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Board Game Cast
Download the Cast (pdf)
At Hertz Middle School, located somewhere in North America, twenty-five
eighth-graders attend a physical science class in which CIPS is taught.
These students spend their free time engaging in many different hobbies,
sports and games. In the CIPS Game, you’ll find applications of CIPS
in the classroom activities of the Hertz students; in their free-time activities;
in other aspects of their everyday lives, or those of close family members;
and even in their imaginations. Below are pictures and brief descriptions
of the members of the CIPS Game cast of characters.
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Alex, age 14.
From his family, Alex inherits a love of the outdoors. He enjoys
camping with his family, hiking in the mountains, swimming in mountain
lakes, and bicycling. Alex also has some skill with amateur photography.
He enjoys going to the movies with Andrew (when he’s not babysitting
Courtney) and Amy. |
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Ali, age 13.
A friend of Harry and Tim’s who shares some of their interest
in fantasy and magic, Ali is more grounded in the real world than the
twins. He enjoys skateboarding, doing science experiments, and going
to the mall to see movies and to eat. He’s a good friend of Rachel,
who frequently joins him in his sojourns to the mall.
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Alia, age 13.
Alia plans to become a scientist when she grows up. She enjoys designing
and conducting physics experiments, and she is equally enthusiastic
about chemistry. Not surprisingly, science class is her favorite class.
Alia plays an ongoing astronomy challenge game with her friend Kim.
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Amy, age 14.
Amy enjoys swimming and diving, and is the best all-round diver at
her school. She has won city and county diving championships for her
age group. For recreation, Amy likes to scuba-dive in the ocean. Amy
is a friend of Andrew, who is her science partner, and of Alex, with
whom she sometimes goes hiking or swimming.
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Andrew, age 14, and his niece Courtney,
age 6.
Andrew is frequently stuck with babysitting his niece Courtney, both
of whose parents (Andrew’s older brother and his wife) work full-time.
Despite his grumbling, he’s fond of Courtney and constantly keeps
a close eye on her. Two of his closer friends are Amy and Alex. Courtney
is a fun-loving girl who enjoys being pulled around in a red wagon by
Andrew and playing with her toys.
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Antonio, age 14.
Antonio is an avid inline roller-skater who unfortunately gets easily
distracted when he skates. Fortunately, he always wears a helmet, something
he decided to do after colliding a couple times with skateboarder Ali.
Antonio is an avid cook. He specializes in Italian dishes like pizza
and spaghetti, which he also loves eating—sometimes to excess.
His friend Mario often samples Antonio’s gourmet dishes.
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Erica, age 13.
Erica enjoys playing tennis and engaging in other sports. Her bedroom
features an aquarium, where she keeps several goldfish. She likes to
study their behavior in preparation for being a zoologist one day. Easily
chilled on winter nights, Erica keeps a space heater in her bedroom
to keep her warm before she goes to bed (she turns it off before turning
off the lights).
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Hugh, age 13.
Hugh is the class clown—literally. Hugh wants to be a clown
when he grows up, and he has already begun working toward that goal
by working as a clown at a number of birthday parties. Hugh particularly
enjoys science when he can apply what he learns to everyday life. Hugh
also enjoys listening to his favorite rock groups on his personal CD
player.
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Harry and Tim,
age 13.
Identical twins Harry and Tim are fans of fantasy fiction, comic books
and films, and enjoy doing magic tricks and shows. Their favorite fantasy
series are about their British namesakes: The Harry Potter™ novels
and films, and The Books of Magic™ comics (about teenage magician
Tim Hunter). The twins tend to find magic in everyday life. The boys
dream about becoming astronauts and visiting other planets. They are
good friends of Ali and Rachel. |
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Jocelyn, age 13, and brother Kenny, age
9.
With her parents working full-time, Jocelyn has to spend a great deal
of time with her little brother Kenny. Though she grumbles to her friends,
she gets along pretty well with her brother, particularly since they
have a good working arrangement: If he does the chores (like mopping
the kitchen floor and doing the laundry), she’ll take him out
sailing, which they both love. Kenny also enjoys playing with his yo-yo
and his fire truck. |
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Jorge, age 13.
Jorge’s first love is baseball, and he’s good at it. Jorge
frequently plays in pick-up games down at the park, and sometimes plays
in games that are more organized. Jorge is a particularly good batter,
and he has hit a few home runs. Jorge usually plays ball with his close
friends Sofia and Orlando. Jorge is also a budding auto mechanic who
helps keep Sofia’s car running. |
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José, age 12.
José hopes to become an engineer when he grows up, and has
an abiding interest in all things electrical. He enjoys building electric
circuits and experimenting with electricity. He also enjoys winter sports
like sledding and sleeping until noon on weekends. José has had
a reputation as the class brain since he skipped second grade, but he
doesn’t always have the right answer. José is a good friend
of Raja, a frequent study partner. |
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Kerri, age 14.
Of all the topics in her science class, Kerri likes chemistry the
most. She has aided and abetted her friend Rajiv in his controversial
chemistry experiments, and they are frequent study partners. On cold
winter nights, Kerri enjoys a cup of hot chocolate or tea. Kerri also
enjoys playing softball. |
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Kim, age 14.
Kim loves all things astronomical. Not only is she a vast store of
information concerning planets and stars, she enjoys discussing astronomy
with her friends and catching up on the latest research on planets and
stars. Kim is also an avid user of the Internet. Kim plays an ongoing
astronomy challenge game with her friend Alia. |
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Luisa , age 14.
Luisa frequently plays soccer with her friends Maya and Michelle.
She’s the best player of the three friends, and one of the team’s
stars. Her goal gave her team the county championship, even though another
attempted goal deflated the soccer ball. Luisa often helps Maya shop
for and cook her gourmet dishes. |
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Mario, age 13.
Mario is on the school’s hockey team, and is one of their better
players, if not quite the school star. After a grueling hockey game,
Mario enjoys the refreshing taste of chilled apple juice. Mario is a
friend of Antonio, and a frequent test subject of his cooking experiments. |
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Maya, age 13.
Maya enjoys playing soccer with her friends Michelle and Luisa. Not
the best of players, Maya plays more because she loves the social atmosphere
than because she loves the game. Maya’s first love is cooking,
and she has a number of delicious specialties. She is a bit accident-prone
in the kitchen, where she has burned her hand a few times. |
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Melissa, age 14.
Melissa has a strong interest in archery and dreams of becoming an
Olympic contestant. With constant practice and a keen eye, she has become
an excellent archer. Her sharp eye has also helped her accuracy with
slingshots and darts. Melissa uses the skills she learned in science
to help her with her archery—for example, conducting experiments
to determine how bow strength depends on various factors. |
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Michelle, age 13.
Michelle frequently plays soccer with her friends Luisa and Maya.
She’s a good player, but not the star of the team. Michelle is
more concerned than her friends are with her looks, spending quite a
bit of time in front of the mirror with her steel comb. She enjoys science,
particularly chemistry. |
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Orlando, age 14.
Orlando enjoys baseball almost as much as his friend Jorge and cousin
Sofia. He’s a better fielder than he is a batter. Because he is
so familiar with Jorge’s batting style, he’s frequently
picked for the opposing team so that he can catch Jorge’s fly
balls. Orlando has a laid-back personality that makes him popular at
school. Orlando’s mother Maxine is an architect. |
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Rachel, age 13.
Rachel is a good friend of Ali, with whom she frequently makes trips
to the mall to eat lunch at fast food places and see movies. She is
also a friend of the twins. Rachel enjoys science class, but her favorite
class is English. She enjoys reading, particularly science fiction,
and spends many a night curled up in an armchair with a book in the
light of a shaded lamp. |
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Raja, age 14.
Raja enjoys science, particularly designing and running experiments.
She also enjoys her industrial arts class, where she tries to cast goblets
and other objects from the Middle Ages, her favorite historical period.
Raja is a good friend and frequent study partner of José, the
reputed class brain. |
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Rajiv, age 14.
Rajiv is athletic, enjoying both soccer and dirt biking, but his first
love is chemistry. His initial experiments with his chemistry set caused
a few noxious events at home; his family was glad when he finally started
learning how to conduct careful experiments in his eight-grade science
class. He’s a good friend of Kerri, who is a frequent study partner. |
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Sofia, age 16.
Like her cousin Orlando and their mutual friend Jorge, high school
sophomore Sofia loves to play baseball. She’s a mean pitcher and
usually acts as team captain. Sofia also enjoys driving her classic
1967 Chevrolet, even though the car is constantly breaking down and
badly in need of repairs. Sofia usually drives Jorge and Orlando back
and forth from their baseball games. |
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Tomás, age 14.
Tomás is a beginning skydiver. He learned how to skydive during
a trip he took with his parents (both experienced skydivers) to Australia,
where the minimum legal age for skydiving is 14. He has shared his exciting
experiences with his eighth-grade science class. Their teacher incorporates
Tomás’s stories into class discussions about interactions
and motion. |
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