World-class game balances learning, fun
World-class game balances learning, fun
World-class game balances learning, fun
By Farm Progress
February 13, 2023
Summary
Rock Your Watershed, an online game from the Water Rocks! youth water quality and conservation outreach and education program at Iowa State University, is widely recognized for giving players a fun and educational opportunity to see how land use decisions that balance conservation and profitability directly affect downstream water quality.
The game The easy-to-play game has been lauded by teachers and students for its simplicity in conveying important scientific concepts through a frame that allows players to explore and experiment with a broad range of options that promotes what-if testing and better understanding of a complex interconnected system.
"From the beginning of the Water Rocks program, we understood the power and potential of using games to engage young people in learning about how choices made on the land affect what happens with our water," says Jacqueline Comito, Water Rocks executive director.
"We were committed to being true to science while still making it fun. We have tremendous resources at Iowa State University that provide the science behind the game, but working with experts in software and game development is what really made Rock Your Watershed such a success."
Game success "Games for youth are most successful when they are visually engaging and fun, as well as challenging, and in Rock Your Watershed we were able to create a highly interactive game that allows players to quickly visualize the effects of their choices on the land and across the watershed," Rollenhagen says.
Game: Players of the Rock Your Watershed game make choices to "Make it rain" to receive a score.
One discovery the team made as the game matured was the affinity many young players have for wildlife and livestock depicted in the game.
Reference
Farm Progress. (2023, February 13). World-class game balances learning, fun. Farm Progress. Retrieved February 20, 2023, from https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation-and-sustainability/world-class-game-balances-learning-fun