Introduction

Each student will be expected to develop a project task for the Quest Atlantis program, and to log five visits to a Boys and Girls Club site. See the More About Challenges Description and create challenges using the Challenge Proposal Form.

Quest Atlantis is an after-school program that attempts to situate science, math and technology activities within an online role-playing game metaphor. In this program, kids go to after school centers, like the Boys and Girls club here in Bloomington, Indiana. There, they log on to a special computer space called Quest Atlantis. Quest Atlantis is a computer-based environment where kids interact, play, learn, grow, and help others. It is an environment that incorporates a gaming myth to situate this activity.

The Myth

Quest Atlantis is a window into a parallel universe that needs our help. Atlantis is a world in crisis. The Atlantis Council of Elders has sent a computer into our world to send back valuable information needed to avoid an impending disaster that threatens to destroy the city of Atlantis. This is accomplished when kids log into their Quest Atlantis space and complete challenges which are presented in thematic villages. There completed responses to the challenges become part of the Quest Atlantis supercomputer.

Making Challenges

Each Village has a theme, for example, urban ecology, water quality, astronomy, weather and an associated series of engaging Challenges-described in more detail below. Each Village houses a spectrum of Challenges ranging from simulation to application problems of varying levels of complexity. While much of the work on a particular challenge requires working at the computer, some of the more advanced challenges require that students also do work offline, such as collecting data on community issues that are raised as part of the posed challenges, or creating public service materials for use in schools or the community. Just as the challenges in each village increase in complexity, students also progress in their Quest Atlantis status based on their achievements. Each participant's level of citizenship is publicly displayed in the Quest Atlantis "Hall of Fame," which lists all Questers, their ranks, accumulated points, and links to their artifacts.

Each Village in the 3-D Quest Atlantis environment houses a spectrum of Challenges ranging from simulation to application problems and which are differentiated in terms of three dimensions:

1. simple/complex,
2. online/offline,
3. individual/collaborative.

In this way, a village can contain a progression of challenges, beginning with a piece of computer software or a simulation, moving towards offline activities at the Quest Atlantis Centers or at home, and finally towards community-based activities with peers.

Each challenge should include explanations in the following areas:

• Title of the Challenge
• Description of the Challenge
• Learning Goals
• Motivation Features
• Quester Level
• Related Resources for both Questers and Mentors
• Deliverable
• Target Village
• Possible Alternative Conceptions or Pitfalls
• Power Points

On the challenge proposal form, there are text fields where explainations can be entered for each of these areas.

When each challenge is accomplished, the work they did along with a reflection is sent to the Quest Atlantis Council in the parallel universe for evaluation. When the council approves the work, it is fed into their great computer helping to save their civilization.

Examples of Challenges that "spiral up"

For example, in the Solar System village Questers begin by working through Magic School Bus: Solar System, (a commercially available software title from Microsoft). Thoroughly experiencing the software package is one of the simpler challenges in the village. The deliverable is simply to describe to a mentor the "ins and outs" of the program. More advanced software-based deliverables include listing the names of the planets and their order in position from the sun, their order in size, and the nature of their core composition (points are awarded for each correct response). In a more complex challenge, Questers have to follow the moon for two weeks, with the deliverable being to submit the change in size (and potentially position) of the moon over the observations. This may be done at home with family members or at the local observatory where they will work with the available scientists. In the third part of this challenge, Questers go out into the community and make manifest their learning experience. In the case of this challenge, Questers make a scale model of the solar system identifying local businesses as "hosts" for the various planets in the solar system. This involves local businesses in a community of learners and provides a teaching artifact that the community at large can engage.

Another example is Water Quality Village. In this series of challenges, Questers first learn about watersheds, types of pollutants and how to test for different types of pollutants such as nitrates and phosphates. Students will do this by working through numerous available software and online water quality simulations. They will also be expected to use SimCity software and write about watersheds and the process and importance of bringing water to a community. The deliverables will be specific to the particular simulation they are using. A more complex challenge involves conducting research and locating their local water supply and the watershed from which their community draws water. The deliverable for this challenge is a map that Questers construct showing their local watershed and where they believe they get their drinking water. In the second part of this challenge, Questers collect water from their homes or from the Quest Atlantis Centers, analyze how safe the water is, and make predictions on what they expect to find in their water and how it might differ from the water in their community water supplies.

In the culminating challenge, the Questers, in groups with mentors, go out to local water supply locations where they test the water with subject matter experts and make judgments about the water quality in the community. In completing this culminating challenge Questers will learn about the importance of keeping a scientific journal in which they record results and their interpretations of those results. Further, an additional challenge involves the opportunity for Questers to present their findings at a scientific conference (under the direction and supervision of qualified mentors who are subject matter experts) in which members of the community are invited to attend. In this way, the challengesof Water Quality Village spirals up from computer simulation to home or Quest Atlantis Centers to community involvement and action, resulting in a spectrum of challenges that hit all three of the dimensions discussed above.