Distributing (Fun + Learning):The Distributive Property

By: Peggy LiUnder the direction of

Professor Susan RodgerDuke University, June 2011

Overview• This tutorial will help you make an Alice world

that lets you practice the distributive property.• An expression in the form a(bx+c) will appear,

where a, b, and c are nonzero integers. • A possible answer for the expanded form will

also show up. The user clicks Y if he/she thinks it is right, and N if he/she thinks it is wrong.

• Concept can be further developed to practice more advanced concepts like adding algebraic expressions or using fractions.

1. Open Alice and create a new world.2. Select a template of your choice. (This tutorial

uses Grass, but any other works too.)3. Click Open to start building your world. 4. Remember to save your world somewhere you

can find it later!

Creating a new world

1. Click the green Add Objects button.2. In the Local Gallery, scroll to the right until you

reach the People folder. Click on the folder.3. Scroll to the right until the very end.4. You can use hebuilder and shebuilder to create

your own character.

Adding a person

Just a quick explanation!

• You might have noticed there are lots of other cool people to choose from in the People folder!

• We’re going to use the Character Builder because it comes with some built-in methods that will be helpful later on.

• Once you’re comfortable working in Alice, you can use an existing character and create new methods for it.

Why hebuilder/shebuilder

1. Customize your person! You can choose:• Body: head, torso, and legs• Face: skin tone, eyes, and lips• Hair: length/style and color• Clothing: shirt, pants, and shoes

2. Give your character a name and enter your name in the Created By box. Now click OK!

Note: The person in the tutorial is named Guide. This will come up in future slides.

Customizing your person

1. Your person’s arms will be spread out like in the picture. Let’s move them back down to his/her side.

2. Find the Object Tree on the left.3. Click the + next to your person’s

name, then click the + next to upperBody and Chest.

4. You should now see parts called rightUpperArm and leftUpperArm.

Rotating the arms

1. Right-click on rightUpperArm in the Object Tree. 2. Now go to Methods, select roll, and right. Click

on Other and type in 0.2. 3. Do the same for leftUpperArm, but this time roll

it to the left, again by 0.2.4. Your person’s arms should look like this:

Rotating the arms

1. Click on Add Objects again and return to the Local Gallery.

2. Scroll all the way to the right until you reach Create 3D Text, and click that.

3. Enter “a(bx+c)= ” for the text. 4. If you want, you can change the font.

The tutorial will use Arial bold. 5. Make another 3D Text that says “abx+ac”.

Adding 3D text objects

1. In the Object Tree, right-click on the first 3D Text you made and rename it “expression”.

2. Rename the second one “answer”. 3. Right-click on expression in the Object Tree.

Go to Methods >> turn to face >> camera. 4. Repeat Step 3 for answer. 5. Both objects should now be facing you.

Renaming and turning 3D text

1. Locate the object control buttons. Use them to move and resize the objects until they look roughly like this:

Repositioning objects