Fizz & Martina

Last updated
Fizz & Martina
Fizz & Martina Logo.jpg
Genre(s) Edutainment
Developer(s) Tom Snyder Productions
Publisher(s) Tom Snyder Productions
Platform(s) Windows, Macintosh
First releaseBuddies for Life
1992
Latest releaseProject Sphinx

Fizz & Martina's Math Adventures is a collection of five math-related educational video games for the Windows and Macintosh platforms, developed and published by Tom Snyder Productions. The games were incorporated with the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS). [1] The series consists of Buddies for Life, Blue Falls Elementary, Caves of Blue Falls, Lights, Camera, Fractions! and Project Sphinx.

Contents

Fizz and Martina also made appearances in the second and third seasons of Science Court .

Development

Educational goals

The series teaches arithmetic, story problems, estimates and operations. The main idea was to teach math as part of a storyline within a narrated slideshow. [2] The movie sequences and challenges catch students' interest and the math problems are meaningful so that they can be used to simulate real life solutions. The material covers four math strategies for assessment, namely Open-ended Problems, Enhanced Multiple-choice Questions, Investigations and Portfolios. [1] They are also designed to reinforce math and to motivate students to learn. [3]

Reception

The Journal felt the series was "mathematically and educationally sound". [4]

Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResult
Fizz & Martina's Math AdventuresEdPress Distinguished Achievement Award Won [5]
Fizz & Martina's Math AdventuresSoftware & Industry Association Codie Award Finalist - Best New Curriculum Software for Early Education Won [5]
Fizz & Martina's Math AdventuresTechnology & Learning Award of Excellence Won [5]
Fizz & Martina's Math Video KitsParents' Choice Won [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scholastic Corporation</span> American publishing company

Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. Products are distributed via retail and online sales and through schools via reading clubs and book fairs. Clifford the Big Red Dog, a character created by Norman Bridwell in 1963, serves as Scholastic's official mascot.

JumpStart was an educational media franchise created for children, primarily consisting of educational games. The franchise was developed by JumpStart Games and expanded beyond games to include workbooks, direct-to-video films, mobile apps, and other media. It was officially launched on March 10, 2009, offering a blend of educational content and entertainment experiences.

The Learning Company (TLC) was an educational software company founded in 1980 in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company produced a grade-based line of learning software, edutainment games, and productivity tools. Its titles included the flagship series Reader Rabbit, for preschoolers through second graders, and The ClueFinders, for more advanced students. The company was also known for publishing licensed educational titles featuring characters such as Arthur, Scooby-Doo, Zoboomafoo, and Caillou.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathematics education</span> Mathematics teaching, learning and scholarly research

In contemporary education, mathematics education—known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics—is the practice of teaching, learning, and carrying out scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical knowledge.

<i>The ClueFinders</i> Childrens educational software series

The ClueFinders is an educational software series aimed at children aged 8–12 that features a group of mystery-solving teenagers. The series was created by The Learning Company as a counterpart to their Reader Rabbit series for older, elementary-aged students. The series has received praise for its balance of education and entertainment, resulting in numerous awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Programme for International Student Assessment</span> Scholastic performance study by the OECD

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. It was first performed in 2000 and then repeated every three years. Its aim is to provide comparable data with a view to enabling countries to improve their education policies and outcomes. It measures problem solving and cognition.

<i>Science Court</i> Television series

Science Court is an educational entertainment, animation/non-traditional court show from Tom Snyder Productions, which was aired on ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning block from 1997 to 2000. The cartoon was "filmed" in Squigglevision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soup2Nuts</span> American animation studio (1980–2015)

Soup2Nuts was an American animation studio founded by Tom Snyder. The studio is known for its animated comedy series, its use of Squigglevision, a technique of animation that reuses frames to make the animation look more kinetic, and for its style of improvisation in voice acting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Educational video game</span> Video game genre

An educational video game is a video game that provides learning or training value to the player. Edutainment describes an intentional merger of video games and educational software into a single product. In the narrower sense used here, the term describes educational software which is primarily about entertainment, but tends to educate as well and sells itself partly under the educational umbrella. Normally software of this kind is not structured towards school curricula and does not involve educational advisors.

FableVision Studios is a media production studio located on the top floor of Boston Children's Museum in the city's Innovation District. FableVision designs and develops a wide array of educational media, including software, games and interactive activities, mobile apps, animated films, websites, and museum kiosks, as well as providing strategy and media consulting.

Tom Snyder is an American animator, writer and producer known for the Squigglevision animation technique. His first success with this method was Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, starring Jonathan Katz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy</span> Subscription based education program for children 2–8

ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy is a digital education program for children ages 2–8, created by the edtech company Age of Learning, Inc. The program offers educational games, videos, puzzles, printables, and a library of regular and “read-aloud” children’s books, covering subjects including reading and language arts, math, science, health, social studies, music, and art.

<i>Carmen Sandiego Word Detective</i> 1997 video game

Carmen Sandiego Word Detective is a game in the Carmen Sandiego franchise which was released in 1997. The plot of the game sees Carmen Sandiego inventing a machine called the Babble-On Machine, and the player in the role of Agent 13, thwarting her plans by freeing all the other agents which have been captured by Carmen. The title is very similar in format to Carmen Sandiego Math Detective, which was released a year later.

<i>Snooper Troops</i> 1982 video games

Snooper Troops is a series of two 1982 adventure/educational video games developed by Spinnaker Software and published by Computer Learning Connection. They were released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 and DOS. The first case was entitled Snooper Troops: Case #1: The Granite Point Ghost and the second case entitled Snooper Troops: Case #2 - The Case of the Disappearing Dolphin was released later that year.

Madeline is a series of educational point-and-click adventure video games which were developed during the mid-1990s for Windows and Mac systems. The games are an extension of the Madeline series of children's books by Ludwig Bemelmans, which describe the adventures of a young French girl. The video-game series was produced concurrently with a TV series of the same name, with characters and voice actors from the show.

<i>Star Wars: Pit Droids</i> 1999 video game

Star Wars: Pit Droids is a puzzle game developed and published by Lucas Learning. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh on September 13, 1999. It was later ported to iOS and released on February 9, 2012. The game develops skills such as hypothesis testing and geometry.

Decisions, Decisions is a 15-part educational role-playing video game series by Tom Snyder Productions, released from the 1980s to the early 2000s. It has also been described as a "media-assisted simulation game" series.

The Search Series is a five-game series of educational video games by Tom Snyder Productions and published by McGraw-Hill Education in 1980. It runs on either Apple II or TRS-80 Models I and III.

<i>Math Mysteries</i> Collection of five math-related educational video games

Math Mysteries is a collection of five math-related educational video games for the Windows and Macintosh platforms, developed and published by Tom Snyder Productions. The games were designed to fit the NCTM standards at their time of development. The series consists of Math Mysteries: Measurements, Math Mysteries: Whole Numbers, Math Mysteries: Fractions, Math Mysteries: Advanced Whole Numbers and Math Mysteries: Advanced Fractions.

<i>Science Seekers</i> Video game series

Science Seekers is a trilogy of science-related educational video games for the Windows and Macintosh platforms, developed and published by Tom Snyder Productions. The American Museum of Natural History collaborated in the series' development and got a grant from NASA. The series consists of Science Seekers: Hidden in Rocks, Science Seekers: Endangered Species and Science Seekers: Safe Water.

References

  1. 1 2 Vaille, John; Kushins, Harold (1993). "Creative Math Assessment" (PDF). Massachusetts: United States Department of Education: 1, 3, 5–8, 13. Retrieved May 1, 2018.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Sarah Ditkoff (March 13, 2015). "FableVision Says Goodbye to Soup2Nuts Animation Studio". FableVision . Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  3. "Tom Snyder Productions' Fizz & Martina's math adventures". EBSCO Publishing. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  4. "Tom Snyder Productions' Fizz & Martina's Math Adventures -- THE Journal". THE Journal. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  5. 1 2 3 "Fizz & Martina Awards". Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  6. "Peter H. Reynolds CHS Class of 1978". Chelmsford High School Alumni Association. Retrieved May 1, 2018.