CSC 216/s08/trees and grass
Memory
A novel twist on a classic children's game.
The problem
This exercise will help illustrate the different relationships that classes can have with each other.
The game is played much like the classic game Memory, that requires the participants to remember the location of two related cards. Unlike a traditional memory game, the cards will not be identical, but will rather be two related classes. These classes can be related in several ways:
- Inheritance
- Interfacing
- Inner Class
- Aggregation
- Association
Participants and props
This exercise is designed to involve the entire class. It will require several index cards, some tape. The cards should be labeled before class begins, and the students should not know their contents. Some example cards are given below, but the exercise is not restricted to these examples.
The Cards
An example of some cards that could be used in this exercise are listed below. They are divided into the different relationships demonstrated between the cards.
Association
- Car - Driver
- Course - Instructor
Aggregation
- Cell - Grid
Inheritance
- Plant - Flower
- Animal - Bee
Interfacing
- Comparable - Double
- Flushable - Toilet
Inner Class
- Linked List - Iterator
The script
Setup: The cards are scrambled, and then taped on the board in a grid. If the class is large, you may consider having the students break into teams of two or three. In addition, the different relationships that any two cards may have should be listed next to the cards.
Gameplay: Each student, in turn, is given the chance to select two cards to be flipped over. If the student believes that the two cards are a match, then they must identify the manner in which the two cards are related. If the student is correct, these cards are removed from the board and handed to that student. If the student is incorrect, their turn is over and the next student is given the same opportunity. This is repeated until the grid is entirely removed. The game ends when there are no more unmatched cards. The student/group with the most cards is the winner.