Abstract

These are educational board games I created for the lab associated with my undergraduate course, "Processes of Global Environmental Change", which is an upper level elective at the University of South Carolina. One board game teaches about the carbon cycle and processes that affect that cycle, as well as general facts about carbon on Earth, especially in relation to its role as a greenhouse gas. The other board game teaches about the 6th mass extinction, which is the current extinction event caused by climate change and other human-caused environmental perturbations.

Context

The carbon cycle board game involves rolling dice to travel across the board, drawing cards, and quizzing your oppenents on carbon's behavior and other climate-related questions. My class reported having a greater overall understanding of how carbon is cycled through chemical reservoirs on Earth as well as its role as a greenhouse gas through playing this game. The 6th mass extinciton board game is similar to the game of 'life' in that you earn or lose 'money' but in this case the money is carbon. You try to 'sequester' as much carbon as you can through traveling across the board. Each game tile you land on explains an action that either emits or sequesters carbon, allowing the players to learn about processes that affect atmospheric carbon concentrations and ways we might combat climate change while playing the game. Although these games were used in an upper level, undergraduate course, I believe these board games can be useful for teaching at both the high school and undergraduate levels.

Why It Works

My TA noticed much greater engagement and excitement about the lab topics when they were taught through games. In place of a questionaire or lecture about the carbon cycle or 6th mass extinction, these games will provide a much more interactive and engaging learning experience for students that I think it worth sharing to other Earth educators.