Darrell Said:

books that can be used as a source for my thesis,"advantages of computer games"?

We Answered:

you'll need to address eh neative aspects as well. try the books below

personally i'm all for comp games as a way of developing motor skills. and i'm an avid gamer. lol.

but i can see the point o fhe people below, but seriously, who give a 10 year old child a violent game in the first place?

Joseph Said:

is this idea okay for a high school science fair project?

We Answered:

looks pretty cool to me for a project=)

Bernard Said:

Does anyone know any good educational games/crosswords for a high school level medical class?

We Answered:

Worksheet Magic Plus is a good software program if you have about $50 to spend. You can create your own crossword puzzles and other word games. Good luck.

Jim Said:

How can I motivate someone to do well in school (high school/college level) when someone has stopped caring?

We Answered:

Try to avoid using external motivators, especially things like money, gifts or candy. If you have to go outside "learning for the sake of learning" try to emphasize the importance of education in terms of jobs, meeting adult friends (because his K-12 school friends WILL move away) and independence.

I experienced the same thing with my little brother. He's been out of school for two years and won't be getting into COMMUNITY COLLEGE until September 2008 (that's how long the waitlist is). He wasn't even going to go to community college, but I pestered him by sending him brochures and application information for all sorts of schools and programs until he found one that interested him.

If your brother is into gaming, has he considered a job in game design or programming? I know it sucks to do the work yourself, but you could always order up some brochures from schools that have those types of programs. You could also send him links to different employers websites, showing the kind of things they look for in applicants. The trick is just to give him lots and lots of options until he finds the one that clicks with him. When he can envision himself doing that job ten or twenty years down the road, he'll be willing to meet a few challenges to get there.

Barry Said:

high school classes for computer science major?

We Answered:

You're doing a lot of good things already, but it sounds like Computer Science may not be the right major for the career that you want. Computer graphics artists usually get a Bachelor of Fine Arts at a college that offers classes in 3D/computer art and animation. I would imagine that people working in special effects also have an art degree.

Game design is a bit trickier, and actually isn't art or Computer Science. Within the game industry, "design" means coming up with all the details of gameplay, from NPCs to weapons to story line, etc. There's a lot of writing and a lot of math involved in game design, but almost no programming or art.

Level building (aka level design, world building, etc) takes art created by computer graphics artists on the team and uses them to create the physical layout of the game world, and may pull together art, special effects, and design in a way that you really like. If you're interested in level building, you can get started in high school by playing around with the level editors of games like Unreal and Neverwinter Nights. For college, the Art Institutes and Full Sail have good reputations.

For game design, you can go to any 4 year college and major in whatever you want. Actually, your current classes are almost exactly what I would recommend to a high school student who wants to get into game design. At college, in addition to your major you should take math up through Calculus 1 (which it looks like you have handled -- you typically don't need anything higher than Calculus for game design), at least two courses in Statistics (if your high school offers AP Stat, take that next year), two writing courses, one art course, and one programming/Computer Science course. Then fill in the rest of your course requirements with a broad range of liberal arts classes: history, mythology, literature, sociology, psychology, etc, will all come in handy in game design.

If at all possible, I strongly recommend going to college near a city with a lot of game studios, like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, etc. Most game companies do not offer relocation for entry-level positions, so it's much easier to find a job after college if you already live in an area that has lots of game studios.

Walter Said:

What is a good idea for an Environmental Science project that can be done in one night?

We Answered:

{Sigh}, to be in High School again. Life was so easy. A board game is an interesting concept. Maybe you can do a monopoly-themed game and instead of trying to collect $, you're trying to collect trees to built up "your city."

OR, what I did in high school was I did a flip book that animated the sequence of different ecosystem cycles. I guess you have to be somewhat artistic for that, although I think stick figures would be funny!

I hope you don't have to write paper on it! Anyway, good luck.