Technology is more than fun and games for a team of Wood River Valley eighth-grade students.
Jazz Campbell, Allie Freund and Scott Phelan designed an educational toy that was selected among the top 60 games entered in the 2005 TOYChallenge contest. The selection qualified the group for the West Coast Nationals April 30 at the San Diego Aerospace Museum in San Diego, Calif.
The design contest invites fifth- to eighth-grade students to invent a toy in order to learn about science, engineering, and the design process. The challenge, sponsored in part by the Sally Ride Foundation, specifically encourages female participation by requiring at least half of the teams to be girls.
"The idea behind (the program) really is to get girls involved in engineering. The engineering field lacks diversity, especially girls," said Doug Walrath, Wood River Middle School teacher. "I can see (the contest) doing exactly what it was designed to do."
The team, the first from Idaho to enter the contest, qualified with their design of a board game entitled "Apple Core Classes." The game, shaped like an apple, is an educational tool for second- and third-graders and targets students beyond regular elementary classrooms.
"We wanted to do something for handicapped students," Phelan said.
To help the disabled, they designed a game that can be played by visually impaired students.
"We thought it was unfair that handicapped people can't play games," Campbell said.
The game incorporates a wooden game board with routed spaces and educational questions written in both Braille and English. The students researched instructions on how to read and write Braille. The Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind offered a special press to write the game cards in Braille.
The game cards ask an educational question that falls into one of four subject areas. To write appropriate questions for the target age group, the students researched Blaine County School District curricula for second- and third-grades. The group also plans to consult an elementary teacher on their choice of questions.
"The diversity of questions will take kids further than the curriculum," Walrath said.
Kids playing the game answer the questions and then move game pieces along an apple-shaped game board. All of the elements of the game have been designed and constructed by the team in the Wood River Middle School technology classroom.
The team uses the technology department's new CNC Router to design and construct the wooden game board. The trio outlines the apple shape of the board on a computer, entering the depth and width of the desired cuts. The computer then sends the information to a router, which cuts the design into the wood.
The students also fashion game pieces using foundry equipment and will compile a video detailing the process.
The group is working on the final details of the project, including raising money for the trip. A raffle is planned and anyone interested in sponsoring the group can contact 578-5030, ext. 2360.
Pictured from left to right, Jazz Campbell, Allie Freund, Scott Phelan and technology teacher Doug Walrath discuss the details of a board game designed by the students.
