For at least the last 14 years of my 18 year career I've been actively incorporating games as a method of teaching, review, and making class fun. This post isn't a treatise on GBL. There are plenty of other places to learn about the benefits of games in education.
Inspired by Paul Darvasi and others* who use commercial games in class, I planned to do the same. If you've looked through my posts you know I used to use MinecraftEdu extensively in class prior to this post. I am no stranger to GBL.
This year I wanted to try using a game to help teach ecology in either my Living Environment Lab or my AIS Living Environment class (Living Environment is biology for you non-NYS people). I looked through Steam's copious catalog of titles. I knew there was one I was looking for that I had seen before but couldn't remember the name.
Eventually I found the game: Shelter.
In the game you play a mother badger leading her young through an often hazardous environment. Along the way you must feed your offspring, navigate raging waterways, and find shelter to avoid predators. The game only takes about 45 minutes to complete. Each level is 10 to 20 minutes of play depending on your propensity to explore (or get turned around).
My goal was to use the game to add context and engagement to the unit. As a commercial game it didn't come with prepackaged lesson plans or direct content. Using the game therefore required a deep-think on the best way to incorporate it into class. I decided we would first play the game and then talk about what we saw and how it relates to the content we were learning. There were a few hurdles I had to get through first.
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| 9th graders playing Shelter |
Getting the game into class was the first obstacle. I used my own Windows laptop that had Steam and the game installed on it which made it easier than trying to get things loaded on a district computer. I tried getting access to Steam online at school with no success. Even with me and the two IT guys looking into it we couldn't get Steam connected. Instead, I played the game in offline mode with no problems. Taking my computer to and from school the days we played was a pain but there was no way around it.
Second, it's not a problem but something to keep in mind: I bought the game myself (obviously since it is on my personal Steam account). I buy games regularly so it's not a problem for me but I get it if teachers are reluctant to take the time to make a Steam account and start purchasing games to then use in lesson plans. I personally can't think of a better way to plan lessons!
Final issue I had was to planning it all from scratch. I did a quick Google search and didn't find any other lesson plans using the game. I thought for sure someone must have done it before and posted about it. Perhaps, but I didn't find it. Let me know if that person is you! Designing the lesson myself has the benefit that I can now claim all these materials are my own. Feel free to copy and adapt to your own classroom. I can see this being used from grade 4 to 12. Just be aware that the baby badgers do die and it could be traumatic for younger players. Heck, I got upset when they died!
A note about the plan. The class had already had exposure to the content. In this case the game was not introducing new content, but reinforcing content. The plan outlined below can easily be switched about and is what I plan on doing in the future, not what I did. One difference is I did the food web before the category sort. I think doing the opposite order is better.
Day 1
- Introduce the game and the Frayer Model graphic organizer (5 minutes).
- Play the first level of the game (20 minutes).
- Discuss what was recorded on the Frayer Model (15 minutes).
Day 2
- Play the next level of the game continuing to complete the Frayer Model (20 minutes).
- Discuss results again (5-10 minutes).
- Play the next level of the game (20 minutes).
- Review the Frayer model (5 minutes).
- Have students sort the organisms from the graphic organizer into categories: Producers, Consumers, Autotroph, Heterotroph, Predator, Prey. I put the categories on lab tables and had each organism's picture and name printed out.
- Play the next level of Shelter (15 minutes).
- Have students construct a Food Web using the organisms from the game (20 minutes). I had students do this on a wall. You can have them to this in groups or call on students to add arrows and organisms. Focus on talking about energy movement.
Day 5
- Have students construct an energy pyramid (20 minutes). I taped one on the wall and had students fill in the organisms and name each level.
- Play the final level of Shelter.
At the end of the lessons I did a quick ten question, multiple choice, summative assessment. All the sorting, webs, and pyramids are formative assessments and you can gauge how students are doing based on that feedback. In the future I'd love for students to provide commentary as they play (like Twitch streaming) about the science they are experiencing. I did ask if they wanted to any of it streamed and they said "no."
Shelter 2 is available on Steam as well. It follows the life of a pregnant lynx. I'll be playing it over the summer to assess its efficacy for classroom use. If it seems a better fit than Shelter 1 I may switch the lesson over.
Link to Folder with my materials. Use and adapt, but please share out to me and others what you do and how it goes!
Note:
- The game involves European badgers that are omnivores; the American badger is carnivorous.
- Timing is a tricky thing. Playing the game ahead of time is a must.
- Get students to play the game. Have them take turns. Even if reluctant they will eventually get into it.
*Stop by #games4ed on Twitter.
