This is no ordinary jigsaw puzzle. Children can go the PBS Kids website and play a puzzle where the pieces actually change shape. Pieces are offered in sizes that are either too big, too small or just right for the slots they need to fit in. Under the puzzle are buttons that can be selected. The three on the left will make the puzzle piece smaller and the three on the right will make the pieces bigger. The pieces can go smaller by one quarter, one third and one half. They can go larger by one and a half times their current size, two times their current size or four times their current size, thus teaching children how to think in terms of proportions and accurate fractions. Players are given 20 seconds to fit each piece.
Quiz games are more straightforward and a large number of them can be found all over the Internet. A game on Quia has kids solving algebraic proportion problems and working their way up a theoretical money scale to reach a million dollars. A game such as this is easy to bring into the classroom or home. For younger students, matching up corresponding fractional amounts can teach proportions.
Scale Factor X plays like part science fiction game, part action game and part math game. The goal of the game is to stop the Scaliens from changing proportions, ratios and scale factors. Players start out collecting stars and other items by guiding a green alien figure through a series of blocks. When students are really into the game after beating the first level, they are led into a room where the Scaliens have tampered with the fuel distribution and you must return it to its normal ratio. The game continues on in a similar fashion.
This site is set up to resemble a highway with each section being accessible by clicking a themed road sign. When players click on a sign, a video teaching the player about proportions plays. Players engage in an activity to put the lessons into practice. One such activity is the called "Belle of Louisiana," where students learn about steam whistles and how proportional sizes of pipes effect sound by watching a video about a Louisiana steam boat. Players then organize organ pipes by size and sound.