 |
|
Operation: Resilient Planet
Developer: Filament Games
Non-Profit: National Geographic- The JASON Project (publisher/producer)
Release Date: August 8, 2008
Project Lead: Marjee Chmiel
Funding Sources: The Kaufman Foundation
Sponsors/In-kind donations:
Budget:
Overall: 1,000,000
Secured: 1,000,000
Brief Description
This game is a 3D experience that places you in the role of an explorer working alongside real National Geographic scientists to gather data and use it to preserve or save an ecosystem. Players uncover relationships in aquatic ecology that support their scientific findings, share Data, and earn Prestige!
Full Description
Operation Resilient Planet takes students of five missions across the country to study with actual scientists and discover the same data they discover to learn about ecosystems in peril. Students begin on the Great Lakes where an invader species has decimated the ecological diversity. Their adventures will then take them to the Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico, the North East Atlantic, and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In each location, they will be greeted by their host (voiced by the actual scientists who have gone on these missions) and presented an actual ecological problem being tackled by the scientific community in that location. Students then begin exploring the 3D underwater habitat and use cutting-edge research tools and techniques to learn about the ecological problems in that area. The most direct feedback students get is on their ability to “think like a scientist” during the argument constructor phase of the game. However, the game is also very beautiful and rewards students for exploring and finding rare sites, or taking an interest in animals or life that is not directly tied to portions of the mission. Our hope is that through the graphically reality of this game, and the authenticity of the data and problems being tackled via game play, students will not only develop the content and process knowledge they need to be good stewards of the environment, they will also develop a closeness and intimacy with environments that might otherwise feel worlds away.
Target Audience: Middle and high school science
Social Issues Addressed:
Purpose:
Our game aims to increase student understanding of ecological research with a special emphasis on contemporary ecology research practices and issues. The game also aims to foster scientific habits of mind. The design of the game scaffolds these objectives by having two distinct structures to game play. In the first, the students explore a 3D environment and complete tasks that are part of a research agenda (tag and count tiger sharks to determine their population, for example). Next, the students need to think about the data that they have collected and use it in an “argument constructor”, a part of the game where they have to make a provocative scientific argument and use the data they have recorded judiciously in order to make this argument. Students seek to answer questions such as: are tiger sharks a threat to monk seals? What do you do about an invader species? Can the Chesapeake Bay be restored? How can we keep whales near Boston harbor safe without disrupting the vital shipping industry? The game will be freely available, via download. It will come with professional development materials for teachers who are interested in using it as part of their ecology curriculum as well as a parents’ guide for children who are home schooled or for children who find this game on their own. We hope that students come away with: 1) content knowledge about ecology, endangered habitats and species, and how humans have impacted these resources 2) affective understanding, concern, but also a feeling of empowerment to become agents of change 3) scientific habits of mind – the ability to look at data and see how it can be used to support arguments and hypothesis. We want students this age to be responsible and informed stewards of the Earth and learn to make better, data-driven decisions than perhaps previous generations have. The very nature of the game will assess student achievement in these capacities to some degree, but external review and evaluation will also be vital to the success of this project.
Metrics:
How? Our game is part of a science curriculum, so content knowledge games are a focus. Eventually, we would like to measure how this game impacts student understanding of scientific literacies.
What outcomes have been measured? usability and content knowledge
Press Coverage:
Press Release URL:
Public Contact Information
Name: Marjee Chmiel
Email: mchmiel@jason.org
Press Contact Name: Marjee Chmiel
Press Contact Email: mchmiel@jason.org
Game Tags: science, education, middle school, ecology, non-profit
Where you can play this game: It is currently available only for beta testing but will be live on the www.jason.org website 8 August 2008. I am happy to send you a USB drive with it, however.
