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Melting Point
Game URL: cognitoy.com/meltingpoint
Developer: CogniToy, LLC
Non-Profit:
Release Date: June 2007
Project Lead: Kent Quirk
Funding Sources: Self-funded by CogniToy
Sponsors/In-kind donations:
Budget:
Overall: 60,000
Secured: 60,000
Brief Description
The Melting Point web game is designed to provide a gentle introduction to the biggest issue around human-caused global warming -- the problem of energy. It asks players to balance the energy needs and economic growth of regions around the world against the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the leading greenhouse gases.
Full Description
The Melting Point game is built in Flash and designed to be embedded in a web site. It takes 5 minutes to play through a single scenario (50 years in game time). As the clock runs, players make changes in the growth rates of several world economies while trying to limit the total accumulation of CO2. One of the interesting characteristics of the game is that players make large-scale macroscopic decisions, such as promoting the growth of nuclear power. The game will translate those decisions into news headlines that indicate various strategies for achieving those goals. For example, if the player decides to reduce the growth rate of transportation, that action might show up in the news headlines as "Europe improves fuel economy standards for 2010 and beyond." Melting Point provides an opportunity for learning that engages a number of key elements of effective educational design: * The science content weaves together information from several scientific disciplines and can lead learners to a broader understanding of the value of a an interdisciplinary approach to complex issues and problems. * The context of the experience is authentic. The model that runs the simulation of the impact of choices made by the user is based on models used by scientists. Using such models enables students to come to understand both their value and their limitations. * The reality of engaging with a complex problem promotes real inquiry. Students must study the various issues involved and try to make sense of them. There are no right answers, only questions to be raised and hypotheses to be tested. * The process of inquiry leads to scientific problem solving. * The opportunity to approach a world problem from multiple, regional perspectives broadens global understanding. * The application of high end technology design extends students' technology literacy.
Target Audience: The target player is someone of any age who is interested in the problem of global warming and would like to learn a little more. Because it can be played in both "real time" and turn-based modes, it should have a broad appeal to different age brackets.
Social Issues Addressed: environment, Global Warming,
Purpose:
The public is beginning to come to a general belief that climate change is real, and that a significant fraction of the change is caused by human action. As a society, we�re very close to deciding we have a problem to solve. We are now turning to the question of what to do about it. There are many questions: * How big is the problem? * What are the possible solutions? * Who should be responsible? * What will it cost? * How long will it take? * What if we do nothing? These are tough questions, and they have generated a truly bewildering array of responses in the form of scientific research, policy proposals, misinformation, and outright lies. It takes considerable work and study to even begin to understand the landscape of the science, the economics, and the politics of the problem. When there are so many possible and often contradictory proposed solutions to a problem, it�s hard to figure out which ones are worth pursuing and which ones will be a waste of time and money. The Melting Point project proposes to provide some of the tools to take us to the next level�mapping the landscape of possible solutions and deciding which of them are worthwhile. Because it is clear that most of the human-caused climate change comes from our use of energy, and in particular, that portion of the energy budget that comes from fossil fuels, Melting Point is a computer simulation game that will let web-connected players experiment with the problems of energy production and use on a global scale.
Metrics:
How? The game is capable of tracking many statistics, including time of play, strategies attempted, and so forth. Analysis of these statistics should be interesting, but success in this space is mostly measured by the number of people exposed to the ideas.
What outcomes have been measured? None so far; the game is not yet available.
Press Coverage:
None yet.
Press Release URL:
Public Contact Information
Name: Kent Quirk
Email: kent_quirk@cognitoy.com
Press Contact Name: Kent Quirk
Press Contact Email: kent_quirk@cognitoy.com
Game Tags: globalwarming, global, warming, climatechange, climate, flash, web, fun
Where you can play this game: There is a page at the Melting Point web site where an early playable game demo will be available in a few days (trying to get it ready by May 1.) This is the page: http://www.cognitoy.com/meltingpoint/game-demo-page/
