I get requests all the time for more interactive activities that are not only fun but actually make the kids think. In my search for new and exciting web applications for the classroom, I always start at Danny Nicholson's The Whiteboard Blog. In my book, this is the best blog for teachers who use an interactive whiteboard in the classroom.
Danny has found an outstanding website for Science class called The Magic Pen Game. This game is amazing. I simply cannot stop playing it. The objective is to draw objects on the screen to try to move a red ball around so it hits various red flags that are located on the screen. You draw objects like ramps and balls and hinges where you determine where to place the fulcrum. All objects behave as if they exist in our physical world.
If you're a Science teacher and your students have access to a computer or an interactive whiteboard, quit reading my blog and head over to The Magic Pen.
In the example above, the object is for the red ball to hit the red flag. I drew two ramps and two circles. The green circle is falling and should hit the orange circle so it rolls onto the ramp and then it should hit the red ball which should roll down the orange ramp and hit the red flag. There are a lot of other ways to get the red ball to hit the red flag by drawing objects on the screen.
Enjoy!
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HI- I tried the Magic Pen game last night and really liked it, but today when I planned on showing it to students there appeared a scantily clad young anime right next to the game. I later went back and had an even less dressed one on top of the game window, trying to get me to sign up for an avatar. Be careful if you show this to younger students--the game is great, but the page is risky. A great similar game that I use with students is Ramps--found at: http://www.tylersticka.com/2007/08/03/ramps . This is also good for use with SmartBoards.
Posted by: Donna Mingrone | May 20, 2008 at 01:00 PM