Math4Team/RIT/Projects/Fun Towers

Group Members

• Eric Mallon
• Tyler Bragdon
• Chris Daniels

Project Description

Fun Towers is a pre-existing game that can be found online in several version (http://www.funnytowers.com/ is one example) that has been ported to the XO, written in Squeak. Our team is modifying this purely numerical/card based game into one that can be used as a teaching tool as part of the 4th grade math project. Several proposed domains include:

• Identifying X-sided shapes

• Identifying multiples of a number (3, 6, 9, etc)

• Round whole numbers through 100,000 to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, and 100,000.

• Carry out simple unit conversions within a system of measurement, e.g., hours to minutes, cents to dollars, yards to feet or inches, etc.

Our initial goals in modifying the pre-existing game remain relatively simple and achievable, and our goal is to produce verifiable results that can be used to point to the very preliminary success of the math4 program, while more in-depth projects are still in development.

The game itself is simple, users are given a card and with it are able to remove from one of 3 pyramids of cards a card that is one greater or one lower in value. This card that has been removed is the users new card, and any cards that were covered by the removed card are now in play.

Initial Proposed Modifications

• Remove Timer: Though most versions of the Fun Towers game include some sort of timer, it would not be as applicable in an educational version of the game.

• Change card graphics: The game currently only supports cards which are integers from 1~13, new cards will need to be created which represent the elements of the mathematical series which we plan to implement.

• Implement level select: The player will need a way to chose which type of mathematical series they work with.

Possible Future Modifications

• Multi-player support: Allow players to work together to take down the towers, potentially allowing students of different skill levels to work together, by having each student working with a different topic.

Weekly Schedule

Week 6:

• Develop Schedule
• Game Prototype

Week 7:

• Finalize 4th grade math domains for levels
• Begin learning/working with code from open source fun towers game

Week 8:

• Produce modified cards for additional levels
• Initial integration of 4th grade math topics

Week 9:

• Implement in-game level selector
• Implement level transition

Week 10:

• Potential API integration
• General Polish