Hello fsb list serv members
Is anyone aware of an on-line game/s developed to assist children to learn about recycling and waste management? Is there a web link to the game/s? Has this game/s been evaluated or is there any information about the efficacy of developing an on line to assist with learning?
Kind regards
Marcia Hewitt
Communications Manager
Zero Waste South Australia
On-line Games for Waste Management Learning
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Our region has recently developed an on-line "Eco-Shopping Game" that helps children learn to evaluate the solid waste impact of product packaging options. This game considers only the "eco-friendliness" of the packaging-not the product itself-by accounting for:
1.Whether the packaging can be recycled
2.Choosing products with less packaging to reduce the amount of packaging waste going into the landfill
3.Giving preference to a product with packaging made from recycled-content materials over one with packaging made from all-new materials.
You can play the game at http://www.timetorecycle.com/ecoshopping/index.asp. This on-line version has just launched, so we don't have any data evaluating its effectiveness yet. However, we have been using an older version of the game (using actual products and hand-held scanners like those in the grocery store) for a few years, so we may have some data on that. If anyone is interested, contact me and I will check with the Planner who manages this project.
Best regards,
Ellen
Ellen Smith Yost
Public Outreach Specialist
North Central Texas Council of Governments
Department of Environment and Development
Phone: 817-608-2361
...
Marcia,
We've had some good feedback on the following website: www.sortitout.ca
It was developed as a partnership program among the City of Edmonton (AB), ACCESS The Education Station and Alberta Environment with some suppoprt from the ABCRC - AB Beverage Container Recycling Corporation. The basis for the information is Edmonton's recycling and waste management system. ACCESS provided the technical expertise. Alberta Environment brought various strengths to the program and is currently working to broaden sortitout.ca to make it more provincial in scope. We market it across Alberta because whether a community has access to a recycling program or not, it teaches children that recycled newspaper can end up on your roof as a shingle; discarded tires can become the "sand" in your playground; crushed glass may end up as insulation in your home, and so on. In 2006, Sortitout.ca won a Canadian New Media Award. Another online learning tool that has not been formally evaluated yet, is A Century of Waste, developed as part of Alberta's Centennial. It compares waste management in 1905 to 2006. From what I understand it is "Flash" that drives it. An experienced teacher who has a lot of creativity and passion for environmental education developed this in concert with Albetrta Environment. http://www.environment.gov.ab.ca/edu/activities/century/ae.html
The target level for both of these resources is grade 4, where Waste in our World is part of the grade 4 Alberta science curriculum.
Heather
Heather Wheeliker
Coordinator, Waste Education
Alberta Environment Education & Outreach Section
www.environment.gov.ab.ca