Atomidoodle
Use the game as an enrichment or practice tool once students are familiar with the periodic table and the atomic numbers of the elements. If possible, let students complete the challenges individually for a given amount of time at the start or end of class. Alternatively, kids can work in small groups, taking turns to try to unlock an element. After each gameplay session, come together as a class and share the elements that were unlocked and any specific strategies students used.
Continue readingWhen students start Atomidoodle, they can follow through stages of a tutorial or go straight to the leveled challenges. In each challenge, a machine called an "examinator" requests specific atoms. Kids have to get the requested atoms to the examinator by moving them through the maze-filled portal. Sometimes the correct atom is released and can be moved directly to the examinator. Other times, students have to use a widget to produce the requested atoms.
Widgets either combine atoms (fusion) or split them (fission). Widgets can also hold atoms until students are ready to send them to the examinator. For example, if the requested atom is helium, but only hydrogen atoms are released, students can combine two hydrogen atoms in the fusion widget to get helium. Elements on the periodic table are unlocked as students play and can be clicked to learn more about their properties. Fun facts pop up throughout gameplay.
Atomidoodle makes learning about the elements a lot more fun than simply studying the periodic table. The fast-paced puzzlers will keep kids engaged as they learn how to identify atomic numbers and split and combine atoms to produce an atom with a specific atomic number. Using fission and fusion will also prompt students to apply their math skills, as they mentally multiply and divide numbers before deciding whether or not these processes will work. Atoms must be moved along the mazes or they will explode. They can be built back up, but it takes time.
Because of the fast pace and the need to think quickly, this game is best suited for kids who know the basics of the periodic table. Adding a practice level or slowing the pace could make the game more appealing to kids who are just learning these concepts. An option to build atoms from scratch and see how they interact with other atoms might make the game better-aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.
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