A great MIT math game for middle school students incorporating problem solving, higher order thinking skills, national standards, and 21st century skills is available for free! Includes lesson plans, graphic organizers, a library of material, evaluation strategies, and a teacher administrative tool set. You have just entered the world of Lure of the Labyrinth, one of my web catches of the week! While it has been around for a few years, it deserves mention every so often. For more great resources visit my 21centuryedtech Wiki – Mike email (mgorman@sacs.k12.in.us) Twitter @mjgormans
MIT has created another great learning experience, this time for middle school pre-algebra and algebra students. This is not the typical game that involves solving math problems with the reward of playing a game as a reward in the end. Lure of the Labyrinth isn’t that kind of game. In fact, teachers and students report that math is one of the most fun parts of this game that incorporates a style found in popular graphic novels. It is embedded in a strong story line that engages students in a far off world where they must stop the monsters from dominating the world. This is accomplished by solving puzzles through the use of logic and the understanding of number relationships. The mathematics embedded in Lure of the Labyrinth is the central part of any pre-algebra curriculum, and is based on key standards that guide national and state mathematics curriculum. Lure of the Labyrinth’s exploration of number relationships is complex, intriguing, and it is accessible to all mathematical thinkers. Take a moment to read more about all of the math, scientific method, problem solving, and hypothesizing found in this unique game.
There are two basic ways that teachers can use Lure of the Labyrinth. Students can play it as a full-fledged game or they can play its puzzles as separate, standalone activities that compliment specific math lessons. There is a large resource area available for teachers that cover standards, sixteen different lesson plans, and graphic organizers that can be used with each lesson. The game also allows for student cooperation and collaboration while giving teachers an administrative tool to monitor online activity and student progress. The graphics are fun and the story line is interesting! Take a moment to view various video segments produced for professional development of Maryland teachers involving game play, testimonials, and planning! Be sure to read this complete page written for educators and be sure to listen to the audio by Scott Osterweil who is Creative Director at the Education Arcade at MIT . In fact, the MIT link will bring you several other games for education that I will include in future write ups. More research is supporting the use of games to faciltate this generation of digital natives in their aquisition of those all important 21st century skills!
Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to send on any comments or replies and catch all updates on both sites at twitter – Mike
21 st Century Educational Technology and Learning 
happy new year
This looks like a great way for students to practice problem solving and organization skills. The graphic organizer feature in this game will give them the tools they need to organize math concepts enable to successfully grasp the standards.
The idea of solving puzzles through logic and number relationship is in line with each state’s standards required for each grade level. This encourages critical thinking in students.
Like your blog 🙂 I’ll check your site later again.
Good points!
The information presented is top notch. I’ve been doing some research on the topic and this post answered several questions.