
North and south magnetic poles.
The Earth as a magnet.
Magnetic force.
Magnetic shielding.
Mission 4:
Magnetic fields.
Magnetic field lines.
Mission 5:
Electromagnetism.
The field around a solenoid.
Factors that affect the magnetic field of an electromagnet.