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SimCalc Mathworlds
Simulations for Calculus Learning
This is still one of my favorite projects. Early-to-mid 90s sprite based
animations of graph-driven input from students or file. Tied directly into
the lesson plan, worked great in the classroom. The UFO exercise was great.
The students had to figure out rate to get the ufo positioned over boulders,
which it would then lift with a tractor beam (which only worked for a limited
time) and bring it over to that metal thing on the ground - a rock crusher.
The fx of the rock getting crushed was always a big win with the kids. James
Burke provided a terifying set of otherworldly sounds for the exercise.
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MathWorlds GUI - This is the user
interface of the app when I last saw it. There is a palette for the
simulation control that is not displayed that I will have to find a
copy of. Present are Clown and 'Dude'. Dude was made in response to
PI input, an amazon tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas, of course) in a
liesure suit wearing a crown. And he didn't walk, he strutted around
as if crossing the set for Saturday Night Fever. Clown was a standard
Pagliacci phenotype. I know clown could be colorized, I don't recall dude having
that ability.
Yes, that is a roll of tape. I get asked what the tape tool did so
here it is: The tape tool let the teacher mask part or all of the graph,
so the students would have to talk about how they believed the action
above was going to display as data. The hilighter was used in contrast
to illuminate parts of the graph data. |
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UFO World
Boy, did I like Bryce.
Somewhere the rest of this scene goes another screen
to the right. There was a better background planet as well. I will have
to find it.
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Ducky's World
Here is Ducky. Where is Mama? Ducky's World was all about Ducky finding
and keeping up with Mama, since that's what ducklings do. Suprise! More
Bryce. I believe this was 1995. This scenic also goes another screen to
the right. No doubt archived on a CD-ROM that is stuffed in a Whitesnake
jewelbox.
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MathFrogs
Same pond, later in the day. 'Dude' has shed his disco duds for a life
of nature.
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Alien Elevators
This was a different, earlier project, that focused on simple graphing,
rise-over-run translation. The students decrypted the alien lexicon
to retrace their path aboard an alien space station to reach the end
of their exploration and find a prize.
The controller at one point sported an Apple logo on the circle hinge,
and the dialating elevator doors used to be a chrome gnashing iris
which was deemed to frightening for the younger kids. I went with what
I called 'hole-punched balogna' as my next best texture. Couldn't be
much more alien than that.
As the elevator travelled, the doors would be closed and repeating
y-axis sprited were supposed to loop in those two side black-matted
areas. I don't know whether they were ever implmented, but the assets
existed. The background turqoise texture btw is a scanned-in piece
of paper I marbled.
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