Educational Games Inspired by Noble Prize Winners

In 2002, I was fortunate to be able to visit the Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize in Stockholm, Sweden. The exhibiters published a book titled "Cultures of Creativity" that explored the various creative strands of the achievements of Nobel Laureates from diverse fields. The books introduction states that the concept of creativity has deep associations with Alfred Noble and is something that unites all Nobel Prize recipents via the recognition of their innovative work. The Noble organization remains committed to the tradition of creativity and innovation and has developed several free online games and simulations. The games allow learners of all ages to experience and understand the achievements of several Nobel Laurates in the fields of chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, peace, and economics.

The URL for the site is: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/

I've included a screen capture of the game introduction page for each field.

Physics Games Page

Chemistry Games Page


Medicine Games Page


Literature Games Page

Peace Keeping Games Page

Economic Games Page

Quia

Quia is a educational game site that makes creating games easy. I used it a few years ago. At that time I had 15 computers in my classroom. As students finished working on their classwork, they had the option of going to Quia and playing a game I created. Creating the games was easy, I picked the type of game I wanted to make and then entered the questions and answers that I wanted the students to see. Sometimes I out in the upcoming test questions, sometime I just gave them practice at what we were working on. The kids loved to play the game and didn't realize that they were learning stuff! They had a battleship game that your "hit" would only count if you could answer the question correctly.
By getting a Quia account, you can create games, track student progress, and see how many people are playing your game. But you don't have to have an account to use it. You can simply search for a game that somebody else has already created that matches what you want to be taught. If you have an account, you can copy that game and modify it, but if you don't, you can just have your students play it as it.
There is a 30-day trial if you want to try it out. I have let my account lapse in the past few years. I have changed schools, and with less computers I found my students just weren't using it enough to make it worth the expense. (I was paying for it out of personal funds, not my school's)
If you are looking for an easy way to make a game that will be fun for your students check out Quia!
http://www.quia.com/web

Army to Invest $50 Million in Training Games

There is good new for game developers! Interest in games and their use in training has spread to the US military. According to an article in the November 23, 2008, online Stars and Stripes magazine the Army has received approval to invest $50 million in a “games for training” program starting in 2010. These games and gaming systems are designed to train soldiers for combat.

The Army is planning to use a commercial product for their gaming system and is apparently already reviewing offers from several game developers. The $50 million budget is in addition to programs already being developed by the Army such as the “dismounted soldier” virtual reality game that is expected to be deployed in 2009.

Currently the Army, along with the other branches of the military, uses a modified version of a commercial video game called “DARWARS Ambush”. This “first-person shooter” game is played on desktop computers and helps train soldiers on how to respond to ambushes or roadside attacks on convoys. Several weaknesses of this game were identified including the limited number of players and the inability to interface with the Army’s battle command systems.

In addition to correcting these problems, the article also lists several other key features the Army is looking for in a gaming system. The Army would like the ability to edit the terrain, be able to change scenarios during the game, and a play-back function to allow the trainers to review the recently completed scenarios with the participants. The game also needs to be portable so that it can be moved between the various military units and be easily maintained.

To read the full article, go to http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59009. It’s nice to know that a large organization such as the US military sees the need for and benefits of using games in training.

Third World Farmer Game

A female peasant interviewed on Mexican radio news that shocked me proved to be the inspiration for me to explore the “Third World Farmer Game” among the “Games for Change” selection.

In the interview the woman explained why she chose to rent some of her land to “Narcos” (drugs dealers). She explained she had no option as the head of a poor family; the children were starving, her husband had left for the U.S. and she had never heard from him again. She commented: “I prefer to be in jail than see my children dying…” That phrase made me shiver and reflect on the dilemmas that farmers from a third world country like mine face.

When I explored the “Games for Change” selection, I saw the “Third World Farmer Game”. I thought it could be my opportunity to put myself in the shoes of a farmer with equivalent contextual characteristics to the woman I heard on the news.

As a farmer in this game I face many dilemmas related to corruption, trade barriers, lack of education, health issues, hunger, lack of infrastructure, etc. I have to take decisions on things such as: the combination of crops, the tools used for sowing, weeding or harvesting, whether or not to educate the children and seek health care for the family.

Being a poor family is not easy, particularly in a third world country where you have little support from the government to cover your most basic needs, such as money to buy seed and tools, and secure the health and education needs of your family.

The mechanics

In this simulation you have several turns; at each turn you are provided with $ 50 dollars with which you make choices on how to administrate it, for instance:

“What kind of crop should I buy?”
You can choose from corn, wheat, peanuts and cotton; each crop has different attributes, for instance: peanuts is a high risk crop, however it is potentially highly profitable; corn is both versatile and resilient. Another choice could be between peanuts or wheat, which depends on how much money you are willing to risk. You click on items you want to buy and you drop (place) them in the appropriate area (ex: for crops, green field land).

The next turn you can click on the upper right hand side of the screen to enable calendar time to pass.

You receive an annual report of spending and earnings, livestock, crops, events of the year and a summary.

You can also click on each family member to see their profile and decide if you want to provide them with health or education or if you consider it appropriate for she or him to leave the farm, get married or have offspring.

The instructional message is very clear as the game aims to analyze the mechanisms which cause rural poverty in underdeveloped countries. It provides an opportunity for simulating small farm management and family decision dilemmas.

This game is straight forward to play, however it is not very challenging and becomes tiresome after playing it several times.

Check out these educational eGames

Hi all,

I found a few educational eGames this weekend that I wanted to share with you.

They are all related to science/physics, which seems to lend itself well to eGames. Using simulation software makes it possible to play with lasers, put bowling balls on levers, and launch counterweight trebuchets- experiments that wouldn't be possible in most everyday middle school science labs.

I had fun playing with each of these games, and learned a bit in the process too. Give them a try when you get a chance. Have fun!

• Reflections - A laser puzzle game - http://www.ace21.freesurf.fr/gamuz/jeux/laser.swf
• Levers - http://www.vectorpark.com/levers/
• Counterweight Trebuchet - http://www.globalspec.com/Trebuchet/

Nuclear Weapons: The Peace Dove Game

When a child discovers and completely comprehends the horror of nuclear weapons on their own, it is a difficult matter for any parent to address. My seven year old daughter saw the nuclear explosion scene in the new Indiana Jones movie and instantly became terrified of nuclear weapons. I have been distracting her from it with lots of hugs and by giving her other things to think about, but telling her we probably won’t ever be nuked in our lifetimes was just not working.

I realized I had to educate her (and myself) about nuclear weapons and nuclear power to help her overcome her fears. I am hoping by teaching her about them (their history, which countries have them, and what people are doing to get rid of them, etc.), she will develop a better understanding of the situation, and overcome her fear. Maybe someday she (and the rest of her generation) will do something about getting rid of them. Too bad our generation could not.

While searching the Games for Social Changes web site, I discovered a game called Nuclear Weapons: The Peace Dove Game.

This game was too old for my daughter to play, but it was an easy enough game for me to play and learn about which countries have nuclear weapons. Several people and organizations have received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts concerning nuclear weapons disarmament. Worldwide, the white dove is a symbol for peace. In this game, you take on the mission to disarm the world of nuclear weapons! You have eight "Peace Doves" to help you, each able to disarm one of eight countries possessing nuclear weapons.

When you activate a peace dove in the game, they get into a conversation with the other peace doves through a series of speeach bubbles on the screen. These conversations really are a means to present various facts about nuclear non-proliferation like the one shown here about the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.

After the conversation ends, you are presented with a fact about the country the peace dove will target and disarm.

You pick a destination for the peace dove on a world map and "Launch" the peace dove when you're ready to send it on its mission. If you fail to send a dove to its proper destination, you get to repeat the procedure from the beginning. You have only two chances! If you manage to send a dove to its proper destination, you simply go to the next dove in line.

At the end of the game you are provided a summary of the countries that have nuclear weapons and how many weapons they possess.

Overall, this is a very educational game with a strong message in support of nuclear non-proliferation. You learn about various non-proliferation treaties, about which countries have signed (or have not signed) the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and how many nuclear weapons each country has. As for for drawbacks, it was hard to read the text-based clues for determining the targets for the peace doves. The game appears to be outdated too - I am certain there are more than eight countries with nuclear weapons now. The main problem with this game is that it really can only be played once. Once you finish the game, you know all the answers.

Ant War Game

I learned all about how to build a successful ant colony by playing the Ant War Game.  This game has you first pick which type of ant colony you would like to develop. It gives you a brief description of your ant species to choose from (leaf cutter, harvester, weaver, carpenter or fire).   From there you establish how much of your colony you want to do the different activities. The grandfather ant will give you tips on what you should be increasing or decreasing.

Once you have decided how to distribute your forces, clicking on the "go" button takes you to your ant hill.  Here you will see how your choices have played out for you. You will earn or lose points as seen at the bottom of the screen. Again on this screen grandpa ant gives you more advice on what you should be doing to create the best aunt colony.

I found the game to be very simple. My daughter, age 8, was  interested in playing once she saw the game.  The only thing that I would like to see improved in the game is the instruction. There is no "help" or "how to play". I see that there are other screen shots in the game of the ants going to war, but I have no idea how far I have to be in the game to go to war.  There is also a store that I can purchase things with the gems I have earned, but I don't know

 what everything is.  Even looking at the screen where I decide how to distribute the forces of the colony, I can't tell what all the graphics represent.  It would be helpful if as I scroll over them, there was text that tells me what it is.  I would also like a screen prior to the game being started that gives me a chance to read the objective of the game and how to play.

This game could very well be used in a classroom to teach students about the different species of ants.  In addition it could be used to show how ants increase their colony size and what their predators are.  I think kids would be receptive to playing it, and I think they could play it many times since the game offers such variety with the various species of ants and the choices you can make.

INNOV8 - a Business Process Management Simulator

INNOV8 is an interactive, 3-D business simulator designed to teach the fundamentals of business process management and bridge the gap in understanding between business leaders and IT teams in an organization. This type of serious gaming - simulations which have the look and feel of a game but correspond to non-game events or processes such as business operations - has emerged as a successful method to train students and employees and accelerate the development of new skills.

Are you a professor at an MBA program looking for a fun, innovative (and free) way to teach Business Process Management? IBM presents INNOV8 , a state of the art 3D business simulator that takes you through the entire lifecycle of discovery, collaboration, and optimization of a company's business processes.

Below are two links about the game, one is a YouTube video from USC professors and students, and the other is the link to download the game itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bid79HDZUZs

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/solutions/soa/innov8.html

The Garbage Game

In the Garbage Game, http://www.gothamgazette.com/games/garbage.php, you decide what to do with the garbage of New York City. The purpose of the game is to showcase how decisions made by both individuals and city officials will affect the overall garbage situation. Each decision made by an individual to throw something in the trash or recycle it can cost the city and its taxpayers money and affect the environment. In addition,the decisions made by the city on how and where to process the garbage and recyclables can also cost money and affect the environment.

After a few introductory slides discussing the amount of trash generated by New Yorkers each year and the cost of disposing of it, the Garbage Game is divided into two parts. In part one, the player answers several questions about their personal recycling and garbage habits. These questions cover standard topics such as what they do with plastic bottles, food scraps, diapers and electronic devices. For each question, the player is presented with several options. By resting their mouse over the option, an information box will appear that provides statistics or more details about the option. The player selects the option they are most likely to take and then receives immediate feedback. Players will have their sorted recycling increased if they made a good choice and poor decisions will result in more unsorted garbage being added to their totals.

In part two of the Garbage Game, the player assumes the role of Sanitation Commissioner and must decide what New York City should do with the recyclables and remaining garbage. The Sanitation Commissioner must make decisions such as where to collect recyclables, how and where to process the recyclables and garbage, and who should do it. In this part of the game, the player does not receive immediate feedback on their decisions. Instead they are provided more information on how these types of decisions have affected New York City in the past. At the end of the section, the player does receive a summary of the distances traveled by the vehicles used to move the garbage and recyclables and how much it would cost.

The creators of the Garbage Game also included a script that the players can add to their personal blogs or websites that announces how much refuse they moved and across what distance. The script includes a link to the game, which will help generate more interest in this topic. They also include an option to sign-up for newsletters related to waste management in New York City.

Overall, the Garbage Game is very educational. It provides lots of details about current recycling trends, the costs of various options, and may cause the player to think twice about some of their personal habits. Many players will want to repeat the game to see what happens if they vary their choices. One drawback to the game is that the scoring process is not clearly explained at the beginning of the game. In addition, some of the initial feedback screens contain lots of text, so it is hard to pick out the scoring information.

Free Rice: Fighting World Hunger

Reason: While perusing the site, www.gamesforchange.org, I encountered the title of an online game that I had seen people playing on Facebook (or at least a very similar game). The name caught my attention, which is why I decided to review it for this assignment.

Game: FreeRice at http://freerice.com/

Premise/Cause: The premise and cause behind the game is simple: the average person can do something to assist in the fight against world hunger. This educational game purports to teach a variety of subjects, but the main topic highlighted on the front page of the game is English vocabulary. The site states that “For each answer you get right, we donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.”

Background: Some fast facts about hunger (from World Hunger and the American Obesity Association–

• Poverty is the primary cause of world hunger
• More than 982 million people live in abject poverty, earning the equivalent of less than $1/day
• More than 798 million people suffer from chronic hunger
• The world has enough capacity to produce food equivalent to approximately 2700 kcal/person/day
• The average adult requires about 1200 kcal/day to sustain basic functions
• In the wealthiest country in the world, the United States, 127 million Americans are overweight (~65% of the population), 60 million are obese (~30% of the population), and 9 million (~5% of the population) are morbidly obese

First Impressions: Though not as complex as some of the games shown to us in Bernie’s and Karl’s lectures, the simple user interface has an elegant appeal. The main color theme are two earth tone colors, green and brown, with a picture of what looks like grass or wheat as the dominant graphic. From the time the site loads, the game’s objective is obvious, even without reading the instructions and game objective that appear on the screen. The “ease of play” contributes to the feeling that players of this game can do something simple to fight against world hunger. I like that.

Objective: For the vocabulary game, the objective is to choose the correct definition of the word displayed on the page. For each correct answer, the sponsors who advertise on freerice.com donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. It’s that simple.

Variations: The game has other topics, including “math, science, geography, art history, other languages and more.” Assuming a similar mode of play, in these subjects, players would just choose the correct answer to the question posed. Below is a screen shot of the simple Chemistry topic, in which players choose the element represent by the chemical symbol displayed.

Another variation is the ability to choose your difficulty level. At higher levels, the questions are more difficult. Changing levels is easy to do. There is a Change Level hyperlink at the bottom of the play window.

Game Play:

1. Read the question.
2. Click one of the answers.

Game play is so simple that it’s almost painful. No, I take that back. It actually makes it more enjoyable, especially because of the immediate feedback the player receives. Feedback is given at two levels:

• Response to the question
• Running total of rice donated

Another aspect of this simple game is that the simplicity and immediate feedback make it addicting. It’s difficult to break away from racking up the rice donated. The player score is given in terms of a benevolent donation of rice grains. This is truly gratifying.

Player Controls: Other than the basic browser commands and site men tabs, the player has four basic controls during game play:

1. Answering the question by clicking one of the choices
2. Choosing a different topic by clicking the hyperlink Change Subjects
3. Choosing a different difficulty level by clicking the hyperlink Change Level
4. Restarting by clicking the hyperlink Re-Start

Plusses:

• Simple to play
• Addictive
• Supports a great and worthy cause
  

Minuses:

• Not as complex
• Players can become easily bored
• Not much complex game technology
• No player-to-player interactivity or competition
  
  

Stop Disasters

*Click to enlarge images!*

Stop Disasters is a free online single player game that teaches disaster prevention awareness and is aimed towards 9-16 year old children. It is a Sim City-esque game that focuses on saving lives and reducing the financial impact that natural hazards cause when they turn into disasters. There are five scenarios to play (Tsunami, Earthquake, Wildfire, Hurricane, Flood) and each can be played on easy, medium or hard. Since I live in California, I naturally chose to play the wildfire scenario.

At the start of the scenario a helpful citizen tells you how much time/money you have and how many civilians to look after. I was also given an objective to protect the local water pipes - I guess they're important. The interface is straightforward and the 3D graphics are pretty impressive for a flash game.

Developing the map is simple - just click on any square lot on the grid and several options pop up depending on what currently occupies the square. In empty squares you have to option to build structures (3/4 bedroom houses, hospitals, schools) or fire resistant trees, you can firebreak squares occupied with brush or trees to protect the area and make room for more structures, and you can click on existing structures to upgrade them. You have about 10-25 minutes and a certain amount of the map to prepare depending on difficulty.

Once you are done preparing your community or run out of time (whichever comes first) the disaster will start and the situation will be out of your hands. A gloomy news report will appear shortly thereafter - at this point you can take a closer look at the aftermath or check out a detailed report. Pretty cool stuff.

All in all, I found the game to be enjoyable and educational at the same time. The interface does a good job of providing "more info" buttons for almost every clickable element - through those you learn about risk factors, regulations, structural upgrades and many more quality awareness tips. I did encounter a glitch that froze my game the first time I played through, which was quite upsetting since I was about to run the fire simulation. Other than that, it's a very smooth yet detailed game and I look forward to trying out the other disaster scenarios.

The game is brought to you by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

Dimension X: Evolver Pre-Algebra is a game that definitely deserves a look. It’s designed to have the feel of a first person shooter and an RPG in one. It’s storyline and graphics will hold a student’s attention, while the math is incorporated into the game in a subtle puzzle solving nature. The game begins with us choosing a character to sign up for a mission to save a scientist on an island. Each character has a full background story that makes them seem real.

Then a small training is given to allow players to become accustomed to the game settings. This section even provides practice in the quiz that follows each stage of the game. The answers are shown to be correct or incorrect. If incorrect, a voice will tell the player that there is “error in the data.” This could be improved by providing explanations for why the answer was wrong but the instantaneous feedback is nonetheless helpful to the player’s learning.

Learning does not just take place in the quizzes in this game. Players collect numbers to break codes in the technology of the antagonists’ lab in order to open gates and gain entry to their bases. Players also fight with creatures and others in the game using numbers and equipment such as EMP’s to do damage to enemies.

With great visuals, a good story line, math application and quizzes, I would recommend this game to any student of pre-algebra. 

See the site: http://www.tabuladigita.com/  

See a brochure for the company: http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/4C71F275-FE47-4C20-8268-BDA4B56936F1/0/TabulaSoftExpoFlyervFINAL2.pdf

Against All Odds is an online game created to increase players’ awareness and knowledge about refugee situations by putting players in the position of a refugee. The game was created by the UNHCR, A United Nations Refugee Agency and is accessible to players in multiple languages.

The game starts out informing you that you are living in danger and must flee your country to survive, immediately submerging the player into the experience of being a refuge.

Next you go through three stages,

1. War and Conflict: This section contains information about the rights that all people, including refugees, have.
   
   In the first scene you are subject to interrogation. Depending on your response you may suffer some severe consequences. After each response you have the option to continue with interrogation or gather “Webfacts” which is more information about the content of the interrogation question. All along the way you are required to make difficult decisions.
   
   
2. Borderland: This section contains information about who is considered a refugee and descriptions of the different options they have for finding a safe haven.
3. A New Life: This section contains information on how refugees try to transition to their new life in a new country.

Throughout each stage players will encounter several obstacles. Along the way players can read profiles of real people who left their homes to escape political persecution, profiles of people who are trying to find new homes, and read stories and watch personal narratives of individuals describing the refugee experience. This game is very engaging and interesting to play and while it is designed for school age children, adults can also benefit from the experience.

To learn more about the UNHR click here
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

To play click here
http://www.playagainstallodds.com/

Bert & Phil's WaterBusters

Game URL: http://www2.seattle.gov/util/waterbusters/

Game Synopsis: Phil's water bills are high. The player is tasked with manuvering Phil Dumpster around the house to locate water pollution and resolve the issue with tools and wit.

Game Overview: The player uses the arrow keys to move Phil around the house: a kitchen, 2bathrooms, a backyard, and a utitliy room. There are 4 levels to the game with 5 water challenges in each. Once the player spots an act of water pollution, they place Phil in close proxomity of the water issue to resolve the issue.

Each time the issue is resolved Bert, the salmon will congratulate the player and provide information on how solving the issue saved money. During the player's search, Phil will also need to acquire some tools to help fix some of the water issues. The player can view the tool guide to help locate the appropriate tool to repair the problem.

There is a timer in the form of water leaks (water drops). The longer there is a water issue, the more the water drops will fade away. However, 15 gallons of water is saved for every water issue that is resolved. When the player completes all of the challenges in a level, the player is given the total amount of gallons of water they have saved and provided with more information on conserving water. The player can also earn bonus points by answering multiple choice questions about water conservation.

Personal View: Upon first glance I didn't think much about this game. I understood the premise and how to manuver Phil, however there was much more involved once you got further in the game. Each level was a bit more challenging than the first. The game was appropriate for elementary aged students, which I assume is the targeted audience.

I did enjoy the tips and information given by Bert, the salmon. I didn't realize the importance of the tools until reading the "How to Play" section after I had started. That section was easy to get to if I needed to revist the instructions by pressing the "Help" button. The "Tool Guide" was also helpful in providing the player with information on how the tool could help conserve water. Some of the information was new to me. This is an appropriate and interesting game for anyone wanting to learning ways to converse water.

Free Rice is an educational quiz-type game. Players answer multiple choice questions. Immediate feedback is provided in the form of 20 grains of rice for correct answers. Incorrect answers are corrected and repeated later until answered correctly. This shows the player that they are learning something. The player can select among categories to be quizzed including vocabulary, grammar, art, chemistry, geography, languages and math.

In addition to seeing the growing amounts of "rice" earned for correct responses, players can take satisfaction in the fact that their earnings will be distributed to hungry people around the world. The sponsors of the Free Rice game aim to provide free education to everyone everywhere and to help end world hunger. Rice is paid for by sponsors shown on the page and distributed through UN world food program.

This is a very simple game but it is engaging and fun. The questions keep coming so it hard to stop. Seeing the amount of rice adding up for a good cause motivates the player to continue. Check out www.freerice.com and help feed the world.

WFP Food Force Game

WFP Food Force Game

Description: The Games for Change website describes Food Force as " is an educational action computer game that teaches kids about the problem of global hunger and the importance of humanitarian aid work. " The game was developed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and is available in many languages.

Target Audience: The game is designed to be played by 8-13 years old in a classroom setting. Teachers can use it to teach about world hunger and how humanitarian organizations help to relieve hunger.

URL: Use this URL to access and download the game to your computer. http://www.food-force.com/

Game Overview: This video game simulates the six missions process that a crisis team follows when responding to a hunger disaster. The game opens by setting the context, which is to save the displaced, starving people of Sheylan. The estimate is that one million people have fled their homes because of drought and a civil war. The goal is to save as many people as possible with the delivery of food. The player becomes a member of the four person WFP crisis team. Each mission step begins with an animated team member explaining the mission. Then there is an action game phase followed by a narrated mission summary while real life photos display.

Game Six-Step Missions and Activities:

Mission 1. Air Surveillance to locate and count displaced people. The game action is to move a helicopter over different sectors of a map and click when group of people is located. At the end of two minutes, you see the total, get feedback on results, and can replay the action if you want.

Mission 2. Energy Pacs - The game action is to measure appropriate amounts of rice, beans, sugar, salt and oil to create energy pacs that cost no more than 30cents .

Mission 3. The Food Drop - The game action is to click mouse to drop food loaded in airplane onto loading zone. You need to compensate for wind direction to land food in proper spot.

Mission 4. Develop Food Supply Plan - The game action is to drag and drop food supplies onto food supply plan. The pieces fit like a jigsaw puzzle.

Mission 5. Truck Delivery - The action is to drive truck through dangerous roads to deliver supplies. You have to change a tire, mine sweep, and build a temporary bridge to get supplies to distribution camp.

Mission 6. Future Farming - The action is drag food supplies to different areas of a village to support five different activities - schools, community project work, health services, farming, re-training so that village is self-sufficient in 10 years.

Summary: I liked this game. It was educational and fun and I think 8-13 years will learn from playing it. I learned about the complexities of relief efforts and the longer term goals. Most of the video game actions maintained my interest and I replayed three of them in which I didn't do well the first time. The summaries at end of each mission were valuable - they expanded on the issues and the real-life photographs brought me back to reality, which was suspended during the action phase.

JASON Project learning simulations

The JASON projct website offers numerous simulations and e-games to increase student understanding. A nonprofit subsidiary of the National Geographic Society, JASON connects young students with great explorers and great events to inspire and motivate them to learn science. Its core curriculum units are designed for 5th – 8th grade classrooms but are flexible enough to be adapted for higher or lower grades.

The games are adapated to all grade levels and provide students with a visual and active experience that strengthens understanding and coincides with the print curriculum. The curriculum system is available to teachers, parenst and students alike and is free for basic access. Complete access is available at a cost.

Harpooned

In Harpooned, players control the Japanese Cetacean Research boats, conducting "research" on whales.

Players are rewarded for shooting whales and collecting the whale meat. The whale meat is then brought back to the research station where the meat is sold for pet food and whale burgers.

Players must avoid icebergs, the protestor boats, and the news helicopters and still arrive to the research station with a load of whale meat that can be turned for profit.

Yes it is gruesome- it is explosive and bloody. I found myself flinching as I repeatedly shot harpoons at whales. The music is very dark, mysterious, and depressing. The waters turn blood red as more and more whales are killed.

I found the satire to be extremly effective at exposing the problem of whales being slaughtered disguised as research by the Japanese. You get the point immediately and feel the severity of the issue.

Here's the YouTube trailer for Harpooned. As you can see, the interface is simple and the graphics are gory.

The Harpooned website (http://harpooned.org/) contains several interesting links which demonstrate the controversy that this game exposed.

As a serious game, Harpooned was very effective at eliciting my strong reaction against this kind of "research". It successfully, albeit gruesomely, achieved its objectives.

McDonald's Video Game

I looked at McDonald’s Video Game by Molleindustria. Molleindustria “Radical games against the dictatorship of entertainment." Molleindustria aims to re appropriate video games as a popular form of mass communication. Their objective is to investigate the persuasive potentials of the medium by subverting mainstream video gaming cliche (and possibly have fun in the process).

In addition to English, this game allows the choice of playing in eight other languages including Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Danish, Turkish, Portuguese, French, and German. This videogame is a digital parody of McDonald’s corporation and the objective in this complex strategy game is to make money. Behind every burger, french fry, and ice cream cone, there is a complex process you must learn to manage from the creation of pastures to the slaughter, from the restaurant management to the advertising of the product.


I perused the 30 page game tutorial that teaches how to control each of those four sectors:

Agricultural
Use land in South America to create pasture or soy cultures. Options include raising more cows per acreage of land. Soy can be grown more abundantly by using genetically modified plants otherwise known as GMOs. GMOs allow the use of more potent pesticides to minimize insect damage. GMOs are grown next to grain production used by human consumption of the local people. Rainforest can be decimated to establish pastures and soy cropland.

Feedlot
Overfeed relatively skinny cattle with high-calorie soy-based fodder to help produce fat and greasy burgers for consumers. Make sure to produce enough fodder and avoid the epidemics. Automatically slaughter cattle ready to be changed into hamburger meat. Soy-based fodder is stored in a cistern. Time and money can be saved by adding the industrial waste i.e. oils, waste, and other “s---“. The trade-off is not so healthy cows versus the convenience. Use hormones to fatten up the cows and get them to market faster as time is money. Let’s use the organic matter from slaughtering the cattle, make animal flour, and mix it in the fodder - remember, waste not, want not! Get rid of diseased cows that eat the too unhealthy fodder before slaughter. Avoid scandal by destroying diseased cows with BSE caused by the use of animal flour. Cattleman will oversee the feedlot and alert you when something is going awry.

Restaurants
Make them efficient and optimized. Make sure restaurants are well-supplied. Keep human resources prompt and motivated. Motivate your crew by rewarding them with “employee of the week” badge or reproach them. Fire the most ungrateful. Stock the fridge with plenty of meat from the feedlot. Train the cooks like efficient assembly workers, cashiers need to be ready for customers by standing at their registers, attract customers with advertising, and train managers to alert you when things are not right.

Headquarters
McDonald’s is not just a chain of restaurants but rather a brand, a lifestyle, a symbol of western culture’s superiority. Make strategic decisions regarding McDonald’s corporate image. Your marketing department will set up the most sophisticated and pervasive (annoying and obnoxious) advertising campaign. The PR office will help to fend off environmentalists, consumer associations, and other radicals. Make sure to please the board of directors by making sure their capital bears dividends. The vice director will notify you when the board is unhappy.

I tried playing this game several times but was unsuccessful at each attempt. Each time I wasn't able to supply the restaurants with enough hamburger meat and the restaurants in turn lost business. In addition, corporate became very unhappy! It was challenging since the game progressed much too quickly and there were many other factors to consider while playing the game. I would certainly say that for the most part, this game closely simulates how the fast food industry operates. If nothing else, this game aims to educate and perhaps entertain, if I can learn how to play it!

This game reminds me of the time right out of college and before becoming a teacher. In my desperate attempts to land a career, I hastily agreed to being recruited by McDonald’s. They wanted to fast track me into a management position. After being growled and yelled at by the hungry lunch mob, I decided that working in the fast food industry was not for me. I should have learned that after my six-month stint at Carl's Jr. after graduating from high school. Working at Carl's Jr. was a real eye-opener in terms of how the fast food industry is designed to gain profits with the least amount of expenditure. It thrives on the available cheap labor force i.e. students, immigrants, seniors, etc. as it pays minimum wages without benefits. One of the few people who actually reap the benefits of profit sharing at the restaurant level are the managers who in turn train their employees with the least amount of invested time. It is standard practice in the fast food industry to "recycle" their employees every 3 to 6 months; they will quit or be fired and move on to another fast food restaurant.

At lunchtime, I ate my free meal and drove home never to return. On a positive note: one week later I received a pay check for my four-hour workday. ;-)