7.+Simulations

· Chris Mahar- Simulations · [] · I think that simulations can be a great way for kids to learn. I used a math game when I was in Elementary school to help me and I had a lot of fun playing the game. Math is typically the hardest subject for most students and I think this is one of the best ways to help. However, I think a con of the website is that it is generally for kids in lower grades. I’m sure there are other websites that are set up to facilitate High School students in math. They also have a section for words to help kids in spelling. Again, the website could be a lot better if it were geared toward High School students too. Typically the spelling section would be quite useless because of thing’s such as spell-check, but it still would be useful for the younger kids who don’t use computers.
 * Submit your examples of simulations here. You should focus on simulations that would be important to teachers or educators. Check page 213 in your text if you have questions related to simulations. Please be sure that your submission contains your name, website title and address (hyperlinked), and at least a 100 word review of the simulation (see ** **submission example** **with questions). **

Eric Greiner – Free Online Simulation Games [] Simulations can be a fun way to help kids learn about certain subjects. This website has math games that help students out with certain problems and formulas. I think this would have been a great resource for one of my math teachers to use when I was in elementary, middle, or high school. Math has always been a very difficult subject for me and these math simulation games are perfect tools to assist in teaching kids about math. This site has simulations for all grade levels and it looks somewhat age appropriate as well. This is a fun way to teach a subject that is very boring to a lot of students.

Alex Roberts Alice [] This website helps students and teachers become more interested in learning through a simulation. When using this website you can create your own simulation, or learn from someone who has already created one. I think this would be a fun, new, and interesting way to teach a lesson about something that may not be so fun. If you could use a simulation that would make math fun and interesting I think that would be great, I think it would be great because I personally don’t like math and if someone made it more fun and interesting it might help me focus more in the class. By using this website you can do that, which is great.

Marissa Green- Educational Games [] Simulation gaming has been in education for awhile, but I never really would think that school subjects and videogames could be somehow be put together and be used to learn. I think that since most kids especially at a young age tend to be visual learners. In that being said creating online games that help the student learn the particular subject will capture the student’s attention. This website explains in a nutshell of what I just said. They explain about simulation and how to relate simulation to education. They have many stories and opinions on this matter. They also have education games listed. Just think of leap frog, I’m sure everybody has heard of that. It is a video game that is working children’s brains as they watch their favorer cartoon characters teach them how to problem solve.

Jagdeep Kang-Math Simulations [] This website focuses mainly on math simulations, but it also has simulations for English and Science studies. This website offers simulations for most children from kindergarten through ages 12. This is helpful to teachers so that they know that it is appropriate for the ages of their students that they have in their classroom. Most of the math simulations involve the stock market; this helps children understand the value of managing your money at a young age.

Jeffrey Bennett- Simulations [] This site I thought was kind of plain but it offered lots of different simulations based on your interest. It list all the categories top to bottom and underneath it gives a description of the simulation and what it is related to. If you click on a simulation it brings you to a different site which it does for all of the simulations since the site is just the source. Some of the simulations have free trials while others have to be paid for in order to access which I thought was neat since most of the simulations I looked at were fancy.

Daniel Schwartz- World war 1 crisis >
 * []
 * This is a simulation in conflict resolution. Students are put into teams representative of the country’s present in Europe during 1914. The goal of this simulation is to end the game with the greatest possible outcome for your country. The teams are structured similar to what you would see in a government body. This is an awesome simulation for a history class, and it also brings forward the question of whether or not peaceful resolution of differences is worth it. Being a game where there can be losers students should learn a lesson in peace. Which the world as a whole needs more of.

Jordan Shifflett - Simulate
 * @http://www.simul8.com/products/edu/?gclid=CMqW3cPs3aQCFUIUKgodKXlkKg
 * This website does cost $19.95 but is well worth it. With the purchase of this the teacher receives free upgrades for life and a manual showing teachers how construct their very own educational simulations. It also includes workbooks for students and all simulations already have tutorials included to get them started. It also includes free student additions so students can work outside of school on any educational simulations created or assigned by the teacher. This although is not free is worth every penny spent. Simulations can be a fun way to teach and for students to expand their minds and learn.

Kellie Yanek- The Stock Market Game [|http://www.smg2000.org/overview.htm]l This stimulation puts kids into a life like reality of a stock market. Students receive 100,000 of fake money and get to work in teams practicing leadership and evaluate stocks. This not only helps students with math but economics as well. This can give students hands on learning experience and would help teachers present the material better. This game makes students want to be involved in the classroom actives because it’s more like a video game than a worksheet. The stimulation appeals to more students because it is fun and can keep his or her attention better than working on graphs or such.

Shannon Grover- Bizworld []

Bizworld is a website designed to educate children in grades 3-8 about business. Through this website they can explore the world of business in various simulations and even make their own movie. This site fosters the development of many important skills in children such as learning to save and invest and other basic business skills that the child can benefit from later in life. This website is a very creative tool for teachers to bring into the classroom because it can be very beneficial in organizing a lesson about business, and it brings creativity to the lesson that makes it more meaningful for the child. The benefits of this lesson will stick with the child for years to come.

Kristyn McCarty-Learn4Good [] This driver’s education simulation is not only useful in the classroom, but also can be used at home. This game can be used for a variety of things. For one kids’ can learn the importance of learning to drive an automobile. First you put the instructor you want to drive with. Then you pick what you want to do. You can practice lessons, change your instructor, or do the driving test. I think this would be beneficial for teachers because they can have their students play this game and learn the important concepts of driving. Yes this game is fun and entertaining, but it is also stressful if you don’t know the concepts of driving. For example, I decided to try out this game for myself. I chose to do the driving test first and I surely did not do a good job. They threw me right into parallel parking and I had no idea how to park the car. I kept driving into the car in front of me and then reversing into the car that was behind me. Reading the directions is an important key concept when playing this game. If you follow the directions you will surely be able to figure out how to control your moving vehicle.

Sarah Fairburn-Cell Biology Animation [] This stimulation is very explanatory. It thoroughly teaches each step of different biological processes in which a cell and DNA undergoes. It is a bit interactive for the student enough that the student could watch and learn by seeing what is actually happening within a cell. The teacher could visually show the students what the lesson is and since the stimulation is designed with different places to stop for students to comprehend what they had just seen. This gives the teacher a chance to make sure that the students know what is going on and to ask and answer questions.

Carlyn Seeman – Online DriversEd Game @http://www.learn4good.com/games/simulation/driverseducation.htm

This simulation game is for kids that are in driver’s education class or even for younger kids just for fun or early experience driving. This game allows students to actually drive a car with the arrow keys as the steering wheel and the space bar for brakes. Lessons such as parallel parking, left turn at a green light, and pulling out of a parking space are included in this game. It teaches kids the correct way to carry out these driving techniques and tests them after the practice skills. They are guided through the process by either a police officer or a DriversEd teacher. This game is very creative and teaches the harder techniques in driving.

Chance Fink – Educational Card Games Assessment for Learning Activities

@http://nuke.educationalcards.net/ScienceGames/tabid/470/Default.aspx

This website has several different simulations and learning games for students between the ages of eleven and sixteen. These simulations are becoming more and more popular in the classroom because it is an interactive and fun way for the students to learn. The website offers a variety of card games, cross word puzzles, and word searches for a variety of subjects. They all have simple rules, which once learned can be applied to other games. This is a great way for kids to become involved in the classroom. These games challenge the students and encourage them to use their strategy skills to solve the problems.

Molly O’Shea – Math Simulations Simulation [] This is great website for educational simulations. Its focus is on math simulations but it also has simulations for other subjects. This site offers simulations for every level. This is beneficial for teachers because there are tons of different simulations that they can do for different subjects. The simulations also have a grade level on them so that the teachers know that the simulations are appropriate for the grade level that they are teaching. The teachers can also decide if the simulations are too hard or too easy for their students and then pick a simulation at a different level.

Emily Davis- Houghton Mifflin Science: Discover Simulations
 * @http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmsc/content/simulation/
 * This website is a great website for elementary science teachers to use for simulations. The website has interactive activities and videos for grades K-6. The website only has stimulations for science classes, but the website simulations cover all the important topics that are covered in elementary science classes. The interactive activities ask questions and have the students answer the questions, figure out puzzles, and learn the lessons on their own. These simulations are great because the students are interested in the simulations; more than they would be in the teacher lecturing in front of the class. The simulations have better real life pictures for the students to look at instead of looking at pictures in a text book.

Tori Fraher - Description and Lesson Plan for the Base 10 Blocks Program [] Elementary teachers would find this cite to be very helpful for their math class, this is suggested to be used by K-5 grade teachers. It is like interactive game where the students can use blocks the size of 1 unit, 10 units, or 100 units to learn their adding, subtracting, etc. This is a great way for younger students to learn to use basic arithmetic. It is very helpful for a student to be hands on and visualizing these math situations rather than just writing numbers down on a sheet of paper, teachers could use this as an activity once they have the basic understanding down of how to add, it will give the children more practice and let them have a little fun.

Brad Mandarino – The Connected Classroom

http://theconnectedclassroom.wikispaces.com/Simulations

Simulations are incredibly helpful for teachers and students. They are able to teach someone something while showing exactly how it should be done. This site provides many other sites that are great online simulations. Using an online simulation is almost like learning the specific subject matter in person. It gives exact steps and examples of what is being taught. This site would be a great resource for teachers because it gives them many simulations for many subjects. With the help of simulations teachers can teach more effectively and the students will have a better understanding of the subject matter that is being taught.

Rachel Senior- Simulation Games

@http://www.learn4good.com/games/simulation/build_bridge_across_canyon2.htm

This website provides students with access to free, online simulation games that are entertaining while providing valuable educational instruction. For example, Bridge Builder is one of the games available that contains multiple levels to challenge the students. The object of the game is to build a bridge across a canyon while staying within a budget. This game teaches not only physics but budgeting skills as well. As the student progresses from level to level, the games get more challenging and educational, while providing enough fun aspects to keep the student engaged. While this site is fun and educational, the premium simulation websites require that you purchase a paid subscription.

CJ Stewart

Interactive Simulations University of Colorado at Boulder [] This site provides sweet downloadable java based simulations. There are several features that set this site apart from the multitude of other physics simulation sites. First it allows you to download the simulations making it more portable and easier to bring into the classroom. The simulations also have a record feature allowing you to record the simulation and play it back this makes setting up a demonstration for a class stable. The simulations also create free body diagrams and detailed graphs of important data. Finally the icing on the cake this site includes simulations with added games so that students using the simulation can engage in games related to the topic of the simulation.

Brandon Campbell-Shareware Connection

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This website allows for anyone, who manages to stumble across this website, to play any one of a list of different simulation games. Not only that, you get a description of the game. That way, you can get an understanding of the game, before you even play the game, and then decide if you want to play that game or not. And not only does this site have simulations, it also had other games you can play and other educational videos. Overall, this is a fun site if you want to play simulation games…but if you’re not the game type, you can always visit the home page to see what other interesting stuff this site has.


 * Camille Dobbins
 * http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/by-level/elementary-school
 * PhET is a simulation webpage that teaches children different topics. Students can experience things without the mess and liability! One of the simulations gives children the opportunity to invent a skate park that is safe to skate on. The students are required to apply their knowledge in all these simulations. Another opportunity for students arises in the frog dissection simulation. Some children become ill when cutting apart small animals and would rather just simulate the experience on the internet. These types of sites give teachers the ability to teach something for free because the simulations are downloadable without the risk of a child getting hurt. One con for this website is that a student may complain that it is not as interesting as actually performing the project themselves.