Digital Zoo for elementary schoolers

Until now, we have run the Digital Zoo game with students at a Middle School level. We are curious about how the differences between Middle School and Elementary School students in computer literacy, attention span, and other areas of development will cause this epistemic game to look different when played by a younger population of student. What adaptations will we need to make in order to give elementary schoolers access to the same engineering content and practices as the middle schoolers had? We are planning to run a version of the Digital Zoo game with a class of 23 4th and 5th graders from a Madison K-8 school. This version will run for three days early next spring. We are also planning a version for a group of 2nd graders who are part of an Elementary Science Club that meets on Saturdays. This version will run later in the spring of 2007.

Why we’re curious

What value is there in introducing elementary school children to the world of professions? Why encourage children so young to role-play as professional engineers? We think that elementary school will be a great point at which to take advantage of kids’ creativity and ability to take on a role. Have you ever watched a preadolescent kid playing a game?

It is interesting to observe the extent to which they are able to forget themselves as part of any other context, and fully inhabit the world of the game they are playing. As we introduce elementary schoolers to engineering and physics content in the Digital Zoo epistemic game, we are eager to see what the flexibility of their frame of mind will lend to their game practice.

Can Digital Tots play with SodaConstructor?

We wonder whether Sodaconstructor, the web-based software we use in Digital Zoo, is managable for younger kids? So far, we have run this epistemic game with middle schoolers, who adapt quickly to the new software. Now we are curious to see whether elementary schoolers can build structures in Sodaconstructor’s virtual spring-mass system.