Have you ever wanted to blow something up? Or maybe you always dreamed of operating an atomic power plant? Do you have a will to develop your own CPU? The Powder Toy lets you to do all of these, and even more!
The Powder Toy is a free physics sandbox game, which simulates air pressure and velocity, heat, gravity and a countless number of interactions between different substances! The game provides you with various building materials, liquids, gases and electronic components which can be used to construct complex machines, realistic terrains and almost anything else. You can then mine them and watch cool explosions, add intricate wiring, play with little stick men or operate your machine. You can browse and play thousands of different saves made by the community or upload your own.
Click on the link above and then click on "Download Powder Toy"
This is a smaller, browser based version using similar concepts. It has less features and you can't save anything but it is a good alternative if you can't download a program.
To access go to www.byrdseed.tv/students
Class Name: greenbrier
Password: greenbrier
Scroll down until you find Paradox. Choose one, watch the video, and follow along to have your mind blown!
There are three paradox videos available:
1. Students will grapple with The Barber’s Paradox about a barber who may (or may not) shave himself.
The setup is: The barber is the person who shaves those, and only those, who do not shave themselves.
The question: Does the barber shave himself?
This sets up a contradiction:
The barber cannot shave himself, since barbers don’t shave those who shave themselves.
But, if he doesn’t shave himself, then he must shave himself, since barbers shave those who don’t shave themselves!
But… barbers cannot shave themselves.
2. Students will grapple with The Crocodile Dilemma, a paradox from Ancient Greece in which a set of parents negotiate with a tricky crocodile who has stolen their baby.
Here's the setup:
A crocodile has stolen a child. He will return the child if (and only if) the parents correctly predict what he'll do next (either return the child or keep the child).
The first situation is pretty simple, but the second one is a mind boggler.
If the parents guess that he'll return the child:
If he was indeed going to return the child, then they predicted correctly and he'll return it.
If he wasn't going to, then they predicted incorrectly and he keeps the child.
If they guess he was going to keep the child:
If he was indeed going to keep the child, they guessed correctly and he returns the child. But… then they actually guessed incorrectly and he'll have to keep the child. But then that's what they predicted and he has to return the child… and so on. PARADOX!
If he wasn't going to keep the child, then they guessed wrong, so he has to keep the child. BUT that's what they predicted in the first place so now they're right and he has to return the child, but he wasn't going to do that originally so now he has to keep the child… PARADOX!
Read more about the crocodile dilemma at Wikipedia.
3. Students puzzle through three variations on The Liar's Paradox.
The simple version: "This statement is a lie."
Two statements:
The following statement is true.
The previous statement is false.
The Pinocchio Paradox: "My nose will now grow!"
To access go to www.byrdseed.tv/students
Class Name: greenbrier
Password: greenbrier
Scroll down until you find Games. Watch the videos to learn one of the games and give it a try!
List of the Games with explanations:
Snakes
Students will strategically connect dots, looking to be the last to add to the snake.
Using a grid, students will connect dots to create an increasingly long snake. The last one to add a line wins.
On each move, the player's new line must connect two dots and form a vertical, horizontal, or 45º line.
The lines cannot cross over the snake or reuse the dots within the snake.
Each new line must start at one of the ends of the snake.
Eventually, one player will not be able to add another line and they lose.
For variations, check out Ben Orlin's writeup.
Bulls and Cows
is a code-breaking game for two players (or two teams). Each player creates a four-digit numerical code (or three-digit for an easier version). Note: Each digit in your code must be unique. No reusing the same numeral. So 1234 is ok, but 1223 is not since it duplicates the 2.
Each player, on their turn, guesses a four-digit number. The opposing player says how many “bulls and cows” they got.
A bull is a correct number in the correct place
A cow is a correct number in the wrong place
If my code were “3782” and you guessed “7152”, I’d say “one bull and one cow.” The bull is 2 and the cow is 7.
The first person to guess the other’s code wins.
Jotto
Students will guess each other's secret codewords through careful guessing.
Related to Bulls and Cows, but this version uses words rather than numbers.
Students each pick a code word (must be from the dictionary and no proper nouns). Five-letters is the default, but you could use four for an easier version.
Then, student A guesses a five-letter word.
Student B says how many letters were correct (regardless of their position or order).
Then Student B guesses and learns how many letters they got right.
They go back and forth, using new information to get them closer and closer to the right word.
The first person to guess the other's code word wins.
This game practices inducting thinking and encourages the development of a strategy.
Gomoku is basically Tic-Tac-Toe, except:
It's played on a 15×15 board.
Players must get exactly five-in-a-row.
If their move gets them six-in-a-row, it doesn't count.
Order and Chaos
In this Tic-Tac-Toe variant, both players can play as both Xs and Os. However, one player is Order and the other is Chais. Order wants to create order by getting five-in-a-row (either 5 Xs or 5 Os) and Chaos wants chaos by stopping all five-in-a-rows.
The game is played on a 6×6 grid.
Players take turns placing either Xs or Os (both players can use both symbols)
Order wins if there are five Xs or Os in a row.
Chaos wins when there is a cat’s game.
Ghost is a word-building game for two players.
Each player adds one letter to a growing word fragment each turn. The first player to finish an actual word loses. At each turn, the fragment must be the beginning of an actual word.
When a player loses, they earn a letter from the word GHOST (much like the basketball game HORSE). The first person to complete GHOST loses.
Abstract, paper-and-pencil games :
Dots and Boxes, Notakto, Sprouts, Col, Chomp
To access go to www.byrdseed.tv/students
Class Name: greenbrier
Password: greenbrier
Scroll down until you find Games: Inception Tic Tac Toe, Four Player Chess, Anti-Checkers. Watch the videos and follow along to learn how to play.
Each of these variations on common games will get students approaching a seemingly-familiar problem from a new perspective.
Here's a longer explanation of Inception or Ultimate Tic Tac Toe
A four player chess board you can buy from Amazon.com
Steps
Inception Tic-Tac-Toe - where each square on a tic-tac-toe board holds… another tic-tac-toe board!
Four Player Chess - in which four people play chess on the same board.
Anti-Checkers - where the goal is to lose!