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Science Lessons and Ideas

Page history last edited by Lucas Gillispie 9 years, 1 month ago

Have ideas about using Minecraft to explore science?  Share them here.

 

Physical sciences :  Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Geoscience

 

Cartography is a great resource link to geoscience lessons!

And of course, Mathematics Lessons and Ideas always go hand-in-hand with science standards!

 

 

Comments (9)

duckfoot said

at 11:27 am on May 13, 2011

My first idea for Minecraft was to build scale replicas of atoms...using colored blocks to represent protons, neutrons, and electrons, while using rail for the electron shells, and carts as electrons that run around the nucleus!

duckfoot said

at 11:30 am on May 13, 2011

It would even work better for the electrons to be using a powered minecart to push another cart, showing the Pauli Principle in effect.

duckfoot said

at 11:34 am on May 13, 2011

Ionic and covalent bonding could even be demonstrated with the rails. If there is one rail that encircles two stations, they are, in essence, sharing the carts between the two stations, it is a perfect demonstration of a molecular orbital (MO) covalence.

duckfoot said

at 11:42 am on May 13, 2011

An overlying aspect of any well-developed and much-played upon Minecraft world is the overall "character footprint" to the map. This is definitely an issue that happens in everyday, real life (meaning Earth!) with carbon footprints, human encroachment on habitat, and biome preservations.

Overall, I would pose a classwide essential question: how can characters (people) live together with the environment, and restore or re-alter the world back to its original state?

The answer is evident to Minecraft gamers like me who are purists: I love to live in my world, and try not to disturb what random things were first generated. The same can be asked of your class: replant the trees, be mindful of the animals (but harvest what you need), make sure the beaches don't get wasted away, and be mindful of strip mining! Also, when you do go mining, safety first! Properly label all mineshafts, and close those that are void of ores and valuables.

duckfoot said

at 11:46 am on May 13, 2011

For an earth science class, I could also describe the depths of topsoil, undersoil, bedrock, and sandy soil that is usually found near water. Too bad there wasn't a hydrogeology lesson involving water tables...

duckfoot said

at 12:03 pm on May 13, 2011

Biology and Earth Science classes could always conduct tree and animal surveys, figuring population densities and sustainable habitat. Considering that Minecraft recently added new critters and trees, there is now biodiversity, but would it actually be sustainable? Are there too many trees for a given area? Animals?

duckfoot said

at 12:09 pm on May 13, 2011

Earth Science teachers could generate a world with limited resources that would force a class to decide what and how to build; how to recycle / reuse materials, and how to pool resources together to make a sustainable environment.

palinCraft said

at 3:51 pm on Jun 3, 2011

A little bit like the idea behind the Survival Island Map.. would be very cool.. especially for co-op and social behaviour, sharing and so on.. also for renewable ressources/energy ideas..


Survival Island: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/110756-surv-%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85-survival-island-%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85-308000-dls-%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85/

EduElfie said

at 7:56 pm on Feb 2, 2012

I did a reaction time experiment in MinecraftEdu, where I dropped the kids, giving them various stimuli or distraction and then they had to place blocks as they fell to work out how quickly they could react. We ended up with a great visual representation of our data and generated a good discussion also.
Original lesson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRnlrdFaLT8
Follow up discussion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUvlbRxZQ4s

I also did the lesson on neurotransmitters, trying to teach the concept using the kids as neurotransmitters in the world of MinecraftEdu as shown on the front page. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om40LEypGbA is the direct link to the video.

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