Lure of the Labyrinth: Vending Machine | An Introduction

Welcome to Math with Mr. J. In this video, I'm going to introduce a game that you can use to learn about expressions and equations in pre-algebra or algebra. Lore of the Labyrinth Vending Machine. This is a game designed by MIT Education Arcade, Fable Vision Studios, and Maryland Public Television. Research shows that well-designed Learning games can encourage discovery and build deep mathematical reasoning skills. You can learn more about the research by clicking this link. It's okay if you don't finish the game. The important part is to experiment, restart, and try different strategies. The Vending Machine game has been played by thousands of students across the world and is now available to play on YouTube. Click on the link below or in the description to play the game. Now in the game, you're approached by a very hungry monster. The monster gives you coins to buy snacks from the vending machine. But you're not a monster, so you don't understand what the coins are. You'll have to try different coin combinations to figure out how much each coin is worth. Then buy the tasty pack to feed the hungry monster. In level one, you can buy snacks using any combination of coins. In level two, you can only spend up to two coins of the same kind. The vending machine game can be used to introduce expressions and equations. The game is an opportunity to experiment and discover intuitive math strategy skills before learning algebra more formally. When you figure out how much each monster coin is worth, you learn how to solve for variables like x and y in algebra. Level 1 introduces variables and solving one-step equations in pre-algebra. Level 2 introduces systems of equations in algebra. Click on the link below to try the game. You can learn more about the math behind these puzzles in these two videos. And then I also dropped links to more videos and examples down in the description. Those are great follow-ups to this introduction.