Welcome Lounge
This is the first place to go to in Whyville, there are lots of newbies here and people with red caps to give you a tour. There is also a short slideshow that introduces Whyville.
Clams
Clams are Whyville money. By playing educational games, you earn clams, which can then be used to purchase things like face parts etc. from the bazaar. Read more.
Bus
Hopping on the bus (left side of the page), will take you to any destination that you want. On the top of the bus is a red satchel containing your bank statement. salary ledger, bonus ledger and various other things to help you keep track of stuff. The bus also displays information about the current population of Whyville.
Chat License Test
Chat in Whyville is moderated, therefore one has to pass a chat license test to be able to participate in chat rooms. I thought this is a great way to teach kids about playing safely in Whyville and also educating them on general internet safety rules. Further incentive is that you get 50 bonus clams once you pass the test. Read more on how to chat and Whyville crime watch.
Some destinations I visited:
Illusions house
This destination contains two rooms – house of illusions gallery and geek speak. At the house of illusions you can explore various famous illusions. There is a 3D gallery and a 2D gallery. Geek speak is the room for finding answers about the illusions and having discussions around this topic.
Bioplex
This destination contains three rooms – vaccine lab, pharmacy and virus lab. At the vaccine lab, you can create your own vaccine, manage your existing vaccines and learn more about the process of designing and manufacturing vaccines. At the pharmacy, you can learn about the viruses going around in Whyville and accordingly purchase a vaccine or get medication for symptomatic relief. At the virus lab, you can learn about how viruses work in real life through a slide show and play a game to learn about the viruses in Whyville and their antibodies. You can also create your own virus – this has different levels of challenges. There are also links to the Climate center and Bankinter from here. This is a great sim to learn about the different aspects of the medical industry and more specifically about viruses and vaccines.
Bankinter
Bankinter is the Whyville bank where you can see your account summary and manage your clams i.e. you can create a savings account and transfer funds between your checking and savings account. You also have the option to open certificates of deposit to make your money work harder for you. At the Bankinter lounge, you can read the faq’s. This is a great sim for teens to begin to learn the basics of finance. Related blog post – Bankinter heads over to Whyville
Nutrition center
Whyville, the leading educational virtual world for kids on the Internet, has teamed up with the School Nutrition Association (SNA) to promote healthy school meals. The WhyEat program allows Whyville citizens to plan and eat virtual meals and snacks. If a character makes healthy choices, it is rewarded with a healthy appearance. But users will find that a poor diet results in health consequences, and characters could feature unsightly scurvy sores (due to a lack of vitamin C) bloodshot eyes (due to too much caffeine) or broken bones (from insufficient calcium). Related article – Virtual World 125,000 Kids Fight Obesity in Whyville
Bazaar
At the bazaar you can purchase things such as a new face part, furniture for your house or visit the emporium for various housing needs. You can also swap face parts at the trading post.
Spin center
At this destination you learn everything about spinning – ask questions about spinning, play games and simulations on spinning, and even win prizes that have to do with spinning. In the skating game, you adjust a skaters stance i.e. position of arms and legs to see how that affects the speed of spinning. A high scorer makes it to the hall of brains. You can also visit geek speak for further discussion on this topic and to read geek notes on spinning.
As of now there are almost 90 destinations in Whyville. So lots more places to visit and learn from.
