Focus on the Fish: Greater or Less

About the Focus Game “Focus on the Fish: Greater or Less”

“Focus on the Fish: Greater or Less” is a number-based online game inspired by the cormorant story from “The Book About Birds, Part 1”, part of the LittleBookBirdAndWiseOwl project. In the book, the Little Book Bird and the Wise Owl meet cormorants – attentive and patient fishers that observe first and then act with precision. This idea of paying attention without rushing became the basis for the cormorant game series. In this game, the child does not simply notice the number on a fish, but has to decide how it relates to a given reference number: is it greater or less?

How the Game Works

A task appears on the playing field with a reference number and a comparison condition – to find numbers that are greater or less than it. Fish showing different numbers then appear on the screen, and the player needs to select only those that match the current condition. The task changes periodically, so both the reference number and the direction of comparison may change. The game has 3 “lives”, shown as small fish in the statistics panel on the right side of the playing field. A life is lost if the player taps a fish with an incorrect number or misses a correct one.

What Does the Game Develop?

Attention & Concentration

Memory

Logical Thinking

Observation & Visual Discrimination

During each task, the child has to keep two parts of the condition in mind at the same time: the reference number and the rule to follow – greater or less. Each new number on a fish has to be not only recognized but compared with the reference number before the child decides whether it matches the current condition. Correct choices must not be missed, while numbers that do not fit the rule should be ignored. When the task changes, the previous rule no longer applies: the child has to notice the new condition and adjust the way each number is evaluated. In this way, the same simple action – seeing a number and making a choice – repeatedly requires checking the rule rather than responding automatically.

Game Details

• Game type: focus game.
• Access: this game is free to play and does not require an account or email activation.
• Works on: this game works in modern browsers on phones and tablets. No installation is required.
• Book connection: “The Book About Birds, Part 1”

“Focus on the Fish: Greater or Less” is the second game in the cormorant online game series. In “Focus on the Fish: Find the Right Number”, the player searches for a target number; in “Focus on the Fish: Count and Stop”, the player counts the required fish and stops at the right moment; here, the numbers have to be compared with a reference number. In this way, one cormorant story continues through three different ways of interacting with numbers.

From story to action. From action to play. From play to new adventures.