Game of Life

Program and run your own zero-player, biological art game in a spreadsheet.

Think you can program a game in only 60 minutes? In a spreadsheet? Using just maths? How about a game that doesn’t even need any players? One that also creates abstract art as you play?

Conway’s Game of Life is a ‘zero-player game’ that takes place on an infinite grid where the life and death of cells is completely up to you.

Join us and our Industry Partner, Chartered Accountants ANZ, to explore, play, and then make their own Games of Life; a cellular automaton with applications in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Coding and Communication, as well as Generative Art and Music.

Details

Available: Term 4
Duration: 1 module (75 minutes)
                   2 modules (3 hours)
Capacity: 50 students
Delivery: Excursion; Incursion; Online

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+ Students will…

Watch a presentation from our Industry Partners, CA ANZ, exploring the role of STEM in accountancy and programming.

Explore the meaning, breadth and use of cellular automatons across the sciences.

Develop pseudo-coding skills to create and execute mathematical formulas in a spreadsheeting program (Excel, Sheets etc.).

Model and adapt a version of Conway’s game of life.

Respond to a series of challenges to test how ‘changing the rules’ can create new opportunities.

Use their games to generate an abstract artwork that can be taken home.

+ Industry Focus

Biology
Computer Science and Modelling
Creative Industries
Design & Engineering
Digital Technology
Game Design

+ STEAM Skills

Creativity/Creative Thinking
Critical Thinking
Math Skills
Problem Solving
Technology Skills

+ Curriculum Links

Digital Technologies
Mathematics
Science

Detailed Curriculum Mapping

+ Pairs well with...

A great way to set the scene for the Game of Life is a visit to our SWARM exhibition with a SWARM Tour, where students can get inspired by all things social and biological that happen on mass. We’ll take those observations of swarming insects, population booms and movements, and bacterial expansion, and look at how we might use cellular automation to model and make predictions.

If you’re looking to give your students a window into more of the amazing breadth of STEAM pathways available to them after school, why not pair this module up with Future Transport, Bioplastic Fantastic, Future Foods, or Get Your Motor Running? Let us blow their minds about the kinds of innovations and jobs that are out there, waiting for them.