Using techniques
adapted from a magnetospheric research program, several Flash based
interactives have been developed that allow web site visitors to
explore the motion of particles in the Earth's magnetosphere. Rather
than presenting these interactives as plasma simulations per se,
the research algorithms were used to create games such as "Magneto
Mini Golf", where the balls are protons moving in combined electric
and magnetic fields. The "holes" increase in complexity,
beginning with no fields and progressing towards a simple model of
Earth's magnetosphere. The emphasis of the activity is gameplay,
but because it is at its core a plasma simulation, the user develops
an intuitive sense of charged particle motion as they progress. Meanwhile,
the pieces contain embedded assessments that are measurable through
a database driven tracking system.
These activities were folded into a larger Space Weather Center
web project at the Space Science Institute (www.spaceweathercenter.org).
The project was funded by a small grant from NSF's Informal Science
Education program, through an opportunity that provides education
supplements to existing research awards.
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