Preparing Youth as Planet Caretakers: Games Tackle Environmental Issues

Peg.Steffen@noaa.gov

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

• National Weather Service

• National Marine Fisheries Service

• National Ocean Service

• Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

• Satellites and Data2

NOAA includes……

*Real world issues *Full range of STEM

*Monitoring and data *Systems thinking

*Human interactions with Earth systems3

Climate Change

5Source: http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts

Intense precipitation events (the heaviest 1%) in the continental U.S. increased by 20% over the past century while total precipitation increased by 7%.

Change in Precipitation Patterns

2014 was Earth's warmest year on record

• Changes in trends of maximum and minimum temperatures

• Changes in “normal” distribution of temperatures

• Heat waves – stress on people, plants and animals

• Shifts in plant and animal species

Heat and Heat Waves

Biodiversity

• Protecting Endangered Wildlife

• Land Conservation

• Coral Reefs and Rainforests

Protection of Natural Resources

• Air-Water Pollution

• Reviving World’s Ocean

• Safe and Sufficient Water

• Sustainable Communities

Environmental Literacy

Understanding, Problem-solving, Citizenship, and Action

State Environmental Literacy Plans

State Environmental Literacy Standards

MD “Each local school system shall provide a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary environmental education program….

– Environmental Issues– Interactions of Earth’s Systems– Flow of Matter and Energy– Populations, Communities and Ecosystems– Humans and Natural Resources– Environment and Health– Environment and Society– Sustainability. 

Next Generation Science Standards

• Scientific and engineering practices

• Crosscutting concepts

• Disciplinary core ideas

Students should explore a core idea by engaging in the practices and making connections to crosscutting concepts.

Framework Assumptions:

• Children are born investigators• Focus on deeper understanding of fewer ideas

• Understanding develops over time • Science and Engineering require both knowledge and practice

• Connecting to Students’ Interests and Experiences in the real world

Environmental Literacy and NGSS

Environmental Literacy

Environmental Literacy depends on science skills and understandings but includes social sciences and humanities…civic engagement.

Next Generation

Science Standards

Its Confirmed: Kids Play Games

• 97% of ages 12-17 play video games• 48% of American parents play with their

children weekly• 64% of parents believe games are a positive

part of their children’s lives

Games have great potential to:

• Engage students in investigations• Develop understanding in science

concepts and practices• Maintain motivation• See and interact with representations

of phenomena• Keep students engaged in science,

especially girls and underserved groups.

Games.noaa.gov

Games.noaa.gov Visitors

For the Young

Older students

WaterLife: Serious Science Games

Game DevelopmentPartnership between:

Montgomery College Computer Simulation and Gaming Department – game design, animation, technical expertise

Montgomery College Foundation – student

funding support

NOAA – content review and funding

Development time for each game: one year

Where Rivers Meet the Sea

• Ecosystem basics• Habitat importance• Threats to estuaries• Estuary restoration• What you can do

Technical Aspects

• Flash-based • Fast forward option• Subtitles in 11

languages

Story of Environmental Action

Valerie meets Oscar

A sea otter in trouble who enlists Valerie in a quest to save the estuary.

One Mission: Four Challenges

1. Trash Recycling

2. Water Flow

One Mission: Four Challenges

4. Fight the Pollution Monster

3. Fix the Food Web

Comprehensive Field Guide

Additional Resources

• For Educators• For Kids• Careers• What We Do• You Can Help

– Visit, volunteer– Beach and Waterway

clean-up– Stop Marine Debris

Sea Turtles and the Quest to Nest

Many sea turtle populations are declining sharply

Loggerhead sea turtles face many dangers in the marine environment and on land.  These dangers are mostly caused by human activities. 

Sea turtles are accidentally caught in fishing gear and their nesting beaches may be altered or destroyed by building resorts and beach-front homes. 

Since human actions are causing turtles to become threatened, we need to help save them!

Why this Mission?

Six Stakeholders Six Challenges

Turtle

Fisherman

Environmentalist

Tourist

Whelk

Politician

• Player Collects points

• Can start and stop

Field Guide

For Educators

•Links to careers•What students can do to help•Tech specs, how to play•Educator suggestions•Resource links

Digital Projects

Gallery of Images

Use images, voice recording, video, music, and sounds to tell stories

* Create new stories* Show what they have learned* Explain what people can do to help * Share their stories with peers and parents

Use images provided in the gallery, combine with other artwork, or create new

Digital Storytelling

Students create the messages and use the gallery art.

Posters

• Sanctuary Sentinel• Estuary Examiner• Fish Eye View• Ocean Etiquette News• Career Chronicle

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/education/kids_times_turtle_loggerhead.pdf

Newsletter Creation

Bonus Features

More Multimedia Projects

Use video cameras, computer images, posters and other props to tell a story, highlight an event, or create a newscast. •Give a tour of sea turtle habitats and life history.•Create a “moment in history” with interviews, eyewitness accounts•Research your local connections to the ocean•Create an documentary about a problem

Formal Research Study

Completed in 2011 with middle school teachers using the

games in the classroom.

Research question is: Does playing a WaterLife game as part of instruction develop students’ understanding of the key concepts as well or better than instruction without the game?

Additional questions:

• Do the two learning conditions affect student attitudes and intentions differently?

• Are there differences in the effects on students of prior high, medium and low achieving levels?

• How do educators use the game in their instruction?

• What do students think about the experience of playing the games and its affect on their understanding and attitudes?

Results

• Students were equally knowledgeable about the problems in estuaries and with sea turtles.

• The game group was more emotionally involved and passionate about the issue.

One student said he was “frustrated trying to get the sea turtle to her nest and he realized that that was what it was like for the sea turtle”

Results

Results were comparable for boys and girls, for different achievement levels, and different grade levels.

Students reported significant learning gains about the core concepts.

Teachers plan to use the games again and will recommend them to other teachers as a good way to learn.

Both students and teachers reported that the games were •Educational•Interesting and engaging•Effective for learning the concepts•Helpful showing students that something can be done to protect estuaries and sea turtles and keep their habitats healthy.

The Future???

• 40 million tablets and 300 million smartphones

• Textbooks will be replaced with a digital-rich curriculum

• Trajectory is for game-infused resources.

High School Career Pathway Badges

in the NOAA Sciences

NOAA Planet Stewards

Gaming environment for high school science classes:

•Brings together digital resources in a tested interface for classroom use.•Progress monitored by classroom instructor•Allows for customization of resources to fit high school courses•Provides exploration of potential career paths•Developed in cooperation with NOAA scientists and independent instructional designers

NOAA and 3D GameLab

• Online, quest-based platform

• Teacher-managed curriculum tool

• 172 web-based quests • Students earn experience points, levels, and

badges to demonstrate their achievements

• Encourages higher levels of challenge and reward

Quests: Series of videos, activities, games, data access and use

Quest: Coastal Manager

Badges designed around the science of NOAA

• A free climate science workshop for formal and informal educators• Introduction to global climate models with new tools for classroom use• Simulations and activities for modeling planetary energy balance, tree rings,

paleoclimates, the greenhouse effect, future climate projections• Simulations and role-playing games • Attendees will receive a certificate of participation and professional

development hours.

Sign up at https://goo.gl/NTQDLcFor more information on Climate.gov (http://goo.gl/wo2Nz8)Need help? Peg.Steffen@noaa.gov

Join game developers, artists, climate scientists, educators and youth at sites all over the U.S.

Rapidly prototype climate game designs (online, mobile, tabletop, or other formats)

Opportunities for prizes, online posting and development support

Sign up your site at tinyurl.com/climategamejam

Individual sign-up begin in September at www.climategamejam.org

"It is better to teach people in advance about the environment, than to reverse the damage they do...“

Nevo M., 6th Grade

Peg.Steffen@noaa.gov