---
game: nzelu
name: Nzelu — The Smart One
file: nzelu_v3.html
subject: Numeracy
grades: 3-7
languages: en, bem, nya, ton, loz
score-format: stars
content-version: 1.0.0
source-file: nzelu_v3.html
source-hash: 7c338b7b699a637a
---

# Nzelu — The Smart One · Curriculum Map

Match, sort and sequence puzzles across seven real Zambian environments, guided by
Zani and Chipembele with Gogo as the hint mascot. Every puzzle awards stars and a
collectible Zambian wildlife card, building a 33-card Wildlife Album. Content is
science- and environment-centred problem solving (registered platform subject:
Numeracy — see Assessment notes).

## Learning Objectives

- Classify living things and materials: living/non-living, producers/consumers,
  herbivore/carnivore/omnivore, wetland/non-wetland, endangered/safe.
- Build food chains for river, wetland and savanna ecosystems.
- Sequence natural processes: the water cycle, life cycles, maize growth stages.
- Match animals to habitats and adaptations across Zambian regions (Zambezi, Kafue,
  Miombo, Luangwa, Eastern Province, Muchinga).
- Explain everyday science: safe vs unsafe water, waste sorting, power sources, soil
  and rock types, weather, erosion and states of water.
- Recognise Zambian wildlife species and recall a key fact about each (33 species).

## Curriculum Alignment

| Game content | Zambian learning area | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Habitats, food chains, adaptations (Zambezi, Kafue, Luangwa zones) | Integrated Science — ecosystems & living things | [VERIFY: CDC syllabus topic codes] |
| Waste, water safety, power (Lusaka zone) | Integrated Science / Health — environment & hygiene | Urban everyday-science contexts |
| Plants, decomposers, forest layers (Miombo zone) | Integrated Science — plants & ecosystems | [VERIFY: CDC syllabus topic codes] |
| Crops, soils, weather (Eastern Province zone) | Agriculture — crop needs & farming practice | [VERIFY: CDC syllabus topic codes] |
| Rocks, clouds, altitude, erosion (Muchinga zone) | Integrated Science / Geography — earth science | [VERIFY: CDC syllabus topic codes] |
| Sorting/sequencing mechanics | Numeracy — classification, ordering, sets | The platform-registered subject signal |

## Unit Map

| Unit | Title | Focus | Content | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | Zambezi River Biodiversity | River habitats, water quality and life cycles | 3 puzzles (River Habitats; Clean or Polluted?; The Cycle of Life) + 3 wildlife cards | Per-item quiz events; stars per puzzle |
| Zone 2 | Lusaka Neighbourhood | Urban environment: waste, water, power and living things | 5 puzzles (Sort the Rubbish!; The Water Journey; Power Sources; Safe or Unsafe Water?; Living or Not Living?) + 5 cards | Per-item quiz events; stars per puzzle |
| Zone 3 | Kafue Wetlands | Food chains, wetlands, adaptations and the water cycle | 5 puzzles (Build a Food Chain!; Wetland or Not?; Match the Adaptation!; The Water Cycle; Producers & Consumers) + 5 cards | Per-item quiz events; stars per puzzle |
| Zone 4 | Miombo Forest | Plants, insects, decomposers and forest structure | 5 puzzles (Parts of a Plant; Insect Helpers!; Decomposers at Work!; Forest Layers; Herbivore, Carnivore or Omnivore?) + 5 cards | Per-item quiz events; stars per puzzle |
| Zone 5 | Luangwa Valley | Habitats, seasons, adaptations and conservation status | 5 puzzles (Match the Habitat!; Wet Season or Dry Season?; Body Adaptations; Build a Savanna Food Chain; Endangered or Safe?) + 5 cards | Per-item quiz events; stars per puzzle |
| Zone 6 | Eastern Province Farm | Crops, soils, growth stages, weather and farming practice | 5 puzzles (What Crops Need!; Soil Types; Maize Growth Stages; Weather Watching; Good Farming or Bad Farming?) + 5 cards | Per-item quiz events; stars per puzzle |
| Zone 7 | Muchinga Mountains | Earth science: rocks, clouds, altitude, erosion and states of water | 5 puzzles (Types of Rocks; Cloud Types; Temperature & Altitude; Erosion or Deposition?; States of Water) + 5 cards | Per-item quiz events; stars per puzzle |

## Content Inventory

- **7 zones, 33 puzzles** (Zambezi has 3; the other six zones have 5 each) of three
  interaction types: `match`, `bucket` (sorting) and `sequence` (ordering).
- **33 collectible wildlife cards** with real-species facts (Tigerfish, Spotted-necked
  Otter, African Fish Eagle, Thornicroft's Giraffe — found ONLY in the Luangwa Valley —
  Black Rhinoceros, African Wild Dog and more).
- **Stars: 0-3 per puzzle (~99 max)**, persisted per puzzle; earned stars gate nothing
  (replay is always available).
- Hints and "Did you know?" facts on every puzzle; AI-generated zones persist and are
  first-class replayable content.

## Assessment & Analytics

- Events emitted: `game_open`, `session_start`, `quiz_attempt`, and per-interaction
  `quiz_correct`/`quiz_wrong` (each match/sort/sequence placement is an assessment
  item), `puzzle_complete`/`level_complete` with `{puzzleId, stars, zone}`,
  `zone_complete`. Subject reported: **Numeracy** (platform registration).
- Score format: `stars`.
- Teacher dashboard: the classroom server humanizes Nzelu puzzle ids into puzzle names
  in reports. NOTE the taxonomy nuance: Nzelu reports under Numeracy but most content
  is natural science — read its accuracy as classification/science reasoning, not
  arithmetic.

## AI & Accessibility Features

- **Ask Gogo hints** — gentle scaffolded hints per puzzle; never gives the answer away.
- **AI zone generation** — "What should Gogo teach next?" prompt creates a whole new
  sanitized puzzle zone with adaptive difficulty; AI zones spawn unlocked and persist.
- Hardened drag-and-drop plus tap interactions for low-spec touch devices.
- Full UI translation: English, Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi (fail-to-English).

## Lesson Planning Notes

- One zone per lesson: 5 puzzles × ~4-6 minutes fits a 40-minute period with an
  opening and plenary. The Zambezi zone (3 puzzles) suits a shorter intro lesson.
- Anchor each lesson in the zone's real place: locate the region on a Zambia map and
  ask who has been there — the environments are deliberately local.
- Use the Wildlife Album as the plenary: learners present the cards they earned and
  read the species fact aloud.
- The three-star system is the built-in mastery loop: set "all puzzles at 2+ stars"
  as the class goal and let fast finishers chase 3 stars or an AI zone.
- Differentiation: bucket puzzles are language-light; sequence puzzles need more
  reading — pair accordingly. AI zone generation lets a teacher spin up an easier or
  harder zone on a chosen theme on demand.
## Change Log

| Date | Game Version | Change | Curriculum Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-11 | nzelu_v3.html | Audit follow-up (v10.43.0): AI theme picker resolves the canonical English theme instead of parsing the rendered label — picking a chip in a translated UI previously sent the translated label with its first word stripped ("Amaka ya kasuba" → "ya kasuba") as the generation theme; two theme-chip emoji swapped to older Unicode for old-WebView compatibility (🪐→☀️ Solar System, 🫀→💪 Human Body) | No zone/puzzle/card-count change; AI zone generation now receives faithful themes in all languages |
| 2026-08-09 | nzelu_v3.html | Score-dedupe correction (audit re-run): the per-puzzle submission dedupe key from the data-integrity pass permanently blocked improved-replay score updates (a 1★ → 3★ replay never re-reported); the key is now star-aware, so identical double-fires stay suppressed while improvements submit | No zone/puzzle/card-count change; replay improvements reach teacher score records again (first-class replays contract restored) |
| 2026-08-09 | nzelu_v3.html | Data-integrity pass: deduplicated `/api/scores` submission IDs per puzzle, added student-scoped local progress fallback keys for shared devices, and replaced unsupported album SFX call (`audio.pop`) with valid audio API usage | No zone/puzzle/card-count change; more reliable progress/score records in multi-learner classrooms and smoother album interactions |
| 2026-08-09 | v10.34.1 | Bug fix: the puzzle-screen `t` wrapper now forwards interpolation params — the "Puzzle {current} of {total}" progress header previously rendered raw placeholder braces instead of the puzzle numbers | None - no unit/content change; progress header now displays correctly in all languages |
| 2026-08-05 | (no game change) | Hash restamped: source-hash now computed over LF-normalized game HTML so stamps match on Windows and Linux/CI alike (v10.27.1 fix) | None - game 
content unchanged, documents remain valid |
| 2026-08-05 | nzelu_v3.html | Initial curriculum map authored (platform standard adoption, v10.25.0) | Baseline — 7 zones, 33 puzzles, 33 wildlife cards documented |
