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Educational Games and SMARTboard tools
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ON THIS PAGE....

Download educational
demos ... and games like
Spongebob Squarepants
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ICT tools using
Game Maker... Michael has
been teaching GameMaker in New
Zealand at Secondary school (High
School) and Tertiary level. Not
just for students, he demonstrates
GameMaker can create educational
games, simulators and eLearning
resources.
Students from Inglewood High
School and New Plymouth
Girls' High have been taught
to create games that are fun to
play while learning about programming,
logic and graphics design.
Teachers:
Did you know you can use Game
Maker to create interactive whiteboard
(IWB) or SMARTboard applications?
See the GameMaker examples below...
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Michael's workshop:
New Zealand Association of Mathematics
Teachers conference September 2007
INTERACTIVE ICT
TOOLS LINKING MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND
ROBOTICS - GETTING THE MOST FROM GAME
MAKER
Interactive
whiteboard (IWB) or SMARTboard
capable for science, spelling,
maths, a second language, music,
the road code, anything! The examples
below were all created using Game
Maker...
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GENETICS EXAMPLE
In 2006 Michael created a DNA
Fingerprinting and DNA sequencing
simulator that can also download
and run real DNA sequences from
the NCBI Genbank database! It
even reads the sequence out loud...cool!
Identify which child is adopted
in a family of five, or which
disease organism is in a patient
sample or identify which suspect
was at the crime scene. Each time
the application is run a unique
set of prints is generated. GeneE
is fast and full of features yet
it fits on a floppy disk!
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DATA LOGGING / ELECTRONICS
EXAMPLE
2007 - Michael's Real-world
Interactive Games and Electronics
Link. RIGEL
can record data from up to 4 channels
from a 08M PICAXE
chip, displaying
data as analogue gauge, digital
meter, column graph, or line graph.
It can also remotely monitor or
activate valves and switches as
a process control system as well
as interface the 08M chip with
the games projected into a room.
Data can be echoed to a network
or the internet. RIGEL
is fast and full of features yet
it fits on a floppy disk!
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GeneE
- UV lamp makes DNA bands visible
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RIGEL
displays a heartbeat trace
using a sensor of Michael's own
design.
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MULTIMEDIA
DATABASE EXAMPLE
In 2007 Michael
created the MATRIX database;
a random access flat file database
that can be 'skinned'. It can
play as well as store multimedia
content and webpages, and of
course handle the traditional
text content.
The MATRIX can
even be used to store games
and tools made using Game Maker!
The screen shot
below shows a database to store
information and files relating
to SciFi TV shows.
MATRIX can store
and display the following file
types:
ppt, doc, rtf,
txt, wav, mp3, mpg, mp4, mov,
xls, gmd, gm6, gmk, exe, jpg,
gif, bmp, html, htm
SEE THE SCREENSHOT
BELOW...
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CLOCK EXAMPLE
In 2007 Michael
created a clock that can display
the time in:
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Binary (base
2)
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octal (base
8)
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hexadecinmal
(base 16)
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roman numerals
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The MATRIX...created
using Game Maker, this is a true random
accessflat file database to store and
play multimedia content; print and search
too! Get the students to build a dynamic
database full of interactive content,
including webpages and movies! Share
with colleagues or students...it is
'skinable' so each database can have
a look to suit its theme or contents.
The MATRIX can even be used to store
Game Maker games and tools!
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SOLAR SYSTEM
EXAMPLE
The Planets
3D: Watch the planets rotate
on their axis in 3D!
Modified to include
axis tilt, new textures, zoom
in/out, difference in sizes; original
code from the Game
Maker community.
A new build for
2008 will show the moons of Jupiter
and have a better camera view
mechanism.
Download
2007 demo here... (5.6
MB zip)
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MATHEMATICS
EXAMPLE

Graph-X:
Graph Explorer
Explore many
kinds of graphs found in mathematics
and physics.
What happens
if we change the m value in
y = mx + c ? Does it change
the slope or the height?
What about parabolas,
circles, ellipses, and trigonometric
modelling?
Great for the
IWB or SMARTboard, this graph
simulator gets to the point
quickly and clearly.
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Who wants
to be a Millionaire?
Interactive
fun for the whole class!
3 life lines
Question bank
for any curriculum area, any year
level!
Includes the
sound effects from the TV show!
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Mission:Impossible
game - Operate
a nuclear reactor in this GameMaker
simulation, seen at the 2003
Science Fair. A great Year 12
Physics resource!
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Downloads:
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Asteroids
game: At the 2002
Science and Technology Fair
we had a TARDIS console from Doctor
Who as our trade display. This
game (written in just one hour!)
was a definate hit!
NRG
Blast Version 1.0 demo EXE
(ZIP file)
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ThunderBirds! Written
for the 2003 course this example
is based on the ThunderBirds TV
series. Fly Thunderbird 2 and
drop Pod 4!
NEW...a
3D version...fly Thuinderbird
2 over Tracey Island, operate
Thunderbird 4 under the sea...
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Spongebob Squarepants
game: Written for the Fenton girls
as a Christmas 2004 present, this
is a demonstration of what Game
Maker can do. A quick cut and
paste of some of the GM tutorials
lets you go Jelly Fishing with
Spongebob, jump platforms in Squidwards
Escape, eat Krabby Patties to
avoid Plankton in a Pacman like
level, and solve mazes with Patrick.
Spongebob
demo EXE (ZIP file);
7 Mb file!
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Faery Kingdom game: Written
for the Fenton girls as a Christmas
2003 present, you must put out
fires to save the forest, turn
dangerous spiders into harmless
frogs, turn bats into butterflies,
and send baby dragons back to
their homes. Catch power balls
to gain extra spell power!
Faery
Kingdom V1.0 demo EXE
(ZIP file)
Five year old Kimberley is in
the process of adding two new
levels...
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Jet Fighter game: After
the Science Fair beginner programmer
Chris Abraham created this after
only one day learning to use Game
Maker!
Jet
Fighter V1.0 demo EXE (ZIP
file)
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Space Fighter game: Here
Chris has changed the sprites
and background to create a space
combat experience. The enemies
chase you as well as their bullets!
Space
Fighter V1.0 demo EXE (ZIP
file)
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Executable file
only
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Game Maker 6
is for Win 98 and WinXP. GM
6 games can be converted to
Vista compatable format. GM
7 is the latest version available
from YoYo Games...
The games created by our Inglewood
High students are for GM 6 unregistered
version.
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Click
to visit Game Maker website
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Special
Effects:
Asteroids game:
A good example of what you can
do with Game Maker was seen at
the Science and Technology Fair.
We had a TARDIS console (from
the TV program Doctor Who)
as our trade display. A computer
game (written with no prior knowledge
of games programming in only two
hours) was a big hit! We gave
away over 150 computer disks that
included the game and information
about the NRG. Read
more about our
success at the Fair...
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Download
Game
Maker and
start developing an EDUCATIONAL
game for the next competition!
Download
rules and entry forms
or learn about our GM
classes on Wednesday nights
and Saturday mornings ...
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