Osy Osmosis - fun game that helps teach about osmosis

Osy Osmosis is a fun, educational game where you help Osy stay safe as she navigates through a very cool world collecting stars. The trick is to use osmosis to keep her in balance.

The game is not free ($1.99) but is very good, very fun, and educational. It was developed by researchers and educators and profits go towards creating other educational games.

It could be used as a great way to help teach osmosis in a fun way.

 

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Great, free Educational Games from NOAA about oceans and air

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has some great, free, educational games that teachers can use with their students.

There are over 25 different games and interactive activities that cover topics about water, air, the oceans, environmental issues and ocean life. Many of the games and activities are hosted on other sites, but gathered here for easy access

WaterLife: Where Rivers Meet the Sea is a game based on the ecosystem of a United States west coast estuary. It helps students learn about estuaries, food webs, and why estuaries are essential to ocean life and to humans.

This is a great way to have students learn about the oceans, air, and the environment while having fun playing a game.

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Brain Trainer app for Android helps you give your brain a workout

Brain Trainer app for Android is a free (full version for $0.99) app that has games to help you improve your memory and give your brain a workout.

There are games on math, letter and number sequences, picture memory games, shapes, colors, sudoku and puzzles.

This is a great app that can be used for fun or to help improve memory and thinking skills.

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CyQuiz - create your own quizzes and games for free

CyQuiz is a free site that allows you to create quizzes and games. You do not need to signup and it works in your browser (no Flash required). It works on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

There are existing quizzes you can use or you can create your own quizzes. Quizzes can have pictures and sound in them and you can create multiple skill levels in the games.

There are game templates and the games are great for helping students learn concepts while having fun.

It's free, easy to use, and a great way to create some quizzes and games for your students. You can also have students create games and quizzes as a class project. The site also has tutorials to help you.

CyQuiz: http://www.cyquiz.com/

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CellCraft - learn about cells through interactive game

CellCraft is a free interactive game were students learn about the cell as they play the game. It is free to download (as long as you give credit) in three different formats: SWF for embedding on webpages, EXE to play on a Windows computer, and APP to play on a MAC.

The creators are also developing a downloadable teacher's packet with more information about the game and lab for students to use as they play the game.

They also have a blog and forum on the site for users to share and get information and tips. There is a separate category in the forum for teachers too. http://cellcraftgame.com/forums/index.php?board=9.0

This is a fun way for students to learn about the cell.

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ClassTools - create interactive tools and games for Education

ClassTools is a free site that allows you to create free educational games, activities, quizzes, and more. You can host them on your own website or blog and there is no sign up required.

They also have some great templates, including Fakebook (create fake Facebook pages), Arcade game generator, QR code game generator and even have classroom timers, and a random name picker.

There are video tutorials on how to use the available tools also.

There are some great tools here for teachers to use to make some great activities for students. You could also have students use the tools to create projects for class.

NOTE: They are Flash based.

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Simutrans - free game - goal is to establish a successful transport company

Simutrans is a free simulation game with the goal to establish a successful transportation company.

Your goal is to establish a successful transport company. Transport passengers, mail and goods by rail, road, ship and air. Interconnect cities, districts, public buildings, industries and tourist attractions by buiding a transport network you always dreamed of.

Control and watch your finances and the traffic of your vehicles and goods. Start in 1880 and finish in 2050. There will be new vehicles and buildings throughout this time.

So, how does this have anything to do with education? Lots. Students will be developing teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving, organization, finances, and other skills while playing this game. It's a great resource for any class, especially a business class, to use as a learning tool.

Simutrans runs on Windows, Linux, BeOS/Haiku, MAC OS X.

  

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Game On - Increasing Learning through Online Games

Game On: Increasing Learning though Online Games is a site by teachers that has resources, links, ideas, and games to use in education to help students get engaged and understand concepts.

The site has sections on why and how games are useful in education to help students learn and understand and then has educational games sorted by topic (Arts and Musics, Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) and by grade level under topic (elementary, middle, high school). There is even a section devoted to resources to help you make your own educational games.

The Science-High School games section has some great games, some of which I knew about, and a bunch that I never knew of. Each page has the link to the game, as well as a description of the game.

Game On is a great resource for educators looking to incorporate games into their classroom to help students get engaged, develop skills, and better understand a topic.


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NationStates - free nation simulation game - create and run your own country

NationStates is a nation simulation game that allows you to create your own country with your own politics and ideas and then care for its people, "or oppress them".

You can also interact with other countries, participate in a type of united nations, and run your country as you see fit. There is a news and forum section also to share and get ideas and information.

This is a great way for students to really explore politics and government.

Here's a spotlight page on one of the countries.

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The Physics of Angry Birds Space explained

 

Angry Birds Space is the newest version of the extremely popular game and it is as fun and addicting as the other versions.

I have always thought that games made an excellent learning tool when done right, with the right support by the teacher. Many video games teach students actual content knowledge, but most of them teach critical thinking and problem solving techniques. Research has shown that video games are effective as learning tools and many companies are working on educational video games. But, other video games can be used educationally also.

I love Angry Birds. I've have played, and solved, every version of the game and every level. It's one of those games you can't put down. I've played on my old Palm Pre+, my HP TouchPad, my Droid Incredible 2, and even on Chrome. My students and I are always talking about the new levels and how to solve them. I also use it in my Physics class to allow students to have fun while investigating forces, motion, momentum, angles and projectile motion. They have to analyze the problem and think through solutions. They learn and have fun.

Each time someone talks about using Angry Birds as an educational tool, there is someone else talking about it's errors or inaccuracies. It's actually built using a very good and accurate physics engine, so it is a great educational tool. But, Angry Birds Space has a whole new part to it - variable gravity fields. While some have said that it is inaccurate, I think it is just being creative. There are bubbles around the space objects that have different gravitational and frictional effects. They are not true examples of how gravity works around an object, but are fun and different and can be used as an educational tool.



Rhett Allain, a writer at Wired Magazine, has analyzed the physics of Angry Birds Space and "has now calculated the forces that act within the bubble-like region outside asteroids. After going through the first level, Allain found a constant force that acts as a sort of gravitational pull, along with a constant frictional force that pulls in the opposite direction as the bird's velocity. The birds are launched at a similar speed as on Earth (25 m/s in space as opposed to 23 m/s), but Allain suspects they get a slight speed boost as they enter the "air" around the asteroid. You can go ahead and read the source to see his work, which includes both calculations of the birds' potential energy and scripted models that mimic the motion of a red bird in orbit."

Read more about his analysis here: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/the-gravitational-force-in-angry-birds-space/ 


Source:  http://www.theverge.com

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