Eighth Grade, Video & Computer Games Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 2)

Follow the Bouncing Ball: A Web Animation Project

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This project is a fun way to try your hand at programming. You'll learn how to create some simple animations, and you'll perform tests and make measurements to help you create more realistic-looking animations. All you need to get started is a Web browser and a text editor (like Notepad). Read more

Gamers: Myth or Man?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Male or female? Fat or skinny? Outgoing or quiet? What is your stereotype of a "gamer"? Do your friends have the same mental picture of gamers? How about your parents? This science fair project will help you examine whether the stereotypes of "gamers" actually matches the reality of who plays video games. Read more

Out of Control!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever watched an inexperienced video game player pick up a controller and start playing a game? Often the player bumbles around trying to figure out which button makes the onscreen character jump, run, turn left, or perform other actions. Some games are different though, they have control schemes that are more real-world based. For example, most modern Mario Kart games give you the option of steering with a joystick or turning the entire controller like a steering wheel, which is more… Read more

To Infinity and Beyond: Plan a City of the Future with Sim City.

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Everyday, people in your city or town walk to school, ride the bus and go to work, and go to the library to research their science fair projects. But what if the library was 20 miles away from your home? Would you go to the library? What if there were no police officers or fire stations in your city, or if they were located across town, away from where most people live? What if there were no movie theaters? What would you do with your friends? Many people really like living in cities in which… Read more

Flight Simulators: From Flaps to Flying

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Did you know that commercial airline pilots use high-tech flight simulators to learn how to fly big jumbo jets? Before they ever step behind the controls of a real jet they've already logged thousands of virtual air miles. It might not qualify you to fly a real jumbo jet, but you, too, can learn the logistics of aviation by experimenting with the types of flight simulators sold at computer game retailers. Use a flight simulator to investigate the relationship between flap settings and the stall… Read more

Go Fish! Creating an Ocean-Friendly Fishing Video Game

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Video games are entertainment, but like other such media (say Oscar-winning movies or award-winning books), they can also point out challenges facing people. In this science project, you will design and create a fishing video game that teaches the player about which fish are plentiful enough to catch and which fish are not because their population is declining. Maybe your game can help solve the problem of over-fishing and help sustain healthy fish populations. All while having fun of course! Read more

Hit Boxes: How Size Affects Score

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Video games come in many varieties: aim-and-shoot games, city-building games, racing games... the list goes on. In many, you get points for colliding with or hitting something. In this computer and video games project, you will learn about how hit boxes are used to detect collisions and you will determine if the size and placement of a hit box affects the score in the game. Read more

Image Compression vs. Image Quality: Finding the Best Tradeoff

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

In this project you'll learn about how digital image files are encoded, and how digital images can be compressed so that the files take up less storage space and can be transmitted more quickly. You will also measure the quality of compressed and uncompressed images, which will give you important insights into the tradeoffs between file size and image quality. Read more

Program to Check (or Solve) Sudoku Puzzles

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Sudoku is an extremely popular puzzle game. You start with a 9x9 grid of squares, which contains three smaller 3x3 subgrids. Some of the squares are filled in with numbers 1 through 9. Your goal is to fill in the remaining blank squares such that each column, each row, and each 3x3 subgrid contains the numbers 1-9. No number can appear more than once in any column, row, or subgrid. For a given starting puzzle, can you write a program to check if a Sudoku solution is valid using a programming… Read more

Eighth Grade, Video & Computer Games Projects, Lessons, Activities (19 results)

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