L.A. Beat

Would be “secret agents”  age 8-12 can get an early start in their training, and learn a few things about history  in the process thanks to an innovative new online video game called “Seek Your Own Proof,” which includes a Galt Museum component.
“It’s aimed at audiences aged 8-12 to  get the kids excited about  science and history. They try to  act like secret agents,” said Jason Suriano, president and executive producer of his Edmonton based company Seek Your Own Proof.

The University of Lethbridge graduate has been working on this project for the past three years and struck partnerships with the Discovery Channel and  museums in Times Square, New York,  as well as the Galt.

They are also putting the final touches on programs with Edmonton and Seattle as well.

In addition to a variety of cases the agents can solve online, there are also “field missions”— King Tut NYC, at the Times Square Exposition,” and “Night at the Galt Museum” at  the Galt Museum in Lethbridge which was officially launched , Aug. 20 with numerous members of  the University of Lethbridge’s LUMACS summer science/computer science program.

“We really wanted the Galt Museum to  be the first Canadian program,” Suriano said before distributing worksheets  to the bidding agents, who were to go through the exhibit with a fine toothed comb, looking at  the pieces in the main exhibit, reading the information accompanying them and writing down clue words. Afterwards they go to the site www.seekyourownproof.com, sign up and enter the resulting code to redeem  “secret agent” badges as well as tokens which can be redeemed at the gift shops of the participating museums for things like  Discovery Channel videos and souvenirs.

“They learn about problem solving as well as  science and history and we want parents to  encourage their kids to play because it is educational and it is non-violent,” he said adding   there are new missions on the site monthly, though he doesn’t expect to change  the Galt mission for at least a year. There are a variety of features on the site. Agents can update their status as to what missions they have completed and there is a leaderboard so they can see who has accumulated the most completed missions and tokens. There are a couple missions participants can complete for free, then elite missions cost $3.95 each, with a season’s worth costing $19.95.

 

He said the cartoon graphics are immediately appealing to children  while providing a fun and educational experience and estimated the site already has 30,000 visitors a month.
“And that’s pretty slow because the marketing in the States hasn’t kicked in yet,” he said emphasizing he is proud to have the Galt Museum as the first in Canada.

“It’s primarily because of my family ties. I’m from here,” he said.

“I noticed while doing my research over three years and visiting  a lot of museums, that, particularly in bigger museums, there are a lot of dead zones with no kids at all in them. So I think something like this really helps people really look at the artifacts,” he said.

Dr. Jaqueline Rice, who along with her colleague Nicole Wilson, runs and programs the summer LUMACS (Life, U, Mathematics And Computer Science program which  encourages awareness and interest in math and computer science) program at the University of Lethbridge, was pleased with how well the students took to Seek Your Own Proof.

“We would love to do something like this at the university every year if we had the resources,” Rice enthused.
“They’re learning all about problem solving. They’re learning all about the different parts of it,” she said.
Find out more by going to www.seekyourownproof.com.

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