Apr

24

Game Day Thursday: Planet Green Game

Filed Under Games, Social Studies 

I’ve noticed lately that an increasingly large number of my delicious links that I’ve bookmarked but not explored are games. I thought I’d try to check these out every Thursday. I think games are a cool way to learn so this way I learn about the games and maybe I can use a few in class.

Today’s game is the Planet Green Game. It’s a nifty little online Flash game, brought to you by Starbucks. The game is all about Global Warming and what you can do to reduce your “carbon footprint.” If you’re a global warming skeptic like I am, they’ve got a slick commercial message at the beginning to help you understand why you couldn’t possibly be right.

Putting that aside, the game is reasonably slick. You go through town on foot, by bike, or using some form of motorized transport and visit different locations to improve their energy efficiency and reduce the production of pollutants. There’s some games to play to achieve this such as answering simple questions or playing a matching game.

After having your students run through the game you have a good spot to start a conversation with your students. Is this worth doing? Are the solutions suggested reasonable? (For example, would alternative energy like wind or solar power be practical in Northern Canada?) Do the added costs outweight the benefits?/Is this good stewardship? Even the sponsor of the game could be an interesting discussion topic. Is it intellectually and morally honest to encourage other people to be “green” while most of your business is based on selling coffee in disposable cups?

The game is a nice look at what we can do to change things around the globe, and a good jumping off point to discuss which of these possibilities we actually should do.

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