Introduction to the educator's community

Welcome to the Meta!Blast educator's community. We continue to post new content, so check back often.

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Goals for students

By playing Metablast, students will be introduced to the concepts of respiration, photosynthesis, and the functions of various organelles in a manner complementary to the textbook. Students will also be introduced to how the living cell actually appears through a biologically accurate virtual replica of a cell environment.

Students will be presented with a series of puzzles and goals, such as having to create oxygen, which will require them to think critically in order to come to the solutions. By actively participating in these biological processes, students will learn by discovery.

Metablast is intended to provide a gameplay experience on par with those of professionally developed commercial video games. Among the developers working on Metablast are artists, programmers, sound programmers, and writers dedicated to accomplishing high quality game design. Among their goals are creating aesthetically pleasing environments that will catch students attention and motivate them to explore; a storyline that is practical, believable, and will hold the attention and interest of high school and undergraduate students; and gameplay mechanics that are not only educational, but also simply fun to participate in.

What Is Metablast?

Metablast is a real time 3D action-adventure video game engaging experience that simultaneously educates players about cell biology.

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Meta!Blast: Behind-The-Game Technical Description

The Kabalag Game engine, art, game developers, and more!

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The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research

An interesting and encouraging perspective to the pursuit of knowledge in science.

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Giving Proteins Pretty Colors

Get an insight on Professor Roger Tsien and his Nobel Prize winning research.

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Pythagoras Meets Flash

Check out the pictorial proof of Pythagoras' theorem by statistical scientist Paul Vjecsner.

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Meet a Member of the Team: Craig Walter

Craig Walter, an integral member of the MetaBlast team, is an instructor of Advanced Placement Biology and Earth Science at Ames High School. A man of science with a sense of humor, Master Teacher Mr. Walter gets students excited, curious, and motivates them to actively engage in learning.