Program Your Own Game

Student Worksheet: You are the Engineer!

 You are a team of engineers which has to tackle the challenge of developing a new computer game for use by 6 - 10 year old children.

 Preparation
1. Review the various Student Reference Sheets.  
2. Read the Basic Programming guide that has been provided to you.

 Activity Steps
1. As a team, come up with a plan or idea for your game -- also come up with a name for your game.  In the box below, write a two sentence description of your new game that might be used in an advertisement:

Game Name:

Description:

	

2. Work together using the software and build your game.
3. Present your game to other teams in your class so they can see how your game works (you'll test out their games as well).
4. Complete the following questions about your game and other games developed in your classroom.
5. As a team, present your findings and reflections to the class.

 Evaluation Questions

1. How did your plan for your game change once you tried to build it using the software provided? 

2. How long do you think it would take to develop a new piece of word processing or graphic software?  How many people do you think it might take to work on the engineering team to build this type of software?  Why?

3.  Did you find that it was easier or harder than you thought to program a computer game?  Why?

4. What challenges did you face in building your game?

5. What other games developed in your classroom did you like the best?  Why?  What features appealed to you?

6. Do you think it was easier or harder to have developed this game as part of a team?  Do you think you would have been able to create your new design if you had not been working in a team?  What are the advantages of teamwork vs. working alone?

7. What did you learn about how engineers solve problems through this lesson?