The Book of Treasures: Word Game Worth Playing

http://www.games.com/play/aol-inc/the-book-of-treasures

Jessica West is a librarian at an ancient library that is rumored to house a lost Egyptian manuscript. One day she finds a secret room and discovers 35 envelopes, each containing six letters. Her curiosity piqued, Jessica is on a mission to discover the secret of where the hidden manuscript resides.

If you enjoy word games like Chicktionary but are ready for a word game and wraps a compelling mystery around challenging gameplay, The Book of Treasures will delight you.

Three ways to play:
* Quest Mode - Find all the pieces of the lost manuscript.
* Endless Mode - Complete as many levels as you can and go for the high score.
* Timeless Mode - Play with no time limit.

Free with ads

Problem Solving: Egg Drop

http://www.kongregate.com/games/Eggy/the-egg

In this physics based game you must get the egg into the basket quite simply by dragging around the various objects to bounce, twang, zip and push your egg into it.

Using Gears

http://www.engineering.com/GamesPuzzles/ConnectIt.aspx

Description
Solve the puzzle by placing gears in the right place, to put things in motion and connect the wires.

Walkthrough here.

Also: http://www.kongregate.com/games/ch00se/gears

scratch.mit.edu

Tried this with my 6-7-8th graders (technology elective), with mixed results.

Programming through object oriented UI, reminiscent of Hypercard and its descendants.

Radix Endeavor from MIT

The Radix Endeavor is a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning in middle and high school. An MMO is a 2- or 3-D graphical, simulated world played online where individuals take on a digital character, or avatar, that they use to represent themselves in this virtual space. They can interact with the designed environment in which activities take place, and also with other individuals' avatars or non player avatars that are part of the narrative. IMO, it is clearly designed to meet the NGSS and then some. It's beautiful and full featured and top shelf artwork. That said, it is PAINFULLY SLOW, and does not appear to be maintained by anyone. Multiple request for tech support over the weeks I've been playing have gone unanswered.

Quandry from Games for Change

Players aged 8 and up shape the future of a new society while learning how to recognize ethical issues and deal with challenging situations in their own lives. Players lead a new human colony on a distant planet. They must make difficult decisions in which there are no clear right or wrong answers but important consequences – to themselves, to others in the colony and to the planet Braxos.

Players develop skills such as critical thinking, perspective-taking and decision-making. Quandry provides a framework for how to approach ethical decision-making without telling players what to think.



 

IME: Students are required to read, a lot. The interface for choosing topics/issues is not at all intuitive. But as a social studies RPG, it has a lot of potential. Recently, the developer is soliciting ideas for characters and scenarios. Post your feedback!

Diamante Poems

Surprisingly good activity within a literature or other content-specific unit, great for vocabulary building

Diamante Poem by readwritethink

Middle School Writing

Which Writing is Right?

sorting expository and other kinds of writing

a lot of reading, but useful training in understanding the characteristics of expository writing

creative writing games

the Everybody Writes collection

Although designed for use in the classroom or a workshop setting, they will be of interest to anyone looking for fun and stimulating creative writing exercises.

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/resources/search/?skip=0&search=games&resource_type=&activity_type_2=&activity_type=12&professional_type=&misc_list_1=&misc_list_2=&audience_type=&sort=title

BBC games: Lang Arts

State of Debate

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/games/english/

interesting video based game in which the player has to navigate social situations

Games That Make You Think | Big Fish Games Blog

Games That Make You Think | Big Fish Games Blog:

'via Blog this'

Filler: math/geometry/visual puzzles

Grow your own lovely balls, Fill your space. Don't touch little balls while you're growing! You can move while growing to avoid them. But with every level, there's more of the little brats...

Phit: strategy/geometry/task processing

fit ("Phit") shapes into a space

also available via Coolmath.com

50 States: Social Studies/Geography

50 States, via Addicting Games

Click and drag the 50 states to their locations.

Count Cubes: math/critical thinking

Count the Cubes, via Coolmath Games



Game Instructions:

Count the number of cubes you think there are and input the number by clicking the number buttons.

Be careful... There could be cubes that you can't see!

Super Stacker 2: physics/strategy/problem solving

Super Stacker 2, via Kongregate: fun stacking game



Click to place the shapes. Don’t let them fall off the screen! Your stack must survive 10 seconds or until the shapes feel happy that they won’t fall.

Right click for sound options.

Chocolatier: simulation w/arcade action

Oh, the gloriously rich and delectable life of a Chocolatier!



Constantly surrounded by mounds of chocolate bars and boxes of mouth-watering truffles! Build your empire one ingredient at a time as you travel the world to find the best prices and buy factories to maximize production! Manage your output and please your customers, but dont forget about those conniving competitors who wish you poorly!

Do you have what it takes to conquer the world through chocolate?

Over 130 quests.
14 cities to visit.
60 recipes to acquire.
Find more sweet treats in
Chocolatier 2: Secret Ingredients

World of Goo: physics simulation

World of Goo is a physics based puzzle / construction game. The millions of Goo Balls who live in the beautiful World of Goo don't know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious.

Profitania: Economics simulation

I have hade some success with my high school Econ students using this game for extension activities/supplemental exploration/enrichment.

Profitania is the final part of LavaMind's business strategy series. It features gorgeous 3D imagery, rich sound and an extensive underground world to explore. You take on the role of an industrialist in the subterranean kingdom of Profitania, where your goal is to become a manufacturing powerhouse. The unique thing about Profitania is the real-time trading engine. In a fast-paced exciting rush of adrenaline, you must buy up the best goods on the commodity exchange before they disappear. Using these raw materials, you manufacture products to sell on the open market. Expanding your factories and researching new products, you compete against five other players in a race to become the leading underground industrialist.

Zapitalism: Economics Simulation

Not free, but worth the money



Zapitalism

Zapitalism combines beautifully rendered 3D graphic images with multi-player functionality in a game of business strategy. You will be able to make deals with the eccentric inhabitants of Zapinalia, invest in stocks & bonds, corner the market and construct mega stores. You can also venture out to explore the islands of Mermadan in search of treasure and mysterious relics. The first player to build a retail empire and outwit the competition wins. You can even play-by-email over the Internet with up to six players!