Introducing Taddypole

A free, innovative educational app to teach children about the lifecycle and habitats of tadpoles has been developed and launched by computer science students the University of Bristol reports.

TaddyPole is an interactive, cross-platform application created for Tadpoles.org.uk to help teach children all about tadpoles and where they live. The app was created as part of the second year software project engineering unit in collaboration with Professor Alan Roberts of the School of Biological Sciences.

Under the team name Winter Is Compiling, four students, Hal Jones, Bhavish Jogeeah, Matthew Plumeridge and Alex Dalton from Bristol University’s Computer Science Department, worked for six months to design, implement and launch the app across mobile devices and produce an online version.

Dr Dan Schien, Senior Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science and the unit’s academic lead, said: “We were very impressed with the level of talent and commitment shown by the students. Working alongside Professor Alan Roberts as their client, the students have shown what can be achieved in such a short period of time. Their game is a fantastic example of how project work can help with the learning of software engineering in an enormously inspiring way.”

Taddypole is also featured on a website built as part of a Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) research grant awarded to biological scientists Dr. Steve Soffe and Professor Alan Roberts. Tadpoles.org.uk aims to inform a wider audience about tadpole biology and explain how Bristol’s cutting-edge research on tadpoles can help scientists understand how nervous systems control movements such as swimming.

Taddypole is available for iOS, Android and Windows and can also be played online. To download or play the game, visit: https://winteriscompiling.uk/taddypole