The Final Stretch

...And with the end of my junior year in my high school career, so does the end of my Anatomy and Physiology class's 20 Time Project. Not only have I learned so much about my subject through my research and final project, I have learned so much about myself in terms of my work ethic and for future project use. 

My final outcome of my project was creating the two games- the first one of the simple ball roll and the second one of creating my own version of Flappy Bird. These two games took a lot of time and learning on my part to create and I am definitely proud of the outcome. It was so hard to program since there were so many different steps and I had to program every single one along the way. I didn't expect it to be this time consuming and laborious as I thought it was just a simple game. Programming the game made me realize how hard these games are to create and the effort it takes. Since I play iphone games regularly on my phone, I have a newfound respect for them after I tried to program my own.

The final part of our 20 Time Project was our Ted Talk Presentation. This included creating a slideshow and giving a 2-4 minute presentation in front of the class. I made my slideshow mainly all pictures as I thought this would allow me to talk more in my presentation instead of having the audience just read off the slides, and myself, more. This allowed me to interact more with the audience and engage them. I thought that this method worked best as I chose the pictures on what and how I did my project and they reminded me of what I wanted to talk about.  I thought the TED talk was really nice to close our projects with as we got to see what all our classmates had accomplished and compare and relate to everyone else. There were many similarities between the projects and it was interesting to see how people did their projects and their final products. 

Final Product

For my final product of my 20 Time Project, I decided to create a new game- Flappy Bird!

I decided to stick with the game I created last time as I thought it would be easier to expand on and to focus on one game. This was done on the online software I had found called Cyberix 3D.
However, I decided to create a new game instead of the game I created in my last blog post. Most of you have probably heard of even played the widely infamous and popular Iphone game - Flappy Bird. This simple yet tricky game was really interesting to me. I remember when the game first came out, I was addicted to it and kept playing it over and over again in hopes of beating my high score. Since I liked the game so much, I decided I wanted to program it myself as my final project.
As easy as the game seems as just tapping the screen for the bird to jump up across the obstacles, programming the game myself was a completely different story......

My own version of programming the game- Flappy Bird. 

However, I decided to create a new game this time as my final projects. This was the second game I created with the one I showed in my last blog post. I did not anticipate it to take so much time and effort as there are so many different elements. Each step along the way require me to program it with a different function. This included several hours of repeating the same work over and over again. Most times, the program was really hard to understand and I was stuck for a long time. All in all, it was worth it as I learned alot along the way and was able to program them all by myself.
I am proud of what I have accomplished in my 20 Time Project and have delivered as my final project.

Start of the Video Game

After weeks of research in different subjects of my project, I decided it was time to start focusing on my final result- the video game!
Throughout my entire 20 Time project, my method of research has transitioned and this was definitely something I didn't expect.
Initially, I planned on focusing less on the science behind video games/cognitive brain functions and to focus more on coding and developing my video game so that I would have a final product. However, by actually doing the project, I noticed the natural inclination in how I was doing it. I decided to focus more on the research, with each week on a different subject to be more in depth. I decided that coding the entire game would be quite impossible and this led me to find some online free game maker software. This allows me to still create a game with the research I have learned, but I will not have to learn how to code it myself.
Through this project, I have learned that things might follow through as initially planned but other routes can also lead to the final result!

I decided that the game I will create will be a simple "Ball Adventure Game". This incorporates moving the Up/Down/Left/Right in order to move the sphere ball across the grass floor and over the obstacles to get to the final flag.

The website I decided to use is called Cyberix3D, an free online 3D Game Maker
 http://www.gamemaker3d.com/

This website has a wide variety of games made by other users that you can play or you have the option of making your own game with the basic tools.
I first decided to play a couple of the popular user created games to see the different types of games one could make before I created my one.

Here is a sample to show the different types of games users created:

It was quite complicated to make my own game as I had never done so before. Also, there were so many variables to adjust depending on what action you wanted to produce in the game. Since everything was in 2D, it was hard to comprehend on the interface.

This was an example of the Sphere Variable in the game. The Sphere was the variable that moved depending on which arrow the player pressed. However, this also depended on where the ball was and the obstacles too. 

I realized this was harder than I imagined it to be since it is so comprehensive, but is worth it for the final game. I have created the basic structure of the game but it is not completed yet. I hope to finalize the game but the TED Talk so that I can run through how I created the game and the research behind why. I want to finish my game by the end of the next two weeks.

Cognitive Brain Development

For the past two weeks, I decided to continue research on my project, but focused on a different subject. This week I decided to research cognitive brain development and function, and i wanted to focus on the differential aspects between that of a child's brain and a adult's brain.
I thought that this subject would be important as I am trying to develop my own video game for my final product. My initial plan was to create my video game and incorporate different aspects so that it would specialize in different cognitive brain needs.

First of all, the basic definition of cognitive development is "a field of study in neuroscience and psychology focusing on a child's development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skills, language learning, and other aspects of brain development and cognitive psychology compared to an adult's point of view. " ( Cited)

Another important thing i researched into was the Piaget's theory. This is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. Piagetian and Neo-Piagetian theories of human cognitive abilities attempt to describe what happens developmentally leading up to the mature state. They describe this almost entirely in terms of the psycho-social factors involved. But, cognitive functions and changes are more readily and more accurately understood and described if attention is also, if not first, paid to the facts of brain growth. That understanding also permits parents and teachers to see ways to enhance children's cognitive development. Broken down to a basic cycle, there are four main "cognitive development stages" and I will describe a little of each stage in what I learned of my research.According to psychologist Jean Piaget, children progress through a series of four key stages of cognitive development. Each stage is marked by shifts in how kids understand the world. Piaget believed that children are like "little scientists" and that they actively try to explore and make sense of the world around them. I never knew about this theory and found it really interesting.

Stage One = Sensorimotor Period ( 0-24 months) 

• infant's knowledge of the world is limited to his or her sensory perceptions and motor activities
• behavior is limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli
• reflexive stage- simple reflex activity such as grasping, sucking
• opening and closing fingers repetitively
• kicking feet to move a mobile
• discovery of new ways to produce the same goal, such as toddlers pulling a ball toward him so he can roll it
• invention of new means through mental combination

Stage Two = Pre-operational Period ( 2- 7 years) 

• not yet able to think logically 
• the child is able to represent the world through mental images and symbols, but in this stage, these symbols depend on his own perception and his intuition beginnings of symbolic rather than simple motor play 
• can think about something without the object being in front of them by using language to describe it 
• only sees through the child's point of view 
• questioning/investigating new things (Curiosity) 
• children's thoughts differ the most from adult's thoughts 
• Increased use of verbal representation, but speech is egocentric 

Stage Three = Concrete Operations Period ( 7-11 years) 

• evidence for organized, logical thought
• ability to classify many tasks, order objects in a logical sequence, and comprehend the principle of conservation 
• thinking becomes less egocentric 
• child is capable of concrete problem-solving able to perform mental operations 
• able to reverse their actions and think about what they did previously 
• conservation as the ability to see that objects or quantities remain the same despite 
• change in their physical appearance 

Stage Four = Formal Operations ( 12 + year) 

• deals with the present, the here and now can think about the future, the abstract 
• the hypothetical marks the start of abstract thought and deductive reasoning 
• thought is more flexible, rational, and systematic 
• can now conceive all the possible ways they can solve a problem, and can approach a problem from several points of view 
• think about such abstract concepts as space and time 
• develops an inner value system 
• has a sense of moral judgment 
• necessary "mental tools" for living the rest of their life 
• thinking becomes less tied to concrete reality

 I found it really interesting how much and how rapidly the brain changes, especially in the times of childhood and adolescents. I never knew there was so much of a change directed to just the brain.

So far, each of my blog post I have focused on different subjects so that I am able to increase my knowledge more about my 20 Time project.
I think my main problem so far has been the procrastination. However, I have kept up with my research and decided that I will start my basic plan/design of my video game by the next blog post. My method of researching  only on on subject per two weeks has been more effective as it allows me to stay more focused.

Video Games: Pros and Cons

Did you know that almost 91% of American children between the ages of 2 and 17 play at least ONE  hour of video games PER DAY???
They fuel a $11.7 billion domestic video game industry!!

As a child, I had always dabbled in a couple video games here and there, but never was something of my forte. I always preferred to outdoor activities or girly dress up games. However, the technological advances video games have made in the past decade has surpassed any amount of creativity a child could image that their daily game could posses.

Another really important aspects addressed is the  prevalent violence included in them. Violent video games. Violent video games have been blamed for school shootings, increases in bullying, and violence towards women. Critics argue that these games desensitize players to violence, reward players for simulating violence, and teach children that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflicts.

Negative evidence of violent video games include:

1. California passed a law in 2005 that would have required violent video games to include an "18" label and criminalized the sale of these games to minors. On June 27, 2011, the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association  that the law violated free speech rights. 
2.  In 2008, 298.2 million video games were sold in the US, totaling $11.7 billion in revenue. Six of the top ten best-selling video games included violence, with four of the games carrying a "Mature" rating recommended for persons aged 17 and older.

On the other hand, there has been positive feedback to these games shown, including: 

1. Video games often reward players for simulating violence, and thus enhance the learning of violent behaviors. Studies suggest that when violence is rewarded in video games, players exhibit increased aggressive behavior compared to players of video games where violence is punished.  
2. Violent video games teach youth that violence is an acceptable conflict-solving strategy and an appropriate way to achieve one's goals.A 2009 study found that youth who play violent video games have lower belief in the use of nonviolent strategies and are less forgiving than players of nonviolent video games  These two weeks of research, I decided to focus on the aspect of video games as that is what I plan on creating later on. This research has been more dense heavy as there is such copious amounts of data out there that it was hard for me to start.

I think that this research is crucial to my project since I want to create my own video game later on. I think that addresses the Pros and Cons of video games in my research will be important as it will help me decide what aspects I want included in my game. For example, I addressed earlier the onset of increased violence due to its appearance in video games. Therefore I decided, that for my game, I will focus on something else for cognitive brain function instead of violence.

My next steps in the process include further advancing my coding skills and beginning to program the game. There are several online game creator websites that maybe helpful to my use. I will first want to experiment and tinker with them to see their use and play. However, the most desirable result would be to create my own video game as that would be the most genuine and hard working.

Research and Development

Since my project is so comprehensive, I decided to first start researching more in-depth of cognitive brain function, especially on how video games affect the brain. This step is preliminary and helps me to provide the basic knowledge I can branch the production of my video game later on.

In my initial research process, the first question I asked was ‘Do these games works and how do they do it?”

I separated the video games into separate categories- based on what they do and how they specifically target certain brain functions: For example….

Memory: Short-term memory, working memory, and remembering names.

• Games in this category include Pattern Memory, Simon Memory, Trolley Dash, Flipped Out

• Games in this category include Cube Fit, Bubble Field, Worlds Hardest Game, Table Tennis, and Shooting Ride

• Games in this category include Brain Racer, Chess/Checkers,

• Games in this category include Bejeweled, Candy Crush, Tetris

•  Games in this category include Hangman, Diner Dash, Scrabble, and Word Searches

Concentration: Focus, concentration, and attention span.


Problem Solving: Logical reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and arithmetic skill.


Thinking Speed: Visual perception, information processing, and spatial orientation.


Mental Flexibility: Planning, task switching, and verbal fluency.



As of right now, I think that I have effectively been researching more about my topic and haven't had that many setbacks. I anticipate more setbacks to arise once I am done researching and began the programming to create my game. Although I still don't know how far along I will get, I want to be able to create a fully functional video game by the end of this semester.

So far, with learning more about this topic, I have become more and more interested and definitely want to continue on!

The next steps in my project include to finish my research and begin brainstorming possible game development ideas.

Background Information and Purpose

Hello everyone!

I was introduced to Genius Hour/Passion Project/20 Time in my Anatomy & Physiology class by my teacher Mr. Orre. This is my blog to help track my process and share my experiences in doing this project.

This project entails allowing 20% of class time for students to pick a project in their interest and to develop an outcome by the end of the semester. This project allows for creativity and exploration of what students have an interest in or are passionate about, a break from the seemingly endless stress in a high students life.  20% Time in schools has been gaining momentum around the country and many students and teachers have shared their experiences. This idea came from Google's own 20% policy, where employees are given twenty percent of their time to work and innovate something else besides their current project. Once the results of success were shown, it was introduced to other high-tech business and quickly started to gain recognition.

At first, I was quite hesitant about this as I have never done something of this nature before at school.
I never considered myself as creative or "thinking outside of the box" type of student and was unsure of what was to happen in this project.
When I first started looking into ideas, my ideas were quite scattered and didn't know how to narrow my interests. I looked into kids......nutrition.....health......neuroscience......computer science......
I was unsure of how to connect my ideas together and to create a project that would best encompass these ideas together to produce a project that I was equally passionate about and could equally learn the most from the outcome.

After much thought and consideration into this project, I finally came up with an idea I wanted to execute. My project idea is to create/program an simple web game with the purpose of increasing cognitive brain function, especially geared towards children.
This style of games has emerged in recent years and has increased popularity through social media and technology. Games like Luminosity, Elevate, Brain HQ, etc, targeted this idea of creating games/exercises that target brain areas such as memory, attention, and processing speed. Direct results from players have shown that these games do work and have extensive scientific research behind them.

To do this project completes many different steps and will take a lot of time and research in my own time. I am willing to so this as I believe this topic is very interesting, will help me learn a lot in the process, and is definitely something I am passionate about.

• First, I will research more in depth to understand cognitive brain function and how the brain functions. I will focus on the topics of memory, concentration, problem solving, thinking speed, and mental flexibility. This knowledge in neuroscience will help me in the process when I am trying to create a game. 

•  Next, I want to learn basic computer programming and game development skills so that I can adequately create a simple game using my skills. I believe that this step of the process will be the hardest as I currently have limited knowledge in computer science and this is definitely not an easy subject to pick up upon. 

• Lastly, I want to create a simple web game by combining the first two steps and to create the final outcome. Once this is done, I wish to possibly test this out on a few people, ranging in age, and test the results.

I know that this project entails a lot and am ready for whatever obstacles come my way. My goal is to finish creating a game but if I do not get to finish my game by the end of the semester, I hope that I will at least finish the layout/story board of my game so that I can easily program it in my own time later on.

I will track my progress and achievement through bi-weekly posts on this blog and to share my experiences of what I currently learn or what obstacles I am facing.

I am excited and nervous to embark on this journey of my 20 Time Project. I am excited to work on this project and gain knowledge and am to see the final outcome. On the other hand, I am nervous as to how I will be able to accomplish such tasks, manage my time, and make sure everything is thoroughly in depth to the best of my ability.