The game “Operation” utilizes a simple electrical circuit to create an entertaining and challenging game. If the tweezers touch the metal surrounding the cavity holding the body part to be removed, a loud buzzer sounds the the little man’s nose lights up.  Students can use their understanding of direct current circuits to figure out the circuit components and draw a schematic diagram showing their connections.

Hyperdash controller and target disks

Another game that has some interesting switching to figure out is HyperDash.  This game consists of a hand-held controller and five target disks. When the game begins, the controller calls out a color or number, and the player has to find the target and press the controller down onto the target. Somehow the controller “knows” whether you hit the right target or not.  How can it tell?

View of the bottom of the controller

On the bottom of the controller, there are three “buttons” that can be compressed.  How could three buttons be enough to identify five targets?  Are all the target shapes the same? What do you notice about the placement of the buttons on the controller?