Game Design
Content
Design Document for:
Zany Zoo
Design your own zoo while learning the difference between area and perimeter
All work Copyright ©2012 by Anne Oltman Written by Anne Oltman Version # 1.00
Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name
Table of Contents
ZANY ZOO___________________________________________________________________________1 VISION STATEMENT______________________________________________________________________3 Students will create a layout of a zoo and use the cages they built to describe the difference between area and perimeter.__________________________________________________________________3 MARKET ANALYSIS__________________________________________________________________4 AUDIENCE PROFILE_______________________________________________________________________4 DISTRIBUTION__________________________________________________________________________4 DETAILED GAME DESCRIPTION______________________________________________________5 THE CORE IDEA_________________________________________________________________________5 GAME OBJECTIVE_______________________________________________________________________5 GAME WORLD__________________________________________________________________________5 GAME PLAY___________________________________________________________________________5 SETUP_______________________________________________________________________________6 RULE/MECHANICS_______________________________________________________________________7 ASSESSING OUTCOMES_____________________________________________________________________9 OTHER ASPECTS_________________________________________________________________________9 PROTOTYPE/PLAYTEST_____________________________________________________________10 PROTOTYPE/PLAYSESSION #1: APRIL 28TH, 2012________________________________________________10 PROTOTYPE/PLAYSESSION #2: MAY 3RD, 2012__________________________________________________10
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Game Overview
Vision Statement
Students will create a layout of a zoo and use the cages they built to describe the difference between area and perimeter.
Children and parents of all ages love going to the zoo. It is a place that most children have happy memories of and can easily relate to. Zany Zoo is unique because it gives players a chance to design their own zoo and be creative with the shapes of the cages and the animals that live there. Each player is allowed to choose the types of animals in their zoo! This is a board game that will be great for ages 8 and up. It can be played in school or at home with family and friends. Each player receives a board that is divided into multiple one inch squares which represents the entire zoo. Players will earn area (each piece will be a one inch by one inch square) and perimeter pieces (skinny pieces that are each an inch in length) in order to build cages for animals. They will earn the pieces by answering challenging questions, rolling a die, and encountering positive events while building. To build the cages, players will connect the area and perimeter pieces like legos to their zoo board. The animals are separated into four groups based on their size. Each group is given an area the cage must be and an assigned point value. The larger the cage, the more points awarded. Once a cage is fully built, the player will connect an animal on top of the cage. A player may choose any animal out of all the animal cards to place on top of a cage. The only requirement is that the player must build the right size cage area for the animal he or she chose (each animal card states the cage area needed). Players will have to make decisions on the best ways to use their area and perimeter pieces in order to score the most points. Different size cages are worth different amount of points and the goal is to earn 12 points total! They will also encounter difficulties associated with the zoo such as a death of an animal, ran out of food, animal escaped, and visitors feeding animals human food. Players must give back some of their area and perimeter pieces to fix the problem. Students often get area and perimeter mixed up and this game will help players practice differentiating between area and perimeter. Research states that students retain more information when they have a real world situation to connect it to. Zany Zoo helps players make connections between a familiar situation and a new math concept. It gives them something to think back to when calculating area and perimeter in different situations. It is also great for kinesthetic learners. This game meets the learning objective of differentiating between area and perimeter because the player must state the correct area and perimeter for each cage they build to receive the points.
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Market Analysis
Audience profile
Zany Zoo is for any player that wants to learn the difference between area and perimeter. It teaches/reinforces what area and perimeter are. It is great for all types of students but would be especially helpful for kinesthetic learners and students with learning disabilities.
Distribution
First, children love animals and going to the zoo. The theme of the game would attract players. Second, parents and teachers would enjoy this game because it reinforces an important topic in math. Third, area and perimeter are on all standardized tests and schools could adopt this game. This game would be first marketed through the National Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM) and the National Middle School Association (NMSA). Once it gained recognition the game would hopefully sold in stores like Target.
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Detailed Game Description
The Core Idea
Zany Zoo allows players to design their own zoo and choose their favorite animals. Players can work with area and perimeter visually, kinesthetically, and connected to a real world situation they are familiar with. Players are able to learn math while they create their dream zoo.
Game Objective
The goal is to be the first player to 12 points by building cages and answering challenge questions! There are four different categories of cages based on the animal size. Each category has a given area and assigned point value from one to four. The larger the area the more points a player earns. Once a player builds a cage, they earn the points assigned to that cage. By drawing event cards, players will learn some of the obstacles and successes when designing a zoo and how they affect the building process. The main learning goal is differentiating between area and perimeter. Players only have a certain amount of area for their entire zoo, must leave sidewalks between cages, and must be patient while waiting for the pieces they need. Players will learn about a real life experience in which finding the area and perimeter of objects is important.
Game world
This game would be played on a game board. It would mostly be played in a classroom or a family/friends game night. Example of the game board piece Example of an area piece Example of a perimeter
Game Play
Once the game is setup each player rolls the die to see who goes first (highest number goes first) On a players turn 1. Roll the dice. The different sides of the dice are collect or event card 2. Decide to take a Challenge Card 3. Build cages if possible
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name If the player rolls collect, the player will collect the amount of area or perimeter pieces shown on the die. If the player rolls an event card, a player draws one. The event cards are things that might happen while building a zoo. Some are positive things and allow a player to collect extra area and perimeter pieces. Some are obstacles that zoo builders might encounter and players will have to give back area and perimeter pieces to fix the problem. For example, a water pipe breaks or an animal dies or the local newspaper wants to advertise your zoo for free. A player also has the opportunity to draw a challenge card. Each challenge card has an area or perimeter problem on it. If the question is answered correctly the player is able to collect the amount of pieces stated on the card. If the question is answered incorrectly the player must give back the pieces on the card. Both the challenge and event cards allow players to gain more pieces but they are taking a risk each time they draw one because they might have to give back pieces. Also, if a player answers five challenge cards correctly, they earn two bonus points. Players are always looking to build cages to earn points. Once a player decides which animal they would like to have in their zoo, they must have enough area and perimeter pieces to build the specific cage for that animal. The cage can be any shape the player wants (regular or irregular) but must have the exact area stated on the animal’s card. Players are allowed to begin building a cage even if they do not have enough pieces (as long as the pieces are connected). This helps players see how many more pieces they need to finish the cage. An animal cannot be placed on top of the cage until it is complete. For example if a player is building a butterfly (area of 6 inches squared), they may put 4 area pieces and 2 perimeter pieces on their zoo board. With each turn they may add to it until a complete cage is built. Players must strategize the best way to earn points. The most common way to earn points is by building cages. Players must decide to build multiple small cages or if they should save up their pieces and build larger cages. They must also think about if they want to go for the other ways to earn points. Other ways to earn points 1. First player to build 3 cages earns a bonus point 2. Any player to answer 5 challenge cards correctly earns 2 bonus points
Setup
The first time children play this game, they should play with an adult or any player that has played before. This ensures they play correctly. After the first or second time playing with an adult, children would be more than able to play on their own. Players do not need to know the difference between area and perimeter because that is what they will learn in the game. The only physical materials needed are everything included in the game box. First time players must read the directions. They should pay careful to attention on how to earn points, which pieces area and which pieces are perimeter, and know all the rules to the game. Players will pass out the zoo boards so each person has one. A pile of the area pieces and a separate one of the perimeter pieces needs to be made. There should be card piles turned facedown for the event and challenge cards. The animal cards should be laid out separately so each one can be read and the plastic animal laid on top of it. At the beginning each player receives 3 area pieces and 3 perimeter pieces. Once the game is setup and the players know the rules, each player rolls the die to see who goes first. Whoever has the highest roll goes first. At the beginning of the game everyone’s zoo boards should be blank. It is recommended players make separate piles of area and perimeter pieces in front of them.
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Rule/Mechanics
On a players turn 1. Roll the dice. A player has the chance of rolling “collect area or perimeter pieces” or an “event card” 2. Player decides to draw or not draw a challenge card 3. Build cages if possible Die Sides 1. Collect—Take the number of area or perimeter pieces stated 2. Event—Draw an event card. Each event card has a success or a struggle once could go through while building a zoo. The success cards allow the player to collect area and perimeter pieces. The obstacle cards make players return area and perimeter pieces. If a player can’t return the given number of pieces, the event card must be laid in front of them until it is possible to return all pieces. Below are two examples An anonymous donor donates one million dollars to your zoo. An animal becomes sick
Collect: 6 area and 3 perimeter
Return: 3 perimeter and 2 area
Challenge Cards 1. Challenge cards give you the opportunity to earn extra area and perimeter pieces. 2. Each Challenge card has a difficult area or perimeter problem for the player to solve. If you get the problem correct, you get the stated number of area and perimeter pieces. If you get the problem wrong, you must give back the number of area and perimeter pieces stated on the card. If you don’t have as many pieces as the card says, you must keep the card in front of you and pay it off as soon as possible (just like an event card).
3 Area and 3 Perimeter
State the total area and perimeter of this boat.
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name Animal Cards and Plastic Animals 1. Each animal card has the area the cage must be and how many points will be earned once built 2. Once the cage is completely built and the player correctly stated the area and perimeter of the cage, the player may attach the plastic animal on top of the cage.
Frog
Area = 6 square inches Points=1
Otter
Area = 18 square inches Points=3
Tiger
Area = 30 square inches Points=4
Building Cages 1. You may begin building even if you don’t have all the necessary pieces. This helps players realize how many more area or perimeter pieces they need to complete a cage. 2. In order to place an animal in a cage and earn the associated points, the following must happen a. The cage is complete b. The player correctly states the area and perimeter of the cage. This means other players should be paying close attention to what each player says. If the player does not correctly state the area and perimeter, he or she may not earn the necessary points or place an animal in the cage. On the player’s next turn, he or she must try again to state the area and perimeter correctly. 3. Spaces must be left open as sidewalks when building cages. So two cages cannot be touching. 4. Cages can be regular or irregular figures Trading During a player’s turn, a player may trade 3 area pieces for 1 perimeter piece or 3 perimeter pieces for 1 area piece.
Earning Points 1. The main way to earn points is to build cages. There are four different cage areas that can be built and each one as a certain number of points. Once the cage is built the player earns those points. Confidential Page 11/3/2012 8
Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name a. Area of 6 square units—1 point b. Area of 10 square units—2 points c. Area of 18 square units—3 points d. Area of 30 square units—4 points 2. Being the first person to build 3 cages earns an extra bonus point. 3. Any player to answer 5 challenge cards correctly earns two bonus points. Below is an example of what the board game would look like. This player would get 1 point for the butterfly, 2 points for the prairie dog, and 3 points for the monkey.
Assessing outcomes The main learning outcome is that students differentiate between area and perimeter. Players demonstrate their proficiency at this every time they build a cage. They must state the perimeter and area of the cage they are building. If a teacher is using this game to assess a student’s progress, the teacher listens while the player states the area and perimeter of each cage built to see if the player has an understanding. Other players don’t want people building cages so they should be making sure that the player is accurate on the area and perimeter of the cage. The player will be able to visually see the difference between area and perimeter. They will also have to talk about area and perimeter pieces throughout the game. Other aspects Some students are able to differentiate between area and perimeter quickly. These players still need to be challenged. It would be great to have an advanced version of Zany Zoo. The learning objective of the advanced version would be for players to learn how to find one missing length when the area or perimeter and one other side length are given. The area and perimeter pieces would look the same and would be earned in the same way. The event cards and how the challenge cards are used would not change. Of course the questions on the challenge cards would have to be changed to match the learning goal. The animal cards would change to give a requirement of an area or perimeter and one side length. When the player builds the cage, the player would have to state the missing length and defend the reason why that is the missing length. The other players would have to be convinced of the explanation before the player may earn the points.
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name The largest rule change would deal with how players earn points. Players would earn points based on the missing length they find. For example if an animal’s cage must have an area of 12 inches squared and one length must be 4 inches, a player could make a rectangle cage with the other length being 3 inches. That would gain the player 3 points. The player could also build a triangle and make the missing length be 6 inches. The player would then earn 6 points. Earning points this way would make players think about the different possible side lengths and the different shapes that can be created with a given area and side length. There will be a total of 150 different animal cards. To avoid players choosing the exact same animals each time they play, 40 animal cards would be randomly chosen for each game. This would make each game unique because the cages players have to choose from constantly changes. A player would win by earning 30 points.
Prototype/Playtest
Did you prototype or playstest your game? Use this section to detail your findings. Prototype/Playsession #1: April 28th, 2012 I used one inch graph paper for the zoo boards and cut up one inch graph paper for the area pieces. I just cut up pink pieces of paper to represent the perimeter pieces. I created all the challenge, event, and animal cards on my computer and printed them out. I asked my boyfriend to play Zany Zoo with me. As I was reading him the directions I realized I had not thought about enough of the details. I remembered the article we read and decided to play rather than worry about what was missing. I’m glad I did this because I was able to add/change a lot to my original idea for this game by actually playing. Right off the bat I realized that adding up points for area and perimeter pieces would be too much for players to keep track off. So instead I put the animals into 4 groups based on their size. Each group was given an area the cage must be and also the number of points the player would earn. This means each player only needs to keep track of points up to 12. I realized that players needed more ways to earn points than by just building. So I added in the first player to build 3 cages earns a bonus point and the first player to answer 5 challenge cards earns 2 bonus points. My boyfriend had a pile of area pieces but no perimeter pieces. He was getting frustrated because he could not build anything. So I added in a rule that said player could trade 3 of one piece for 1 of another. We also ran out of event cards so I need to come up with more of those. After playing the game I realized that building cages of irregular shapes was the most fun. So I changed the learning focus from calculating the area and perimeter of quadrilaterals and triangles to differentiating between area and perimeter. However, I still wanted the aspect of using formulas to be involved with the game. So I decided I would make a advanced version of the game. I want to focus on the basic version and then set to work on the advanced version. Prototype/Playsession #2: May 3rd, 2012 This time I played the game with two of my sixth grade students. I was glad to know my students understood the directions and conveyed that to me because I did not need to give them much direction on how to play during the game. As we played I noticed that we were gaining a lot of perimeter pieces but not many area pieces. This made it difficult to build any cages. So during the game I changed the amount of area and perimeter pieces collected on the die. This change made the game more fun because we were all able to start building more cages. As we played we took a challenge card each time and we ran out. So I made a note to myself to Confidential Page 11/3/2012 10
Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name create more challenge cards. The pieces were not too hard to keep track off and my students really liked being able to choose the animals. They were engaged because they had just taken a field trip to the zoo and were able to tell me facts about some of the animals. My students told me they thought the game was very enjoyable and engaging. They said having the different area and perimeter pieces made it helpful to decipher between the two terms. They said the challenge cards were appropriate because they made them think but they were still able to solve them and did not get frustrated. They suggested I create some more animal cards for players to choose from. They also agreed that if I were to actually build the game having pieces that were not paper would be very helpful.
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Zany Zoo
Design your own zoo while learning the difference between area and perimeter
All work Copyright ©2012 by Anne Oltman Written by Anne Oltman Version # 1.00
Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name
Table of Contents
ZANY ZOO___________________________________________________________________________1 VISION STATEMENT______________________________________________________________________3 Students will create a layout of a zoo and use the cages they built to describe the difference between area and perimeter.__________________________________________________________________3 MARKET ANALYSIS__________________________________________________________________4 AUDIENCE PROFILE_______________________________________________________________________4 DISTRIBUTION__________________________________________________________________________4 DETAILED GAME DESCRIPTION______________________________________________________5 THE CORE IDEA_________________________________________________________________________5 GAME OBJECTIVE_______________________________________________________________________5 GAME WORLD__________________________________________________________________________5 GAME PLAY___________________________________________________________________________5 SETUP_______________________________________________________________________________6 RULE/MECHANICS_______________________________________________________________________7 ASSESSING OUTCOMES_____________________________________________________________________9 OTHER ASPECTS_________________________________________________________________________9 PROTOTYPE/PLAYTEST_____________________________________________________________10 PROTOTYPE/PLAYSESSION #1: APRIL 28TH, 2012________________________________________________10 PROTOTYPE/PLAYSESSION #2: MAY 3RD, 2012__________________________________________________10
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name
Game Overview
Vision Statement
Students will create a layout of a zoo and use the cages they built to describe the difference between area and perimeter.
Children and parents of all ages love going to the zoo. It is a place that most children have happy memories of and can easily relate to. Zany Zoo is unique because it gives players a chance to design their own zoo and be creative with the shapes of the cages and the animals that live there. Each player is allowed to choose the types of animals in their zoo! This is a board game that will be great for ages 8 and up. It can be played in school or at home with family and friends. Each player receives a board that is divided into multiple one inch squares which represents the entire zoo. Players will earn area (each piece will be a one inch by one inch square) and perimeter pieces (skinny pieces that are each an inch in length) in order to build cages for animals. They will earn the pieces by answering challenging questions, rolling a die, and encountering positive events while building. To build the cages, players will connect the area and perimeter pieces like legos to their zoo board. The animals are separated into four groups based on their size. Each group is given an area the cage must be and an assigned point value. The larger the cage, the more points awarded. Once a cage is fully built, the player will connect an animal on top of the cage. A player may choose any animal out of all the animal cards to place on top of a cage. The only requirement is that the player must build the right size cage area for the animal he or she chose (each animal card states the cage area needed). Players will have to make decisions on the best ways to use their area and perimeter pieces in order to score the most points. Different size cages are worth different amount of points and the goal is to earn 12 points total! They will also encounter difficulties associated with the zoo such as a death of an animal, ran out of food, animal escaped, and visitors feeding animals human food. Players must give back some of their area and perimeter pieces to fix the problem. Students often get area and perimeter mixed up and this game will help players practice differentiating between area and perimeter. Research states that students retain more information when they have a real world situation to connect it to. Zany Zoo helps players make connections between a familiar situation and a new math concept. It gives them something to think back to when calculating area and perimeter in different situations. It is also great for kinesthetic learners. This game meets the learning objective of differentiating between area and perimeter because the player must state the correct area and perimeter for each cage they build to receive the points.
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name
Market Analysis
Audience profile
Zany Zoo is for any player that wants to learn the difference between area and perimeter. It teaches/reinforces what area and perimeter are. It is great for all types of students but would be especially helpful for kinesthetic learners and students with learning disabilities.
Distribution
First, children love animals and going to the zoo. The theme of the game would attract players. Second, parents and teachers would enjoy this game because it reinforces an important topic in math. Third, area and perimeter are on all standardized tests and schools could adopt this game. This game would be first marketed through the National Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM) and the National Middle School Association (NMSA). Once it gained recognition the game would hopefully sold in stores like Target.
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name
Detailed Game Description
The Core Idea
Zany Zoo allows players to design their own zoo and choose their favorite animals. Players can work with area and perimeter visually, kinesthetically, and connected to a real world situation they are familiar with. Players are able to learn math while they create their dream zoo.
Game Objective
The goal is to be the first player to 12 points by building cages and answering challenge questions! There are four different categories of cages based on the animal size. Each category has a given area and assigned point value from one to four. The larger the area the more points a player earns. Once a player builds a cage, they earn the points assigned to that cage. By drawing event cards, players will learn some of the obstacles and successes when designing a zoo and how they affect the building process. The main learning goal is differentiating between area and perimeter. Players only have a certain amount of area for their entire zoo, must leave sidewalks between cages, and must be patient while waiting for the pieces they need. Players will learn about a real life experience in which finding the area and perimeter of objects is important.
Game world
This game would be played on a game board. It would mostly be played in a classroom or a family/friends game night. Example of the game board piece Example of an area piece Example of a perimeter
Game Play
Once the game is setup each player rolls the die to see who goes first (highest number goes first) On a players turn 1. Roll the dice. The different sides of the dice are collect or event card 2. Decide to take a Challenge Card 3. Build cages if possible
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name If the player rolls collect, the player will collect the amount of area or perimeter pieces shown on the die. If the player rolls an event card, a player draws one. The event cards are things that might happen while building a zoo. Some are positive things and allow a player to collect extra area and perimeter pieces. Some are obstacles that zoo builders might encounter and players will have to give back area and perimeter pieces to fix the problem. For example, a water pipe breaks or an animal dies or the local newspaper wants to advertise your zoo for free. A player also has the opportunity to draw a challenge card. Each challenge card has an area or perimeter problem on it. If the question is answered correctly the player is able to collect the amount of pieces stated on the card. If the question is answered incorrectly the player must give back the pieces on the card. Both the challenge and event cards allow players to gain more pieces but they are taking a risk each time they draw one because they might have to give back pieces. Also, if a player answers five challenge cards correctly, they earn two bonus points. Players are always looking to build cages to earn points. Once a player decides which animal they would like to have in their zoo, they must have enough area and perimeter pieces to build the specific cage for that animal. The cage can be any shape the player wants (regular or irregular) but must have the exact area stated on the animal’s card. Players are allowed to begin building a cage even if they do not have enough pieces (as long as the pieces are connected). This helps players see how many more pieces they need to finish the cage. An animal cannot be placed on top of the cage until it is complete. For example if a player is building a butterfly (area of 6 inches squared), they may put 4 area pieces and 2 perimeter pieces on their zoo board. With each turn they may add to it until a complete cage is built. Players must strategize the best way to earn points. The most common way to earn points is by building cages. Players must decide to build multiple small cages or if they should save up their pieces and build larger cages. They must also think about if they want to go for the other ways to earn points. Other ways to earn points 1. First player to build 3 cages earns a bonus point 2. Any player to answer 5 challenge cards correctly earns 2 bonus points
Setup
The first time children play this game, they should play with an adult or any player that has played before. This ensures they play correctly. After the first or second time playing with an adult, children would be more than able to play on their own. Players do not need to know the difference between area and perimeter because that is what they will learn in the game. The only physical materials needed are everything included in the game box. First time players must read the directions. They should pay careful to attention on how to earn points, which pieces area and which pieces are perimeter, and know all the rules to the game. Players will pass out the zoo boards so each person has one. A pile of the area pieces and a separate one of the perimeter pieces needs to be made. There should be card piles turned facedown for the event and challenge cards. The animal cards should be laid out separately so each one can be read and the plastic animal laid on top of it. At the beginning each player receives 3 area pieces and 3 perimeter pieces. Once the game is setup and the players know the rules, each player rolls the die to see who goes first. Whoever has the highest roll goes first. At the beginning of the game everyone’s zoo boards should be blank. It is recommended players make separate piles of area and perimeter pieces in front of them.
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Rule/Mechanics
On a players turn 1. Roll the dice. A player has the chance of rolling “collect area or perimeter pieces” or an “event card” 2. Player decides to draw or not draw a challenge card 3. Build cages if possible Die Sides 1. Collect—Take the number of area or perimeter pieces stated 2. Event—Draw an event card. Each event card has a success or a struggle once could go through while building a zoo. The success cards allow the player to collect area and perimeter pieces. The obstacle cards make players return area and perimeter pieces. If a player can’t return the given number of pieces, the event card must be laid in front of them until it is possible to return all pieces. Below are two examples An anonymous donor donates one million dollars to your zoo. An animal becomes sick
Collect: 6 area and 3 perimeter
Return: 3 perimeter and 2 area
Challenge Cards 1. Challenge cards give you the opportunity to earn extra area and perimeter pieces. 2. Each Challenge card has a difficult area or perimeter problem for the player to solve. If you get the problem correct, you get the stated number of area and perimeter pieces. If you get the problem wrong, you must give back the number of area and perimeter pieces stated on the card. If you don’t have as many pieces as the card says, you must keep the card in front of you and pay it off as soon as possible (just like an event card).
3 Area and 3 Perimeter
State the total area and perimeter of this boat.
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name Animal Cards and Plastic Animals 1. Each animal card has the area the cage must be and how many points will be earned once built 2. Once the cage is completely built and the player correctly stated the area and perimeter of the cage, the player may attach the plastic animal on top of the cage.
Frog
Area = 6 square inches Points=1
Otter
Area = 18 square inches Points=3
Tiger
Area = 30 square inches Points=4
Building Cages 1. You may begin building even if you don’t have all the necessary pieces. This helps players realize how many more area or perimeter pieces they need to complete a cage. 2. In order to place an animal in a cage and earn the associated points, the following must happen a. The cage is complete b. The player correctly states the area and perimeter of the cage. This means other players should be paying close attention to what each player says. If the player does not correctly state the area and perimeter, he or she may not earn the necessary points or place an animal in the cage. On the player’s next turn, he or she must try again to state the area and perimeter correctly. 3. Spaces must be left open as sidewalks when building cages. So two cages cannot be touching. 4. Cages can be regular or irregular figures Trading During a player’s turn, a player may trade 3 area pieces for 1 perimeter piece or 3 perimeter pieces for 1 area piece.
Earning Points 1. The main way to earn points is to build cages. There are four different cage areas that can be built and each one as a certain number of points. Once the cage is built the player earns those points. Confidential Page 11/3/2012 8
Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name a. Area of 6 square units—1 point b. Area of 10 square units—2 points c. Area of 18 square units—3 points d. Area of 30 square units—4 points 2. Being the first person to build 3 cages earns an extra bonus point. 3. Any player to answer 5 challenge cards correctly earns two bonus points. Below is an example of what the board game would look like. This player would get 1 point for the butterfly, 2 points for the prairie dog, and 3 points for the monkey.
Assessing outcomes The main learning outcome is that students differentiate between area and perimeter. Players demonstrate their proficiency at this every time they build a cage. They must state the perimeter and area of the cage they are building. If a teacher is using this game to assess a student’s progress, the teacher listens while the player states the area and perimeter of each cage built to see if the player has an understanding. Other players don’t want people building cages so they should be making sure that the player is accurate on the area and perimeter of the cage. The player will be able to visually see the difference between area and perimeter. They will also have to talk about area and perimeter pieces throughout the game. Other aspects Some students are able to differentiate between area and perimeter quickly. These players still need to be challenged. It would be great to have an advanced version of Zany Zoo. The learning objective of the advanced version would be for players to learn how to find one missing length when the area or perimeter and one other side length are given. The area and perimeter pieces would look the same and would be earned in the same way. The event cards and how the challenge cards are used would not change. Of course the questions on the challenge cards would have to be changed to match the learning goal. The animal cards would change to give a requirement of an area or perimeter and one side length. When the player builds the cage, the player would have to state the missing length and defend the reason why that is the missing length. The other players would have to be convinced of the explanation before the player may earn the points.
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Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name The largest rule change would deal with how players earn points. Players would earn points based on the missing length they find. For example if an animal’s cage must have an area of 12 inches squared and one length must be 4 inches, a player could make a rectangle cage with the other length being 3 inches. That would gain the player 3 points. The player could also build a triangle and make the missing length be 6 inches. The player would then earn 6 points. Earning points this way would make players think about the different possible side lengths and the different shapes that can be created with a given area and side length. There will be a total of 150 different animal cards. To avoid players choosing the exact same animals each time they play, 40 animal cards would be randomly chosen for each game. This would make each game unique because the cages players have to choose from constantly changes. A player would win by earning 30 points.
Prototype/Playtest
Did you prototype or playstest your game? Use this section to detail your findings. Prototype/Playsession #1: April 28th, 2012 I used one inch graph paper for the zoo boards and cut up one inch graph paper for the area pieces. I just cut up pink pieces of paper to represent the perimeter pieces. I created all the challenge, event, and animal cards on my computer and printed them out. I asked my boyfriend to play Zany Zoo with me. As I was reading him the directions I realized I had not thought about enough of the details. I remembered the article we read and decided to play rather than worry about what was missing. I’m glad I did this because I was able to add/change a lot to my original idea for this game by actually playing. Right off the bat I realized that adding up points for area and perimeter pieces would be too much for players to keep track off. So instead I put the animals into 4 groups based on their size. Each group was given an area the cage must be and also the number of points the player would earn. This means each player only needs to keep track of points up to 12. I realized that players needed more ways to earn points than by just building. So I added in the first player to build 3 cages earns a bonus point and the first player to answer 5 challenge cards earns 2 bonus points. My boyfriend had a pile of area pieces but no perimeter pieces. He was getting frustrated because he could not build anything. So I added in a rule that said player could trade 3 of one piece for 1 of another. We also ran out of event cards so I need to come up with more of those. After playing the game I realized that building cages of irregular shapes was the most fun. So I changed the learning focus from calculating the area and perimeter of quadrilaterals and triangles to differentiating between area and perimeter. However, I still wanted the aspect of using formulas to be involved with the game. So I decided I would make a advanced version of the game. I want to focus on the basic version and then set to work on the advanced version. Prototype/Playsession #2: May 3rd, 2012 This time I played the game with two of my sixth grade students. I was glad to know my students understood the directions and conveyed that to me because I did not need to give them much direction on how to play during the game. As we played I noticed that we were gaining a lot of perimeter pieces but not many area pieces. This made it difficult to build any cages. So during the game I changed the amount of area and perimeter pieces collected on the die. This change made the game more fun because we were all able to start building more cages. As we played we took a challenge card each time and we ran out. So I made a note to myself to Confidential Page 11/3/2012 10
Copyright (C) 2000 Your Name create more challenge cards. The pieces were not too hard to keep track off and my students really liked being able to choose the animals. They were engaged because they had just taken a field trip to the zoo and were able to tell me facts about some of the animals. My students told me they thought the game was very enjoyable and engaging. They said having the different area and perimeter pieces made it helpful to decipher between the two terms. They said the challenge cards were appropriate because they made them think but they were still able to solve them and did not get frustrated. They suggested I create some more animal cards for players to choose from. They also agreed that if I were to actually build the game having pieces that were not paper would be very helpful.
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