{"id":937,"date":"2026-04-27T05:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T05:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urff.app\/?page_id=937"},"modified":"2026-05-04T21:11:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:11:06","slug":"formen-fabrik","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/formen-fabrik\/","title":{"rendered":"Mold factory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The mold factory<\/strong>&nbsp;is a digital learning environment for primary school children that <strong>spatial reasoning, problem-solving, and algorithmic thinking<\/strong>&nbsp;This fosters learning. In a virtual factory, children configure machines that modify geometric workpieces step by step: they punch holes, draw lines, and rotate shapes. Through immediate visual feedback, they directly observe the effects of their decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The app was developed jointly by\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/krauthausenhh.page\">Prof. Dr. G\u00fcnter Krauthausen<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Junior Professor Dr. Christian Urff<\/strong> developed. It contains\u00a0<strong>No advertising, no tracking, and no in-app purchases.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Download the app<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!-- WP-Appbox (Version: 4.5.13 \/\/ Store: appstore \/\/ ID: 6746658861) -->\n<div class=\"wpappbox wpappbox-75065597a9e2fbad58a5c5fead8e7508 appstore simple\">\n\t<div class=\"qrcode\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/api.qrserver.com\/v1\/create-qr-code\/?data=https%3A%2F%2Fapps.apple.com%2Fde%2Fapp%2Fdie-formen-fabrik%2Fid6746658861&size=200x200&ecc=M&margin=0\" alt=\"Die Formen-Fabrik\" \/><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"appicon\">\n\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/de\/app\/die-formen-fabrik\/id6746658861\" aria-label=\"The mold factory\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/is1-ssl.mzstatic.com\/image\/thumb\/PurpleSource211\/v4\/b4\/eb\/04\/b4eb04d8-0b26-63af-82dd-5966858da34f\/Placeholder.mill\/200x200bb-75.png\" alt=\"Die Formen-Fabrik\" \/><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"applinks\">\n\t\t<div class=\"appbuttons\">\n\t\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/de\/app\/die-formen-fabrik\/id6746658861\" aria-label=\"The mold factory\">Download<\/a>\n\t\t\t<span onmouseover=\"jQuery('.wpappbox-75065597a9e2fbad58a5c5fead8e7508 .qrcode').show();\" onmouseout=\"jQuery('.wpappbox-75065597a9e2fbad58a5c5fead8e7508 .qrcode').hide();\">QR code<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"appdetails\">\n\t\t<div class=\"apptitle\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/de\/app\/die-formen-fabrik\/id6746658861\" title=\"The mold factory\" aria-label=\"The mold factory\" class=\"apptitle\">The mold factory<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"developer\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"label\">Developers: <\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"value\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/de\/developer\/christian-urff\/id415894463\">Christian Urff<\/a><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"price\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"label\">Price: <\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"value\">Free<\/span> \n\t\t\t<span class=\"rating\"><div title=\"5 of 5 stars\" class=\"rating-stars stars-monochrome stars50\"><\/div><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><!-- \/WP-Appbox --> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introductory video for teachers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In approximately two and a half minutes, the video demonstrates the app&#039;s key functions and provides initial suggestions for its use in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shape Factory: Spatial Thinking &amp; Problem Solving with Tablets \u2013 Introduction for Teachers\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1mnaVubKbFs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does the app offer?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mold factory has&nbsp;<strong>five factory halls<\/strong>, which open up different didactic approaches:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Experiment<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Explore freely, combine machines as desired, and enable discovery-based learning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>predictions<\/strong>&nbsp;What does the result of a production line look like? Think about it beforehand, then check it. This promotes mental simulation and spatial reasoning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Make<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 The appropriate machines must be found for a given target workpiece. This promotes backward thinking and problem-solving.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Repair<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 A faulty production line must be corrected. This promotes systematic analysis and precise comparison of the actual and target states.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Savings<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 A functioning but unnecessarily long production line is to be shortened, and redundancies are to be discovered in the process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three machine types are available: the&nbsp;<strong>Hole punch<\/strong>&nbsp;(punches round or square holes in different positions), which&nbsp;<strong>Line machine<\/strong>&nbsp;(draws lines of varying thicknesses) and the&nbsp;<strong>lathe<\/strong>&nbsp;(rotates the workpiece by 45\u00b0, 90\u00b0, 135\u00b0 or 180\u00b0).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the&nbsp;<strong>warehouse<\/strong>&nbsp;Children can save, sort, and group their production lines by end product and share them with classmates via QR code or code. This can be used as a basis for math conferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over&nbsp;<strong>four difficulty levels<\/strong>&nbsp;(from easy to expert mode) the requirements can be flexibly adjusted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Didactic focus areas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shape factory addresses key guiding principles of primary school mathematics instruction \u2013 in particular&nbsp;<em>Space and form<\/em>&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;<em>Patterns and structures<\/em>&nbsp;\u2013 and can be used to promote process-related skills such as communicating, arguing, problem-solving and presenting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Guidelines for teachers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A comprehensive guide with didactic background information, task ideas, and methodological suggestions for classroom use has been published to accompany the app. It is available for free download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/urff.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Handreichung-v1-1.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of Handreichung v1.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-811cf318-a915-41d3-b572-1555877f5147\" href=\"https:\/\/urff.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Handreichung-v1-1.pdf\">Handout v1<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/urff.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Handreichung-v1-1.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-811cf318-a915-41d3-b572-1555877f5147\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feedback, suggestions, and practical experience reports are very welcome. Please feel free to write to us via email at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:christian.urff@ph-weingarten.de\">christian.urff@ph-weingarten.de<\/a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:krauthausen@uni-hamburg.de\">krauthausen@uni-hamburg.de<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Die Formen-Fabrik&nbsp;ist eine digitale Lernumgebung f\u00fcr Kinder im Grundschulalter, die r\u00e4umliches Vorstellungsverm\u00f6gen, Probleml\u00f6sen und algorithmisches Denken&nbsp;f\u00f6rdert. In einer virtuellen Fabrik konfigurieren die Kinder Maschinen, die geometrische Werkst\u00fccke Schritt f\u00fcr Schritt ver\u00e4ndern: Sie stanzen L\u00f6cher, zeichnen Striche und drehen Formen. Durch die unmittelbare visuelle R\u00fcckmeldung beobachten sie die Auswirkungen ihrer Entscheidungen direkt. Die App wurde gemeinsam [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-937","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":986,"href":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/937\/revisions\/986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urff.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}