PBS Kids launches augmented reality game for iOS, says all the cool kids are counting sushi. ARLINGTON, Va. --(BUSINESS WIRE)--PBS KIDS today announced its first augmented reality app for iPhone and iPod touch, FETCH! Lunch Rush, which is now available on the App Store. Available for free, the app uses the camera on iPhone or iPod touch to overlay computer-generated graphics on top of the physical, real-world environment. Extending PBS's leadership in using augmented reality as an educational tool, FETCH! Lunch Rush opens a new world of learning by teaching kids ages six to eight math skills, like addition and subtraction, while blending the virtual and real world into a truly engaging experience. "Augmented reality is becoming a popular marketing tool and a compelling feature for gamers, but no one has fully explored what this could mean for educating children" "The FETCH!
The FETCH! The FETCH! Developed in partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and powered by a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Times tables key to good maths, inspectors say. Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said: "It is vital that all children can grasp and master arithmetic while they are still at primary school.
If we fail children at this early stage, the risk is they will never catch up. "It is important that pupils are fluent in calculation and have learnt the multiplication tables by heart before they leave primary school. " The warning came in a study of top-performing schools, which for the first time has included independent schools, adding to evidence that ministers are determined to overhaul teaching in the state system to resemble the approach found in private schools. "Lack of fluency with multiplication tables is a significant impediment to fluency with multiplication and division," the report said. "Many low-attaining secondary pupils struggle with instant recall of tables. "Teachers in the schools visited included fluent recall of multiplication tables as an essential prerequisite to success in multiplication. " Columbus schools import Singapore method to improve math education.
There is one word problem on the board.
But Meagan Erwin’s third-graders are solving it in lots of different ways. The problem: If Gigi has eight bags with 94 stickers each, how many does she have in all? Some of the Gables Elementary students have drawn diagrams to find the answer. Others have “branched,” or factored, their numbers into easier-to-compute numerals. A few wrote equations, and several made eight piles and started placing blocks representing numbers into the piles. Erwin never showed them the “ easiest” or “best” way to find the answer (752 stickers).
“It’s the easiest way for us,” said 8-year-old Abby Sabatino, who with her partner was using the block-counting method. This year, the Columbus school district is using a new math curriculum for kindergarten through second grade that is influenced by teaching in Singapore — a country that regularly scores at or near the top in international math tests. Math Fun Facts!