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Skeletal Central has been purposefully designed for use by educators with students in years 7-9 as an activation and knowledge tool to engage their interest in developing and maintaining healthy bones across the lifespan. It is suggested that educators use this video game as the starting point for the teaching and learning of bone health literacy in the classroom. The content of the game has been aligned to various aspects of the Australian curriculum (v 9.0) for lower high school students (years 7-9), notably in health and physical education, science, and technology learning areas.
The game is accessed directly on the website www.skeletalcentral.com. Playing the game does not require the player to download the application or need any logins or passwords. No player data is collected or stored. Depending on the player’s preference, the game’s background music and sound effects can be toggled on or off.
In this game, the player is situated on work experience at Skeletal Central, a virtual medical institute for improving bone and joint health. The gameplay engages the player with six mini-games, challenging the player to learn foundational concepts such as the basics of the skeletal system or zooming in on bone cells to learn about the several types of cells.
There is no set game pathway; instead, players can choose which mini-game to enter. This design feature also allows the educator to choose which mini-game/s will be the lesson’s foci. Or perhaps, if time permits, play the game in its entirety. Each mini-game takes around 10-15 minutes to play and is made up of various levels that will enable the player to challenge their knowledge and earn added collectables for the Skeletal Central statue.
‘Beginner’ level explores the bones and joints of the skeletal system at the player’s own pace. By clicking the ‘CHANGE PREVIEW’ function at the bottom right of the screen the player can explore the axial skeleton, appendicular skeleton, and synovial joints.
‘Intermediate’ level tests the player’s skills by giving them only two minutes to label both the appendicular and axial skeleton correctly.
Click ‘PLAY’ then click ‘START countdown’. The player has two minutes to label the objects correctly by dragging the correct label from the right of the screen to the correct position on the skeleton.
Players are invited to take an in-depth look at the bones and joints of the human skeleton and can zoom in, rotate and label the skeleton.
Access to the 3D Skeleton Viewer is found in the ‘Beginner’ mode on the left-hand side of the screen. Click on ‘ACTIVATE 3D VIEWER’.
Players can rotate and zoom by dragging the tabs on the screen or explore labels and information about the axial and appendicular skeleton and synovial joints.
Additionally, lifestyle tips will pop up for the player when they explore these labels.
MINI-GAME
Players are tasked with shopping at the supermarket so the institute’s chief dietician can prepare meal plans that promote bone growth and development.
Players can choose either the ‘BEGINNER’ or ‘INTERMEDIATE’ level by clicking on either tab to the right of the screen.
Both ‘BEGINNER’ and ‘INTERMEDIATE’ levels educate the player on choosing high-calcium foods from varying food group sources.
The player needs to catch the nutritious foods high in calcium in their shopping trolley to receive the highest points whilst simultaneously avoiding nutritionally poor foods, which results in the player losing points.
Click ‘VIEW SPECIALS’ then click “START’, wait for the count down and then catch the high-calcium foods on the shopping list as displayed to the left.
MINI-GAME
Players enter the institute’s pathology lab to inspect and label specialised bone cells (osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes).
The player drags each slide, one at a time, from the right of the screen onto the microscope slide deck to view.
Once validated, information about this bone cell type will be revealed inside a pop out box to the left of the screen. This is repeated for all three slides.
MINI-GAME
Players enter the bone densitometry lab to reconstruct a bone using a specialised Osteo Computer and 3D printer while learning about how bone growth and development are affected by genetics, age, lifestyle, and exercise. In this mini-game, players choose one of two patient profiles: Enid or Joe.
To start this game, click ‘TURN ON 3D PRINTER’. To load the genetic factors into the Osteo Computer, click ‘LOAD PATIENT DATA’, where the player drags each potential factor into the correct slot on the Osteo Computer.
This is repeated for ‘boosting factors’ and ‘lifestyle factors’. Once the player correctly completes all the components of the patient profile, click ‘FINALISE STRUCTURE’ and then ‘FINAL STRENGTH TEST’ to find out how these factors affect the strength of the bone.
MINI-GAME
Professor Bones, the institute’s director, invites the players to attend the annual Skeletal Central quiz night. Educators can use this mini-game as a diagnostic, formative or summative assessment tool. It is suggested that players attempt the quiz last to test their newfound bone and joint knowledge.
Players can choose between ‘BEGINNER’, ‘INTERMEDIATE’, or ‘ADVANCED’ level rounds of questions. Start the quiz and choose TRUE or FALSE for each question.
The skeleton’s eyes will light up green when a correct answer is given and red if the answer is incorrect.
It is suggested that you debrief with your students after each gameplay, as this helps the learner connect this game-based learning to real-world applications.
Furthermore, this strategy helps to ensure that the learner experiences gained through gameplay are transformed into shareable and buildable knowledge.
