Techie Tuesday - Questionaut

I'm on a role! Two week's in a row linking up for Techie Tuesday! If you don't already follow Technology Tailgate, you need to! Excellent tech posts everyday!

The BBC has some exceptional online educational content. Several years ago I discovered the game "Questionaut" which takes students on a quest to save a hat that has been taken away by an air bubble. To get to it the main character must fill his balloon with bubbles, and to get those he has to answer questions correctly.

The first level questions are all about writing. But, to get to the questions students have to figure out how to "unlock" the them. (Hint: click the paper and unplug the lamp)

Choose the correct answer and fuel up! Choose incorrectly and you'll pop a bubble!

On level two students will need to awaken the beekeeper by mousing over the branches until they all have plusses and minuses. Guess what type of questions you'll find on this level? Math! 

The questions on this level are basic number sense, operations, and mental math. You'll notice that there may be British vocabulary or, in this case British locations. This is an especially sweet question because my mum is from the UK and went to university in Leeds! (Oh, and I'll be heading to the UK this summer!)

This next level is tricky. Here students need to unlock life science questions. Some kids will need some extra help to get to the science questions. (Pull cat's tail, click on bird, click on worm, click on plant, click on owl-PHEW)

And the fun doesn't stop there! Next is the measurement/geometry stage, followed by chemistry, then data analysis/probability, then physics questions, and finally more English questions. 

Questionaut is a fun and engaging game. In a 20 minute period many of my students made it to level 4. I have also played with the entire class by projecting the game onto the screen. Unfortunately students cannot save their progress, so if they don't finish one day, they will have to start again the next time they play. It's also a great way to sneak in a little bit of test prep for those oh-so-loved state tests! Even though the questions may not align to your state test it still helps students think about problem solving, especially when they may not know the answer already! 

BONUS! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the music on this game. A few years ago I contacted the composer to see if the music was available for purchase, unfortunately it wasn't. But, I have been known to play the game just to have some nice background music during class time.