Topics of computer science for junior students using pokemon go as a context.

As some of you will ever aware, Pokemon go was released on Wednesday night and some students will have been walking the school grounds hoping to catch a couple of Pokemon during the school day.

I pose some starter questions here in so that they could be used to develop some deeper understanding for students.

Video of what pokemon go is all about - http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-go/

Great to think of the topics of computer vision through augmented reality. Though I have been challenged on this, I would like to change what could be looked at, why is that computer vision could not be used to help support the development of this game.

You’ll frequently find Pokémon floating superimposed into walls or other objects in a way that doesn’t make sense, with their scale totally misrepresented against a backdrop that doesn’t suit their size at all. When you walk toward the Pokémon they’ll simply slide along the ground at a fixed distance from you, passing through whatever real world obstacles might be in their way. Students could take about the ideas of this, imagine a pokemon that could hide behind a tree?

As well as developing a traveling salesman problem with visiting pokestops (http://m.au.ign.com/wikis/pokemon-go/PokeStops) as well as having to visit gyms once they are level 5 to battle. This supports the ideas of tractability, getting students to figure out the best route to visit the most pokestops to be able to get the backpacker medal. (http://www.csfieldguide.org.nz/en/chapters/complexity-tractability.html)

Also the discussion of types of phones, the Pokemon go app will not work on an android phone if it has an Intel processor.

Managing data through 3G/4G. How much data does the app go through in a session. Depending on how long your session is.

The common question for some students maybe, why will it install on a smart phone but I cannot play it on my computer? It's a game?

Also talking to students about why released in Australia and New Zealand first before releasing to the American market a day or two later?

This also gets them to understand why they will get the most annoying screen at the moment, "we are experiencing issues with our servers"

Getting students to share their wins through photos, why is it important to share the capture of a wild Pokemon while sitting in your bathroom? Digital citizenship topic maybe?