"Zoombinis" Now On FableVision Games!

The little blue guys on a logical adventure have found a new home!

The award-winning relaunch of the classic, beloved ’90s game Logical Journey of the Zoombinis is now available for classroom use on FableVision Games. Created in partnership with TERC, a not-for-profit leader in K-12 math and science education, and the Learning Games Network, a not-for-profit game company, Zoombinis is an engaging and entertaining logic puzzle game designed to teach Computational Thinking (CT) for grades 3-8. 

Players must use their logical reasoning, data analysis, pattern finding, and problem-solving skills to help their Zoombini characters complete unique challenges, escape imprisonment from the evil Bloats, and reach the promised land of Zoombiniville. On this journey, they face 12 puzzles and four levels of increasing difficulty in each, including Pizza Pass, Titanic Tattooed Toads, and Mudball Wall. The Zoombinis travel in groups across multiple levels until all 400 blue creatures are saved.

Zoombinis uses implicit learning—learning that can’t be necessarily articulated on a test or in a question, but that manifests itself as behaviors or practices within a game. Throughout gameplay, players learn important life skills including algebraic thinking, data analysis, and theory formulation in a fun and engaging setting. 

The classroom version features additional educator materials and guides, as well as tracking that allows educators to collect data as their students play Zoombinis, and—through the use of detectors—identify when players demonstrate the four fundamental practices of CT: problem decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithm design, and abstraction as they appear within the puzzles.

The web game is now available to play on FableVision Games, where you can also access accompanying professional development resources.

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National Manager Day Highlight: Make That Paper!

Happy National Manager Day! This year, FableVision is planting the seeds of the future with Make That Paper: Careers in Forestry, our new web game created for Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Education and the Georgia Forestry Foundation (GFF). Whether it’s harvesting trees, landowning, or managing a mill, forestry workers—especially managers—play a huge role in maintaining sustainable forests and manufacturing the many forest and paper-based products that we use regularly.

In Make That Paper, high school students learn about the forestry industry and develop their career readiness and problem-solving skills. As they step into the role of a forestry manager, students play through a series of simulated workplace management challenges. They must alternate between job interviews, written communication through emails, and on-the-job challenges to successfully, efficiently, and sustainably manage a forest and production of forest products. Students choose from three positions—landowner, harvest manager, or mill manager—and use best practices when interviewing candidates, hiring and managing employees, and responding to workplace problems and crises. In each career path, players receive the responsibilities and requirements to succeed in their role and sort through emails, conversations, and other information to make decisions that benefit their company. 

The real-world skills that students receive through gameplay leave a lasting impact on students’ career readiness and view of their future career paths. By highlighting these lesser-known career paths, FableVision hopes to educate young minds and introduce them to the world of forestry and see if they have what it takes to “make that paper!”

So this National Manager Day, as we celebrate the managers across the country who help companies to run smoothly, check out Make That Paper: Careers in Forestry, available to play now on GPB’s website! And be sure to check out our other projects created in collaboration with GPB, such as Gasha Go, a colorful math game for grades K-3, Lights, Camera, Budget!, a financial literacy game for middle and high schoolers, and Georgia Race Through Time, a Georgia history learning game for eighth-graders. All four games are free to play and available online!

FableVision Launches Free Summer Beta of "Cyberchase Fractions Quest!"

Brain power to the rescue! FableVision Studios invites your students to embark on a new immersive journey that integrates an interactive adventure with a research-based approach to fractions learning in the just-launched public beta version of Cyberchase Fractions Quest! Third and fourth grade students can explore the world of PBS KIDS’ popular math series Cyberchase and save the Motherboard from Hacker’s dastardly plot.

Hear from the “Cyberchase Fractions Quest” team!

In the game, the CyberSquad has been captured by the villain Hacker and his henchbots Buzz and Delete. As they launch into Cyberspace, students step into the role of the hero and use mathematical sequences and problem-solving skills to outsmart Hacker and save the day. As they travel through Ecotopia, Castleblanca, Aquari-Yum, and Radopolis in a series of minigames, students learn fair shares by splitting up leaves evenly to make parachutes for chameleons, practice adding fractions by making tacos for underwater friends, and more!

Understanding fractions is a key cornerstone building block in future STEM learning success. To challenge common fractions teaching methods and make fractions learning fun, FableVision Studios teamed up with THIRTEEN and Education Development Center (EDC) to develop a Common Core-aligned game-based assessment that offers a holistic view of fractions as parts of a whole. The game combines research-based fractions teaching methods with an engaging narrative context to motivate students and improve their understanding of complicated math, increasing their confidence in the classroom.

As students progress through the game, they follow the sequence and scope of fraction learning that align with the Common Core Standards for Grade 3 and 4 mathematical structure. Throughout gameplay, students explore different contexts of fractions including area, set, and number line. The engaging storyline and vibrant, colorful characters and backgrounds provide them with motivating visual settings that, in turn, allow for them to ground their conceptual understanding of fractions. The game design integrates the latest research surrounding the best ways children learn mathematical concepts.

Cyberchase Fractions Quest is a result of a 2.5-year-long research project as part of the IES Department of Education SBIR program. The game also features additional professional development and game integration resources that are fully customizable to each classroom’s needs, allowing for maximum fractions learning fun and success. Launch your students on their very own adventures in Cyberspace today! 

In response to the pandemic and growing need for distance learning resources, Cyberchase Fractions Quest is launching this public beta version for free for a limited time, only available on FableVision Games!