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Lessons

    Aligns to:

    (Also available in Pyret)

    Students build a video game of their own design! Every game must have a player (their avatar), a danger (something to avoid), and a target (something to chase). Students build their world using function composition, animate characters through linear functions, handle keypresses with piecewise functions, detect boundaries with compound inequalities, and detect collisions with the distance formula.

    Lesson Goals

    Students will be able to…​

    • recognize meaningful applications of multiple algebraic concepts.

    • express their creativity through the design of a game context.

    • share their completed video game with friends and family to play.

    Student-facing Lesson Goals

    • Let’s create a video game!

    Materials

    Preparation

    • Following the default lesson order for Bootstrap:Algebra (e.g., teaching every lesson) will result in students building video games. That said, some teachers prefer to save all game-focused lessons for the end of the year, allowing students to create games in 1-2 weeks.

    • Decide if you want to teach concepts first - and culminate with students creating their games…​ or take an integrated approach, where students gradually add to their games over a longer period of time. It is up to you!

    Key Points for the Facilitator

    • Students add to their game’s code during a variety of lessons in Bootstrap:Algebra.

    • This project can be extended. Students can add their own "cheat codes" (piecewise/conditional functions). They can also add more complex movement (using quadratic, exponential, and trigonometric functions).

    🔗Build Your Own Video Game flexible

    Overview

    This project can be used as the capstone for Bootstrap:Algebra, or students can build their video games intermittently over a longer period of time. The video game project is designed to provide real-world and engaging connections to the following mathematical concepts: Coordinates; Simple and Compound Inequalities; Domain and Range; Composing Functions; Connecting Representations and Defining Functions; Rotation, Dilation, and Translation; the Distance Formula and Pythagorean Theorem; Piecewise Functions.

    Launch

    There are six phases of video game creation. Each phase (except for the first and the last) requires that you teach:

    • up to four prerequisite lessons during which students learn relevant coding skills and algebra concepts

    • one lesson where students use what they’ve learned to update the code of their Game Starter File

    In the first two phases (below), students conceptualize their game and then add images to their Game Starter File. The table below highlights (1) the lessons you will teach to reinforce relevant algebra and coding concepts, and (2) the lessons where students will update their personal video games.

    Phase Prerequisites Building the Game

    0

    Brainstorming

    NA

    Coordinates and Game Design

    1

    Game Imagery

    Order of Operations, Simple Data Types, Contracts, Defining Values

    Making Game Images

    By the end of Phase 0, each student will have created a "screenshot" of their video game by inserting images that they find on the web into a Google Draw template (Google). Along the way, students will think about horizontal and vertical position as represented by ordered pairs.

    In Phase 1, students acquire the skillset needed to actually add game images to section 0 of their Game Starter File. The programming concepts that students learn here form a foundation upon which to build, and will prove essential as students work through the remaining lessons. Students actually edit and update their games during Making Game Images.

    During Making Game Images, we recommend printing and distributing the student-facing rubric. This document will highlight the scope of the project - and your expectations - for students. Direct your students' attention to Rubric Row 1 ("Images") to clarify your requirements for this component of their video game. (We encourage you, of course, to edit the rubric to meet your classroom needs!)

    Investigate

    In the remaining phases, students add functionality to their games, drawing on more advanced coding and algebra concepts along the way.

    # Phase Prerequisites Building the Game

    2

    Character Movement

    Functions: Contracts, Examples & Definitions, Solving Word Problems with the Design Recipe

    Functions for Character Animation

    3

    Boundaries

    Problem Decomposition, Simple Inequalities, Compound Inequalities: Solutions & Non-Solutions

    Sam the Butterfly - Applying Inequalities

    4

    Player Movement

    Piecewise Functions and Conditionals

    Player Animation

    5

    Collisions

    NA

    Collision Detection - Distance and Inequality

    We encourage you to point out the relevant rubric rows as you progress through the above series of lessons.

    In Bootstrap:Algebra, we offer many additional lessons where students can develop their math and coding skills. The lessons outlined above are the ones considered essential for video game creation. We encourage you to integrate additional lessons that meet your students' needs.

    Synthesize

    • Encourage students to self-assess and revise their work as they progress through the lessons. Peer review is a powerful tool if time allows.

    • Celebrate students' work! Many Bootstrap teachers arrange video game launch parties, essentially creating a "science fair for the math department", complete with tri-fold posters explaining elements of the game and the math at work behind the scenes.

    These materials were developed partly through support of the National Science Foundation, (awards 1042210, 1535276, 1648684, 1738598, 2031479, and 1501927). CCbadge Bootstrap by the Bootstrap Community is licensed under a Creative Commons 4.0 Unported License. This license does not grant permission to run training or professional development. Offering training or professional development with materials substantially derived from Bootstrap must be approved in writing by a Bootstrap Director. Permissions beyond the scope of this license, such as to run training, may be available by contacting contact@BootstrapWorld.org.