Energy Golf
- Note: This module cannot be downloaded via the Internet.
- It is available for free on our Second Life Teen Grid Island.
- This island is open to the public but is limited to people who are 13 through 17 years old.
- If you want a copy of this game to use on your own region on the Second Life Teen Grid. Please have a teenager (13 through 17 years old) visit our island and obtain a copy via the boxed version of the game located under the game sign.
- Click here to teleport directly to the Ohio Teen Island where the games are located
- Click here to download the Second Life client viewer from Linden Lab
Grade and Content Area: 7th Grade – Matter and Energy
Overview
In this Second Life game, students use an avatar to walk around a virtual golf course and play through the energy holes to learn about conservation of energy from one form to another.
Game Play: Energy Quotas will appear along the left side of the course. These inform players of the minimum quantities of each type of energy are required to complete the level by showing the current total amount of each type of energy with a solid bar and a red line denoting the minimum amount of each type of energy require. Energy Balls will also appear. Players must manipulate these energy balls to produce the energy amounts denoted by the Energy Quota objects. Devices, from hairdryers to our own sun will drop on to the hole. When energy balls collide with them, the devices take these “input energy types” and transform them into their corresponding “output energy types” in the same way that their real-life counterparts transform energy. Help Console is available for each hole. Clicking on this will provide hints as to how to complete the hole. Resetter is a sign that floats above the course. This sign alerts the users of what hole they are currently playing. If the users feel they made a mistake when playing the hole, they can click the resetter to reset the hole back to its original settings. Goal objects appear after the requirements of the hole have been fulfilled. These provide some interesting effect. Users are asked to categorize energy type of the effect.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0538588. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
