OGALLALA: A NEW EDUCATIONAL GEOSCIENCE GAME DESIGNED TO TEACH MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS ABOUT THE ROLE OF AQUIFERS IN AGRICULTURE

The western part of the state of Kansas is almost entirely reliant on groundwater from the Ogallala aquifer as a primary source of freshwater. It is essential that all Kansans understand where our water comes from and how we use our limited groundwater resources so that we might efficiently and sustainably manage them. In response to requests for aquifer-focused educational materials by middle school teachers in western Kansas, we developed an original educational game, Ogallala, as a supplement to Kansan school curricula to encourage enhanced public literacy in groundwater resource management and possible geoscience careers. The game is designed to teach middle-schoolers about aquifers, agriculture, and collaborative groundwater management within their community. Players assume the role of farmers who respond to fluctuating economic and precipitation conditions that influence both their income and the availability of water in the aquifer. Players win by running the most lucrative farm without depleting the aquifer. The game has several learning objectives: (a) define the concept of a shared, depletable resource, also known as a common pool resource, (b) recognize how relative water consumption and profit differ between common crop and animal stocks, (c) describe the impact of technology in sustainable water use, and (d) practice inter-player cooperative action in resource management. Playtesting and player feedback has demonstrated that Ogallala is both educational and enjoyable, with participants often taking the initiative to replay the game to improve their previous scores and exhibiting an improved understanding of groundwater’s role in agriculture. The next steps of this project will be to introduce and evaluate the effectiveness of the game to a variety of middle schools across Kansas. Evaluating Ogallala will not only expand on current studies exploring how we can better communicate geoscience, but it will also provide insight into the potential of game learning as an educational mechanism––a venture that transcends disciplines and communities. Ogallala is designed to explore this alternative learning method and provide educators from a variety of backgrounds with the resources to include geosciences as a supportive curriculum supplement.