NOVA Special on Fractals

There is a NOVA episode on fractals!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fractals/

Produced and directed by Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning filmmakers Michael Schwarz and Bill Jersey, the documentary weaves cutting-edge research from the front lines of science into a compelling mathematical detective story. The film introduces a number of distinguished individuals who have used fractal geometry to transform their fields, like Loren Carpenter, who created the first completely computer-generated sequence in a movie.

Chatterbox Challenge

A recent challenge amongst chatterboxes: http://www.chatterboxchallenge.com/

Here is some info on some of the bots. Could be used as a fun activity to look at AI.

1. Here’s a downloadable chatterbox called Artemis : http://users.auth.gr/~dkaras/

2.Another one called RoboMatic X1 looks really interesting! http://www.infradrive.com/robomatic.php

3. A Web-based chatterbox, Azureon: http://www.personalityforge.com/dynachat.php?BotID=23969&MID=23957

4. Brother Jerome is a highly regarded chatterbox. It is fun but slow. http://www.be9.net/BJ/ . It has an impressive list of features http://www.be9.net/BJ/games.htm

Here is another list of bots: http://www.personalityforge.com/botlist.php

light-bot – fun way to learn programmer style logic

http://www.random-good-stuff.com/game/game/light-bot/

“Control a robot by giving it commands. Use programmer-style logic for more complex levels that include functions to re-use. Controls: Mouse to drag light-Bot controls into the slots.”

Warning!!!! This can be very addicting! But I think it really does help students think about programming in a very fun way.

Binary Number game from Cisco

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/cc963988.aspx

A fun way to learn about binary numbers.

How Does the Internet Work?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/cc963988.aspx

Kids explain how Web sites work and how you connect to them.

Microsoft’s Kid’s Corner – teaching kids to program

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/bb308754.aspx

Kid’s Corner for lots of fun, easy to understand lessons on programming!

Using games and puzzles to teach programming

http://dobbscodetalk.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=720&Itemid=85

The author proposes that teaching programming by giving students assignments such as programming a game or puzzle will help keep their interest.

The author has a great site devoted to teaching programming! http://www.vincehuston.org/teaching/