Nature’s Benefits Card Game
Citation:
Sandiford, V., L. Bamford, M. Band, B. Branoff, M. Harwell, R. Harwell, R. Rossi, M. Russell, AND S. Yee. Nature’s Benefits Card Game. 2021 Scientific Research and Education Network (SciREN) Triangle Networking Event, Virtual, September 23, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
Human health and well-being are connected to natural ecosystems through the enjoyment of natural resources or ecosystem services, such as clean air, clean water, food, and recreational opportunities. These natural resources are often taken for granted as being limitless but can be impacted or even lost if not managed and used sustainably. Individuals, throughout their lifetimes, will encounter numerous situations that require them to make decisions on how they interact with their environment and use natural resources, and these decisions can have lasting and far-reaching impacts on personal well-being, on community sustainability, and at larger societal levels. It is important for students to have the ability to recognize, understand, and appreciate the dependencies and interconnections that exist between people and the natural environment. Understanding the dependence of their own future health and well-being on the continued provision (sustainability) of these ecosystems and the natural resources they provide, as well as how forces (both natural and human-induced) can impact the quality and availability of these resources, will help students be better equipped, as future decision-makers, to avoid unintended and sometimes irreparable consequences.
Description:
This lesson plan uses a science-based card game developed for the 8th grade level (though adaptable for 6th through 12th grade levels) to supplement and reinforce environmental science instruction on North Carolina Essential Science and Advanced Placement Science standards, particularly recognizing that human health and well-being require good stewardship and conservation of natural resources (also known as ecosystem services). During gameplay, each student plays a role as a decision-maker who creates card chains linking ecosystems to natural resources to the people who benefit from those resources. These card chains can be disrupted or augmented by Event cards, including natural disasters, human activities, and sustainable management events that may be drawn during the game. While natural disaster events are unavoidable, decisions about human development activities, sustainable management, and natural resource use are choices people make. This aspects of the game reinforces the students’ understanding that their decisions have an impact on the sustainability of ecosystems, the way the environment provides natural resource benefits to people, and ultimately an individual’s own personal/community well-being. Through gameplay, the concepts associated with the stewardship of natural resources can be taught and reinforced in a fun and engaging way by integrating and applying them within a card game construct/context.
URLs/Downloads:
QUICK_REFERENCE_SHEET_508.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 1355.228 KB, about PDF)CARD_DECK_PRINTABLE_508.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 14818.201 KB, about PDF)
GAME_RULES_508.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 5574.434 KB, about PDF)
GAME_RULES_508.PPTX
LESSON_PLAN.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 775.199 KB, about PDF)
https://sciren.org/networking-events/sciren-triangle/
