An interactive game for 14+ students combining code-breaking with medicine
design
http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/resources/masterminding-molecules/
Masterminding Molecules is an ideal resource for 14–16 year old students based largely around the
code-breaking game Mastermind™. The game seeks to develop logic and reinforce the principles
of fair-testing.
Identification: Each student is invited to select a team which will compete against the ‘Red Team’,
a rival drug company in a race to discover a new medicine.
Diseases: The student is presented with three diseases through a combination of text and video.
Once the student has decided which disease they wish to direct their research towards (by clicking
Select), they then proceed to the the first of three levels.
Quiz: Each level is interspersed with a quiz section to test the student’s knowledge of their subject.
The better the students do in this quiz, the more budget they will have available for their research.
Level 1: The first time the students arrive at this page, they are presented with a template structure
which they need to transform into a lead
molecule. They can build upon the template
structure by hovering over the highlighted
hotspots and then selecting any one of four
connector options. Any single connector can
be
selected
more
than
once.
When all four positions have a connector
attached, the new, functionalised structure can
be tested and the student receives feedback
on how many connectors are correct and in the correct position (white dot) and how connectors are
correct but in the wrong position (black dot). The results (deposited in History at the bottom of the
screen) can then be used to inform subsequent selections as the student seeks to find the lead
molecule in as few design rounds as possible. At any stage, the student can click on a structure in
History and use this as the basis of their next design round.
If the student is struggling to arrive at the solution, a hint will appear that will help guide their future
designs. At various times during this and subsequent levels, the student is reminded of the
competitive nature of drug discovery with news on how their competitors (the ‘Red Team’) are
progressing. Level 1 is completed when the student successfully identifies the lead molecule or,
having run out of research budget, is presented with the solution.
Level 2: Here the students are introduced to the concept of polarity and are then tasked to refine
the lead molecule by selecting shapes from a menu of options to attach to each of the connectors.
As in Level 1, they receive feedback on how many of their selections are correct and how many are
also in the correct position. If they are able to decipher and apply a hidden key design principle, this
will help them to identify the refined lead molecule more rapidly.
Level 3: In this final level, the student needs to identify the molecule that will become a potential
new medicine and also beat the ‘Red Team’ to the solution. Building on the refined lead molecule
identified in Level 2, they are presented with design rules that will help them to assign colours to
each of the four shapes in a way that optimises activity whilst maintaining good overall drug-like
properties.
Results Summary: This page appears once Level 3 has been completed and summarises the
how the student performed in the game, including their quiz results and number of design rounds
required for each level. This can be printed out for submission.
Options: This allows the game to be tailored to suit the player. Audio and fullscreen options ensure
the game is accessible to as many students as
possible. The Questions tab allows the player to
select the topics they wish to be questioned on
(Fuels, Periodic Table, Chemical Reactions,
Energy & Environment and Food).These can be
selected individually to complement a recently
studied
topic
or
randomised
comprehensive test of knowledge.
for
a