Have your students signed up for individual accounts? If you have a school-wide subscription to BrainPOP, students will be able to use our SnapThought ® tool to play the game Wind Simulator!

The SnapThought tool allows students to capture meaningful moments in their game play with opportunities for brief written reflection. Once students are logged in, the SnapThought tool will appear below any games that offer this capability.

During game play, students can click the SnapThought tool up to five times. A thumbnail, or “snapshot” is generated and stored on the bottom left of the screen.  At any point in the game, students can click their snapshot(s), type a brief reflection, which may be a response to an open-ended prompt, and save or submit to the teacher’s account for you to review and respond to.

You can use the SnapThought tool to facilitate discussion around game play and strategies, or have students submit their snapshots to you for assessment or accountability. Here are a few ideas and prompts for using the SnapThought tool in Wind Simulator.

  • Before you making any changes in Level 1, take a snapshot. Based on what you see, describe some of the main differences between high and low pressure systems.
  • In Level 2, click the eye icon (bottom right corner) and turn on “vectors.”  Then take a snapshot and predict how this feature might help you to beat the level? What do you think “vector” means here?
  • After placing all the arrows in correct locations in Level 4, instruct students to take a snapshot and explain how their arrows represent the wind model. What is the relationship to the speed of wind and the size of the arrow? Where are the strongest wind currents? How does air behave close to a low pressure system?  High pressure system?
  • In Level 5, before making any changes, take a snapshot. Based on what you’ve learned by playing the previous levels, describe your strategy for beating this level.
  • After Levels 7 and 8, students take a snapshot and describe the arrangement Hs and Ls must be in to spawn a tornado.
  • After playing the game, take a snapshot. Explain how knowledge of high- and low pressure systems help us to predict the weather?