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Wilensky and Novak's BugHunt Game Launches for Darwin's Birthday An online computer game that mimics Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, created by SESP professor Uri Wilensky and researcher Michael Novak, was officially launched on February 12 in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. The launch of the game, called BugHunt, is but one way in which the University’s One Book One Northwestern project and The Alumnae of Northwestern commemorated Darwin’s birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his landmark book The Origin of Species. The Darwin festivities also included a multimedia exhibit of Darwin-inspired art by Northwestern community members titled “Art of Evolution,” organized by SESP doctoral student Camillia Matuk. BugHunt, which can be played simultaneously by multiple players, invites each player to act as a bird hunting for multicolored bugs that appear online in different environments. The player is challenged to find prey hidden in, for example, a field of poppies or at the seashore. Players compete against other gamers (who are identified as other birds). BugHunt games run continuously and restart every three minutes. To play, visit http://ccl.northwestern.edu/simevolution/obonu/ and join the competition to become top bug hunter. Wilensky, a professor in the Learning Sciences program at the School of Education and Social Policy and director of Northwestern’s Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling (CCL), and Novak, a researcher at the center and public school teacher first developed BugHunt in 2005. At that time, it was part of a larger CCL project on simulated evolution. The One Book project sponsored a new version of the game to make it available for courses in which evolution is taught or in which evolutionary theory is a component. "BugHunt is ultimately intended for use in schools and museums,” says Wilensky. Darwin first became the focus of activities around the University when, in August 2008, all incoming freshmen to the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences were asked to read The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by David Quammen. Quammen recently came to Northwestern to lecture on Darwin’s life and legacy. For more than half a year, “One Book One Northwestern” has sponsored events, lectures, exhibits and films about Darwin, his theories and his widespread influence in and beyond science. A link on the OneBook site at http://www.northwestern.edu/onebook/ will also take visitors to the BugHunt game. by Wendy Leopold  E-mail this story
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