Math Monday::Perimeter, Area & Volume via A Computer Game!
My kids have become obsessed with a computer game called Minecraft. It’s available for beta testing through the link for around $15. It’s the best money I’ve ever spent on a game.
The graphics will take you back to 1984. Blocky, undetailed, bare bones. So pixelated, everything is in the shape of a block…sheep, cows, trees, zombies, chickens, etc. The gameplay is totally open ended. There are just a couple goals: build a shelter. Survive the night (when zombies and other nasty things come out to get you…although there is a peaceful setting to avoid confrontation for those who are overly sensitive). Besides that, you are free to explore, mine, and build unlimitedly. Here’s a trailer for it:
It’s playable on any level…my 6, 11 and 14 year olds each play it in their own way. Simple in form, but complex in the amount of creativity it inspires. You use the material you mine to create and build anything you want. My kids play separately, but they also come together and play as a team. Golfer calls himself an architect and landscaper–he conceptualizes the buildings he wants and landscapes the environment by clearing and leveling the ground. Naturalist calls herself the builder. She takes his ideas, draws the schematics, then uses the area he’s cleared off to build what he wants, all within the framework of how much material he has. So, for instance, Golfer flattens a 100 by 100 square space. He has 7 bunches of 64 blocks. She has to figure out how many blocks he has total, and figures out how big the perimeter of the building can be, and how tall it can be built. This is a girl who hates math. But she loves conceptualizing what she can build! It’s like, not math at all!
I’ve never seen a more fun and organic way to learn perimeter, area, and volume in my life!
They love this game so much, they dressed up as ‘creepers’ for halloween–creepers are some of the ghouly things that appear sometimes when you least expect it!
The good thing about being creepers is that their costume entailed painting 3 boxes green. Best halloween idea EVER! Especially for me now that I’ve entered into a rare non-crafty time of my life.
If you haven’t found Minecraft yet, by all means go check it out! Play the game to play the game and have fun, but don’t say I didn’t warn you that math skills will be picked up along the way!
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