DickBaldwin
10-13-2007, 11:41 AM
I recently received an email message from a man who was thinking about teaching his twelve-year old son how to program using Alice. As an example of the kinds of programs that he might teach his son to write, he asked if Alice would be suitable for writing a simple game that can be used to teach a younger child how to learn their multiplication tables. I responded in the affirmative and decided to write such a program myself and present it to my grandchildren who will be learning their "times tables" in preschool this year. A complete listing of the program is provided at http://www.dickbaldwin.com/alice/Alice0930.htm#Multiplication_game A downloadable zip file containing the world is also provided at that URL.
Not a game of Doom ...
For teenagers accustomed to modern video games, the behavior of this game is clearly very simplistic. However, the behavior of this game was not intended for teenagers, it was intended for preschoolers.
Illustrates fundamental programming concepts
An examination of the code will show that this simple program illustrates many fundamental programming concepts including types, variables, loops, relational operators, and if-else selection statements. Therefore, while the behavior of the game may be simplistic, the structure of the program should be useful for teaching fundamental programming concepts to students (even teenagers).
A projectile trajectory program
By the way, for those who may be interested, there is also a program at http://www.dickbaldwin.com/alice/Alice0930.htm#Two-dimensional_projectile_trajectory that illustrates the implementation of the equations of motion, in two dimensions, for a projectile fired at a specified launch angle with a hard-coded intial velocity, constant acceleration of gravity, and negligible air resistance.
Dick Baldwin
http://www.dickbaldwin.com/tocalice.htm
http://www.dickbaldwin.com/toc.htm
Not a game of Doom ...
For teenagers accustomed to modern video games, the behavior of this game is clearly very simplistic. However, the behavior of this game was not intended for teenagers, it was intended for preschoolers.
Illustrates fundamental programming concepts
An examination of the code will show that this simple program illustrates many fundamental programming concepts including types, variables, loops, relational operators, and if-else selection statements. Therefore, while the behavior of the game may be simplistic, the structure of the program should be useful for teaching fundamental programming concepts to students (even teenagers).
A projectile trajectory program
By the way, for those who may be interested, there is also a program at http://www.dickbaldwin.com/alice/Alice0930.htm#Two-dimensional_projectile_trajectory that illustrates the implementation of the equations of motion, in two dimensions, for a projectile fired at a specified launch angle with a hard-coded intial velocity, constant acceleration of gravity, and negligible air resistance.
Dick Baldwin
http://www.dickbaldwin.com/tocalice.htm
http://www.dickbaldwin.com/toc.htm