Young Scientists
Seesaw Showdown
A small kid can lift a big adult on a seesaw — by sliding to the end. Take turns hanging weights on a shared beam; each one tilts it by weight × DISTANCE from the middle, so a light brick far out out-muscles a heavy one near the pivot. Tilt it past the edge and it crashes — whoever tipped it LOSES. Balance to survive and corner your rival. Solo vs four bots, plus live 1-v-1 arenas.
For Educators
Built for the classroom
The law of the lever and torque through play — and the demolition of "heavier always wins." Re-implements the proven PhET "Balancing Act" beam as a head-to-head duel: a brick's turning effect is weight × distance from the pivot, so a beam balances iff the two arms have equal weight×distance (w₁·d₁ = w₂·d₂, Archimedes ~250 BC — the basis of every seesaw, wrench, scissors, wheelbarrow and door handle). Players alternate hanging bricks on a shared beam; tilt it past the edge and you lose, so the safe move is the balancing one and the winning move forces the rival to tip it. The game shows the live tilt but never flags the "best" move — kids discover the distance-multiplies idea by playing. An executable solver proves it's decisive: seesaw-check (15 green) confirms the torque math, the equal-torque balance law (1×4 = 2×2; 1×5 = 5×1), that the boss never tips the beam when a safe move exists and beats the random bot 58/60, and that every position is a forced win or loss.
Grades 3+ · three beams (Classic 5 notches · Wide 6 · tippy Wobbly) · solo is a best-of-3 vs four bots — beat 🦉 Pivot (the solver) for the License · live arenas are best-of-2 duels with a class ladder.
Three ways to play
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Play solo
Best-of-3 against four bots: 🤪 Wobbler → ⚖️ Evener → 🦊 Tactician → 🦉 Pivot, each reading one more layer of the lever. Beat Pivot to earn the License and unseal the Theorem.
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Host an Arena
Teacher hosts on the projector; students are paired into head-to-head seesaw duels and a live ladder ranks the room. Best-of-2, first mover swapped.
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Join on any device
Pick a brick, tap a notch. Far notches swing the beam more — keep it level and make your rival tip it over.
Run a live class in 5 steps
- Open the Arena — pick a beam; share the 4-letter code / QR / link.
- Students join on any device and are paired into 1-v-1 seesaw duels (a bye-bot fills an odd one out).
- Each turn: hang a brick (weight × distance tilts the beam). Tip it past the edge and you lose.
- Ask the room: why does a light brick at the end beat a heavy one near the middle?
- Climb the ladder; send the sharp balancers to the Dojo's Lever Lab and the law-of-the-lever theorem.
Tip: host on a laptop or projector (the big screen shows the code, QR and leaderboard); students join on their phones or laptops.
