| Instructional Objective | Learners & Context | Object of Game | Game Materials |

| Time Required | Rules | Design Process | References |

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 Instructional Objective

The learners will be able to answer a variety of questions pertaining to the Solar System. More specifically they will answer factual questions about the planets, the sun, the phases of the moon, the seasons, constellations, and common vocabulary associated with the solar system. This fits in to the 3rd grade earth science standards.

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 Learners & Context of Use

This game is designed for learners, ages 7 and up (3rd grade) , who are interested in learning about the solar system. This game could be used in school as a review after teaching these important concepts. It is not intended to be played by a full class. In a typical classroom, students would be in groups and their groups would be rotated to play this game. It is designed to be played more than once with a variety of question cards. Before playing students would have to learn the content. After the game students may need to review concepts and then they may play again.

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 Object of the Game

The objective of the game is to be the first player to follow the path and make it to the sun by answering questions correctly.

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 Game Materials

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 Time Required

The game is for 3-7 players (or team) who will play for 20-40 minutes.

The set up should take less than 2 minutes. Set up includes:

1. Open the game board and place the direction cards and question cards in the squares on the board.
2. Each player selects a spaceship and places it at the start position.
3. Roll the dice to find out who goes first. Largest number starts the game.
4. One player needs to be the card reader. This person can rotate and play the next game.
5. Players must decide if they want to play as individuals or in teams of two.

 The Rules

1. The highest number on the die starts the game. The second player will be the player on their right and play will continue in clockwise direction.
2. On their turn each person (or team) moves one space and has a chance to answer a question or pull a direction card (depending on where they land).
3. If a player (or team) misses the question other player(s) have a chance to steal that question.
4. When a question is missed the question reader will respond “incorrect” and the first person or team member of another team who raises their hand will be allowed to steal that question.
5. If the stolen question is answered correctly then that player (or team) gets to move forward one spot. If not, the student who tried to answer stays in the same space, but the third player (or team) can now steal the question. If they answer correctly then that player (or team) gets to move forward one spot.
6. The first player to answer questions and get to the sun first wins.
7. If time is cut short the player that is the farthest along the board wins.

Dice Variation
A variation of the game can be played with a dice. Playing with a dice may shorten the playing time needed to complete the game.

The only rule that changes is rule number 2. If playing with a dice it should now read :

On their turn each person (or team) rolls the die and moves that number of space and has a chance to answer a question or pull a direction card (depending on where they land).

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 Design Process

The first version
Our first thoughts were to have our players orbit the sun following the same paths as the planets. We also wanted to make it like a trivial pursuit game. Those ideas did not work because following the orbits that each of the nine planets would create too many paths and make the game take too much time. Also, we didn’t want to show something that may confuse students or give them a false idea of the way things were in the solar system. If we showed the planets in their correct orbits and correct correlation of sizes the smaller planets would be nothing more than dots. It was decided to scrap the trivial pursuit idea.

The second version
The next idea was to create a race to the sun. Our initial version of this game only had nine spaces, one for each planet. The students would jump from planet to planet answering questions. The “chance” cards later called “direction” cards now called Spaceship cards were mixed into the deck of question cards. The game was tested on a 3rd grade class. The students had fun, but the game went too fast. We decided to change it from jumping from planet to planet to having the players follow a path along the planets with more spaces. We also divided the Spaceship cards from the question cards. Then two types of spaces were created, “question” and “spaceship” spaces. The players pick of a card that corresponds to the type of space they have landed on. We researched other solar system games, the size of the planets, their orbits and other information on the internet. We wanted our information and images to be as accurate as possible. Since we were no longer showing the exact orbit of the planets we were able to at least show their accurate relative sizes.

Additional changes
The second version of the game, that included the path and additional Spaceship cards, was tested again. This time it was found the spaces were too small to accommodate three game pieces. Plus, the game took too long because there were too many questions, not enough spaceship spaces and not enough Spaceship cards. These things were changed for the final version.

The Lesson that were learned in the process:

1. The importance of testing. The EDTEC students had some great ideas for improvement when they tested. Field-testing with the 3rd Graders playing and listening to their suggestions helped improve our design a lot.
2. The importance of keeping things simple. Though the
   Trivial Pursuit idea was a natural it didn't pan out
   because we wanted to have as accurate a depiction of
   the planets as possible and because it was a little to
   advanced for our audience.
3. The importance of adding fun elements. Adding Shortcuts and obstacles while reducing the educational elements so kids don't get frustrated or bored helped make the game better. Make the wording on cards fun so they playoff and enhance the theme of the game also added to the enjoyment.
4. The importance of physical size of things. The circles,
   though attractive, couldn't accommodate three players
   at once. For the sake of learning, the planets were depicted in their relative sizes. This dictated the size and shape of the board to a large extent.
5. The difficulty of including learning. There were problems with
   planet size and orbits because of our commitment to
   accuracy. It was difficult to write questions, too. Sometimes
   the wording was vague or misleading. I wasn't easy to combine scientific precision and fun.
6. Importance of not making things too easy or too hard. We went both ways with the design -- the first time too easy, the second too hard. It's important to reach a happy medium of being doable, but challenging.

All of the feedback came from Carolina Counts’ class of 3rd graders and the EDTEC students who tested the game in class.

 

Click on image to enlarge.

• The actual size is 28"wide X 12"high.
• Question card spaces alternate with Spaceship card spaces.
• The planets are depicted in their relative sizes and all are labeled.
• The game starts from the Space Station in the upper left.
  

Inside of Question Cards

Front of Question Card      

Spaceship cards

Inside of Spaceship Cards

Front of Spaceship Card      

 Game pieces

  The game pieces will be colored spaceships.

Books & Journals

Electronic