Spring 2018
We kicked off our second Spring Program & Showcase Finale Event featuring presentations by 14 teams from 3 different program sites at the UC Irvine Student Center.
With nearly 80 middle school students this year from Irvine Intermediate, Los Alisos Intermediate, and Ralston Intermediate, judges had an incredibly tough task to select 4 four winners to take the prize. In addition to the friendly judging competition, this year saw one fan favorite voting award, Best Poster.
Showcase Winners:1st Place: JellyJam+ (Ralston Intermediate - Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove)
2nd Place: Super Cool Bros (Los Alisos Intermediate)
3rd Place: Name Under Construction (Irvine Intermediate - Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove)
4th Place: The Ranch (Los Alisos Intermediate)
Fan Favorite (Best Poster): Oof Inc. (Irvine Intermediate - Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove)
Learn more about the apps created by the students teams from each school by clicking through the school tabs below.
Oof Inc. - Best Poster!
App Name: BasChemBall
Mentor(s): Natasha G.
Team Members: Grecia C., Isaac H. Aaron L., Carlo V.
App Description: Beat your opponent and win the basketball game by answering chemistry questions! Try to get past your rival or shoot in order to score points!
Technical Components Used: Audio, random question selector, image sprites, clock.
Additional Comments: All of the image sprites were hand drawn!
Name Under Construction - 3rd Place Winners!
App Name: Happy Shot
Mentor(s): Maya S.
Team Members: Rebekah B., Hayden D., Michael N., Daniel S.
App Description: Click on the targets with the correct answer to the math questions in order to move on to new levels and unlock new backgrounds! View your game stats at the end to try to win and beat your best score!
Technical Components Used: Touch input, timer, audio, digital design, randomization, canvas, timer, and many fundamental programming concepts such as global variables, if/then/else statements, loops, logical operators, and user interface design.
Additional Comments: he team has worked so hard to bring this app to life. Each team member contributed to the creative process of the app you see in front of you. Happy Shot truly showcases the passion and hard work of these young software engineers and designers!
Candy Dragon
App Name: Candy Dragon
Mentor(s): Inho L.
Team Members: Davin H., Vy N., Kevin T., Melissa U.
App Description: Candy Dragon is a math-based survival game with infinite levels where the user tries to keep the candy dragon alive by feeding it candy through answering arithmetic equations. The dragon's health bar will gradually and increasingly deplete over time, forcing the user to answer the questions as fast as they can. With every correct answer, the dragon gains bonus health, but with every incorrect answer, the dragon receives a health penalty. As you progress in levels, the bounds of the operands will widen, making it more difficult to answer the equations. When the dragon's health bar is completely depleted, the game ends and the user is presented with their high score.
Technical Components Used: Audio for feedback, Randomized math equations and answer checking, Clever usage of vertical arrangements to create a depleting health bar, Canvas and sprite animation, Using vertical arrangements as "screens" so the team only really has one screen to increase performance.r
Some Spooped 8th Graders
App Name: Laboratory Escape
Mentor(s): Rami M.
Team Members: Kaitlin H.,Crystal M., John N., Alex U.
App Description: The main character whose name is Gilbert enters a laboratory that he needs to escape. The only way for Gilbert to escape is to answer STEM related questions and find his way to the door.
Technical Components Used: Thunkable, Moovly, Piskel, chrome book audio.
Super Cool Bros – 2nd Place Winners!
App Name: Scuba-Dog, Where Are You?
Mentor(s): Ricky T.
Team Members: Jose C., Enrique A., Jackson H., Georgy S.
App Description: Dive into the depths of the ocean as Scuba-Dog as you go on a quest to rid the ocean of pollution. With your handy-dandy water gun full of bubbles, blast through the science questions about marine biology before you run out of oxygen!
Technical Components Used: Audio, image sprites, collisions, random item generator for lists, touch input
Free Wifi
App Name: Error 404
Mentor(s): Aaron C.
Team Members: Willem A., Gerson P., Alex C., Amman T.
App Description: Error 404 is a zombie apocalypse-themed trivia game that involves fighting zombies by answering problems in quick succession. Answer correctly and within the time limit, you can launch attacks at zombies, otherwise the zombie attacks. There is a mode where the player can actively walk around, and a combat mode for fighting zombies!
Technical Components Used: Character selection by passing variables through scenes, music, creating animations by using timers, if/else/for, buttons, lists, buttons, pixel art backgrounds and sprites, and global variables.
Additional Comments: With more time, the game was meant to have more RPG elements, such as victory rewards, items, and more player movement options and animations.
The Survivors
App Name: Lava Run
Mentor(s): Geoffrey G.
Team Members: Ryan G., Enrico S., Deniz S., Michael Y.
App Description: App Users attempt to evade the lava by jumping up platforms to safety; by answering science questions.
Technical Components Used: Audio, Pictures
Additional Comments: Kids built this app and solved problems nearly 100% themselves.
Purple Productions
App Name: Roomscape
Mentor(s): Jared N.
Team Members: Beckye M., Sebastian D., Jared D., Louis F.
App Description: In this game you are trapped in a room and need to find a way to escape! By interacting with items in the room, you can solve math problems in order to get parts of a code. Once you have completed the code, you must enter it in to the keypad to escape.
Technical Components Used: Multiple screens, touch interface.
Celestial Inquiry
App Name: Wild Riders
Mentor(s): John S.
Team Members: Michael L., Demian P., Leo P., Mehley T.
App Description: At its core Wild Riders is a racing game. Your character first arrives in a wild west town and conveniently wins a sum of money. A mysterious character named Role Mat convinces your character to invest that money into buying a wagon to race in the local wagon races. He loans you his workshop where you can work on, and upgrade, your wagon between races. As you win more money, you can invest it into wagon upgrades.
Technical Components Used: There are audio clips for ambiance, and the use of a database to save money and character selection between screens.
Additional Comments: The team is full of artists, and did a lot of great pixel art for the game. They also have wonderful design and story ideas. They bit off more than they could chew however. The game will function, but not to the level that they dreamed up.
The Ranch – 4th Place Winners!
App Name: Farm Run
Mentor(s): Phillip C.
Team Members: Adiba D., Carlos G., Amelia R., Mason S.
App Description: As environmental issues continues to be a growing problem, Farm Run is a game dedicated to teach players about composting. Players will control the character and determine what items can be composted. Tapping the left or right buttons moves the character in order to collect the appropriate item for compost- ing. This is an active and fun way to be more mindful about reducing our carbon footprints.
Technical Components Used: Global variables, timers, random selection, buttons, artwork, canvas, layouts, audio, image sprites, and procedures.
Couch Potatoes
App Name: Space Explorers
Mentor(s): Brenda R.
Team Members: Jenny C., Mateo S., Ludibeth A., Anayeli S.
App Description: You were sent from Earth to collect energy but along the way your spaceship is hit and you must now scavenge for spaceship parts. To do so, you must answer questions to avoid losing fuel and to remove rocks in order to pick up parts.
Technical Components Used: Animations, audio, lists, procedures and buttons.
ICup
App Name: Cure Zt
Mentor(s): Samantha N.
Team Members: Daniel C., Cody T., Danny H., James H.
App Description: In a world overrun by evil coding monsters, you must fight for your life to defeat Zomblocks and cure the population! Play as either Kodi or Cody, the coding genuises, and learn about the fundamentals of computer coding and its history! Test your skill against the boss denizens of the Zomblock World and save the world in CureZ!
Technical Components Used: Buttons, hand drawn image sprites, database char- acter selection, global variables, table arrangements.
JellyJam+ - 1st Place Winners!
App Name: At a School's End
Mentor(s): Kevin N.
Team Members: Autumn R., Ruby B. Kaylie H., Vy T., Logan K.
Technical Components Used: Randomizer, lists, buttons, clock and timer, table arrangements, global and local variables, if-then statements, loops, logical opera- tors, procedures.
Additional Comments: Everything was made from scratch (all images were drawn by hand).
Team 7even
App Name: African Path
Mentor(s): Matthew A.
Team Members: Eliot P., Bryan S. Andrew P., Kenny L.
App Description: Inspired by the Oregon Trail, African Path takes players to the vast lands of Africa where there are different environments to traverse through. By answering engineering questions, the player will explore every environment Africa has to offer. See how long you can last!
Technical Components Used: This application utilizes several timers, some audio clips, and a small database to store the car selection in.
Additional Comments: The timers work in conjunction with each other to simulate the randomness found in other simulation games like Oregon Trail while offering a educational experience in answering engineering questions. Windows of text will pop up and inform the player of what's happening at random times.