286-5 Restore: Learning Aquatic Environmental Restoration and Enhancement Through Board Game Play

Session: Balancing Tradition and Innovation: Evolving Geoscience Curricula for a Changing World, Part II

Presenting Author:

Authors:

Abstract:

Game-based learning has emerged as an effective and engaging strategy in STEM education. Games enable students to actively explore complex concepts through interactive and experiential methods, appealing to students with varied learning preferences. Educational games enhance comprehension by simplifying abstract ideas through immersive and visually appealing formats. Building on this potential, I designed Restore, a board game designed to engage high school and college students in understanding the intricacies of aquatic ecosystem restoration and enhancement.

Restore places players in the role of environmental scientists tasked with balancing ecological, economic, and social factors while restoring an aquatic system of their choice. The game integrates real-world challenges, such as biodiversity loss, water quality management and monitoring, and stakeholder collaboration, into its mechanics. Up to six players choose an aquatic environment to restore, navigating 32 spaces on a game board that represents the restoration process. Players collect and react to four types of environment cards, including the hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, and anthroposphere. Each card presents a challenge that players may encounter in restoring their environment. Strategic use of resource cards, including funding, research, and outreach, is required to address challenges, earn points, and progress in the player's environment, simulating real-world environmental restoration progress.

This presentation will detail the development process of Restore, its alignment with STEM educational objectives, and preliminary findings from playtesting sessions. Early results suggest that the game effectively enhances participants’ understanding of ecological principles while promoting collaboration and engagement within both the scientific and public communities. By making these complex topics more accessible and enjoyable, Restore contributes to the broader effort of using game-based learning to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. This connection to the environment and understanding of restoration projects is especially important in the face of anthropogenic climate change, as aquatic environments are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-5069

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