Describe FractionBounce

[cja1093]

This issue will be used to describe the FractionBounce project. I'll incorporate a game description as well as steps to install the activity.

GitHub: https://github.com/sugarlabs/fractionbounce

README.md covers a lot of the essentially content for getting started

[cja1093]

Gameplay

Players must nudge a bouncing ball to land on the an area of the ground representing a particular percentage or fraction equivalent to the fraction displayed on screen.
Correct answers add a check to the background image

• As time passes they delay between games decreases
• The longer you play the more complex fractions become
• The bar at the bottom of the screen becomes solid at 100 correct answers
• Players can choose between fractions and percentages
• Can add custom fractions

[DennisSSDev]

@cja1093 I have a few questions regarding the game and it would be great if you could point me at direct code examples:

• Is the number of fractions set in stone, or are they generate at random during the runtime of the game?
• are the fractions going to be smaller than one? On the screenshots, it seems that it's always in the range of 0 to 1
• Is the ball falling based on physics? Or is it just a linear translation till it hits the bottom?
• What happens when the player drops the ball in the wrong section?

[cja1093]

Installation

It is not a part of Sugar desktop, but can be added via the browse method on an instance of Sugar. (Look for it on the sugarlabs activity list)

Note: I haven't been able to get a working install of the activity on my sugarlive build

Architecture

[DennisSSDev]

woops I mentioned @ymoullec in the previous issue, I meant @cja1093 :P

[cja1093]

@cja1093 I have a few questions regarding the game and it would be great if you could point me at direct code examples:

• Is the number of fractions set in stone, or are they generate at random during the runtime of the game?
• are the fractions going to be smaller than one? On the screenshots, it seems that it's always in the range of 0 to 1
• Is the ball falling based on physics? Or is it just a linear translation till it hits the bottom?
• What happens when the player drops the ball in the wrong section?

• The fractions are not randomly generated they are stored as 'challenges' within bounce.py. Meaning there are predetermined values that are associated with the active level of difficulty during gameplay
• Yes the fractions should always be within the range of 0 to 1
• Based on the ball.py file it seems there are stored transform values that are applied to the ball's position and rotation (not entirely sure on this one)
• Based on the screenshots and description, it seems that an X is added underneath that fraction value.

[cja1093]

Educational Value

This activity will be fairly useful for 4th graders in the way it helps create a visual understanding of basic fraction (or percentage) values. It sets a good foundation for continued work with fractions regarding equivalence and general comparisons (such as comparing denominators, adding/subtracting fractions, and multiplying fractions).

[BlueJay89]

• Is the ball falling based on physics? Or is it just a linear translation till it hits the bottom?

* Based on the [ball.py](https://github.com/sugarlabs/fractionbounce/blob/master/ball.py) file it seems there are stored transform values that are applied to the ball's position and rotation (not entirely sure on this one)

To piggyback on cja1093 I've delved into the ball.py and bounce.py and while the instance of the ball in the game has no properties that would utilize physics to move it, it uses simple transformations. However, bounce.py uses information from an accelerometer (if the device it is playing on has one) to dictate transformation data to the instance of the ball. This could give a more natural feel to the movement of the ball as if it were acting under the laws of physics.

My mention of this issue has already been noted in the Github web interface, but I wanted to mention it explicitly also in a comment for benefit of the notifications system (and for my email inbox):

Specifically, I want to note the corresponding Sugarizer development issue for this activity:

#18

as participants in each issue can earn credit working across the lines with their counterparts in the other, corresponding issue (developers seeking or offering feedback from/to describers and vice versa).

[BlueJay89]

Fraction Bounce is an activity designed to teach and reinforce the concepts of basic fractions.

The overview of the user experience this game is well described in the sugar labs wiki: https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Activities/Fraction_Bounce

The game involves moving a bouncing ball across the screen based on a given fraction, score is kept based on the successes of the players ability to match the movement of the ball to the given fraction in the form of smiley faces.