Climate Changers The Game: Success through Sustainability

Climate Changers: The Game KS3 + KS4                                  

Success through sustainability 

Duration 1-1.5 hours, max capacity 35 students 

Groups will gain knowledge and understanding of some of the bigger-picture challenges governments face in addressing climate change by participating in our unique, interactive card-based game. Students will be divided into teams representing different fictional countries, each with a unique profile. In their teams, they will make choices for their country in several areas including energy, food, industry, transport, and climate mitigation, with the goal of maintaining enough energy for their country whilst also trying to create the strongest economy. However, each team’s choices will have a cumulative environmental consequence. Can the teams make good enough choices either through luck or negotiation to avoid unsustainable climate change? 

Key words

Climate change, Sustainability, Economics, Politics

Learning objectives

The purpose of the game is to help students understand the challenges governments face, and ultimately empower them to be more knowledgeable and proactive with their own voice and power to influence those who make these choices, or even to inspire them to become someone who is involved in these decisions. 

Content

Participate in a game, acting as governments of a country. Involving multiple rounds where they will discuss, debate and vote on the best choice for their country. Each decision will have economic and environmental impacts, which can result in an End Game if unsustainable climate change occurs. Students can learn that careful decision making and cooperation can create a sustainable future. The game can be played multiple times, allowing governments to learn from past mistakes, and new rules are applied to make it even more realistic. 

Curriculum links

KS3 Biology

How organisms affect, and are affected by, their environment, including the accumulation of toxic materials. 

Changes in the environment may leave individuals within a species, and some entire species, less well adapted to compete successfully and reproduce, which in turn may lead to extinction.

KS3 Chemistry

Earth as a source of limited resources and the efficacy of recycling.

The production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate.

KS3 Physics

Fuels and energy resources. 

KS3 Geography

Understand how human and physical processes interact to influence, and change landscapes, environments and the climate.

KS4 Biology - Ecosystems

The importance of biodiversity.

Positive and negative human interactions with ecosystems.

KS4 Chemistry – Chemical and allied industries

The viability of recycling of certain materials.

KS4 Chemistry – Earth and atmospheric science

Evidence, and uncertainties in evidence, for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change.

Potential effects of, and mitigation of, increased levels of carbon dioxide and methane on the Earth’s climate.

KS4 Physics – Energy

Renewable and non-renewable energy sources used on Earth, changes in how these are used.

Potential hazards and accessibility

There are no potential hazards associated with this workshop.

Funded by the National Grid