Patent Application
20100047746
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an educational game for teaching sustainability concepts.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term “sustainable development” has numerous definitions. In a 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable development was defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Concepts of sustainability often build on this broad definition. For example, sustainability research may focus on how to make human economic systems last longer and have less impact on ecological systems.
In the article entitled “Sustainability: Human, Social, Economic and Environmental” (available at http://www.wiley.co.uk/wileychi/egec/pdf/GA811-W.PDF), it is reported that the four main types of sustainability are human, social, economic, and environmental. Human sustainability is defined as maintaining an individual's human capital by investments, such as education, health, and nutrition, throughout an individual's lifetime. Human capital is a private good of individuals, rather than between individuals or societies.
Social sustainability is defined as maintaining social capital, which is investments and services that create the basic framework for society. For example, the cohesion of communities for mutual benefit, connectedness between groups of people, and commonly shared rules and laws are cited as promoting social sustainability.
Environmental sustainability is defined as seeking to improve human welfare by protecting natural capital such as water, land, air, minerals and ecosystem services. Environmental sustainability is described as requiring that natural capital be maintained, by keeping the harvest rates of renewables within regeneration rates, by keeping the depletion rates of non-renewables equal to the rate at which renewable substitutes are created, and by holding waste emissions within the assimilative capacity of the environment without impairing the environment.
Economic sustainability is defined as maintenance of capital. For instance, the amount one can consume during a period and still be as well off at the end of the period is cited as defining economic sustainability.
Corporations are now applying social, environmental and economic sustainability concepts in corporate social responsibility policies. The term “triple bottom line” has been used to describe corporations that have moved beyond reporting only their financial bottom line to reporting on three of the types of sustainability mentioned above: social, environmental, and economic. It has been suggested that the triple bottom line principle is a useful approach for examining the operations of a major corporation.
The social aspect of triple bottom line reporting can refer to reporting on the beneficial business practices of a corporation toward the communities in which the corporation conducts business. For example, a triple bottom line corporation business may contribute to its community with such things as health care and education.
The environmental aspect of triple bottom line reporting can refer to reporting on sustainable environmental practices. For example, a triple bottom line corporation can reduce its ecological footprint by managing its consumption of natural resources and reducing manufacturing waste as well as disposing of waste in a safe manner. The term “cradle to grave” has been used by triple bottom line corporations that conduct a life cycle assessment of products to determine what the true environmental cost is from the extraction of natural resources to manufacture to distribution to eventual disposal by the end user.
The economic aspect of triple bottom line reporting can refer to reporting on profits. However, within a sustainability framework, the profits may be seen as the economic benefit enjoyed by the host society.
Every corporation using triple bottom line reporting may have different views on what social, environmental and economic sustainability mean. Furthermore, individuals wishing to incorporate sustainability concepts into daily living may be uncertain as to the personal and/or public activities that come within the broad definition of social, environmental and economic sustainability.
Thus, there is a need for an educational tool for teaching sustainability concepts to individuals, or groups of individuals working in governmental, educational or corporate institutions.
The foregoing needs are met by an educational game according to the invention. The game was created to help a person develop a framework for personal understanding of sustainability. The game teaches through questions and answers in each of the social, environmental, and economic sustainability categories. Question and answer cards are divided into social questions, economic questions and environmental questions to encompass the triple bottom line approach to sustainability. The game includes animal playing tokens that represent threatened species on earth. The game has a game board that includes a continuous circular token movement path encircling a partial global map projection to represent a cradle to cradle approach for sustainable thinking.
The game includes carbon offset counters. A carbon footprint scoring surface is provided for one or more geographic regions such as North America or Europe. The carbon footprint scoring surface is sectioned into direct and indirect elements. Indirect contributions to our carbon footprints come from infrastructure in our society. It is our roads, community buildings, offices, hospitals and schools etc. The direct elements are indicated by icons and include averages for water, transportation, heating, food and electricity. The direct carbon footprint area is the area where an individual has control. The players cover the carbon footprint scoring surface with carbon offset counters during play.
In the game, there are also chance question cards to provide an opportunity to customize the game for a particular group or audience such as governmental, educational or corporate institutions. The chance cards can also include some ecological do's and don'ts cards, reward cards with instructions to receive carbon offset counters, and forfeit cards with instructions to take away a carbon offset counter depending on the situation.
One educational outcome of the game is to create an understanding of our personal carbon footprints and offset our carbon footprint by answering the questions correctly. The game is a teaching tool and is about learning the correct answers and changing our behaviors. The game can be played in companies, schools, tradeshows or anywhere else people are willing to learn about sustainability.
Thus, in one aspect, the invention provides an educational game for teaching sustainability concepts. The game includes a first group of cards wherein each card in the first group is provided with a social issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Social” on one surface. The game includes a second group of cards wherein each card in the second group is provided with an environmental issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Environmental” on one surface. The game includes a third group of cards wherein each card in the third group is provided with an economic issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Economic” on one surface.
The game also includes a game board having a circular path including a plurality of marked spaces. At least one of the marked spaces includes a first “Social” symbol indicating that a card from the first “Social” group is to be selected. At least one of the marked spaces includes a second “Environmental” symbol indicating that a card from the second “Environmental” group is to be selected. At least one of the marked spaces includes a third “Economic” symbol indicating that a card from the third “Economic” group is to be selected. Typically, there is a plurality of each of the first “Social” symbol, the second “Environmental” symbol, and the third “Economic” symbol in the path. In one form, the game board depicts at least a part of a global map projection, and the path encircles the global map projection.
The game includes means for determining a player's game position on the plurality of marked spaces. The means for determining a player's game position on the plurality of marked spaces can be tokens for movement on the plurality of marked spaces during play, and a number generator for determining extent of movement on the plurality of marked spaces during play. The tokens can include a representation of a threatened species. The means for determining a player's game position on the plurality of marked spaces can be a number spinner that points at one of the marked spaces.
The game also includes a scorekeeping device for keeping track of a number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions answered correctly by a player. The scorekeeping device includes a scoring surface and a plurality of “carbon offset” counters wherein the counters and the scoring surface are dimensioned such that the plurality of counters covers the scoring surface when a predetermined number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions has been answered correctly. When a player answers the predetermined number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions correctly, the scoring surface will be completely covered by the plurality of counters indicating that the player has won one round of the game. In one form, the scorekeeping device includes a side wall extending upward from the scoring surface, and the plurality of counters are retained within the side wall. When the scoring surface is completely covered by the plurality of counters, the counters fill the volume defined by the side wall and the scoring surface. The scoring surface can include a representation of a carbon footprint. The carbon footprint can include indications of activities contributing to gaseous emissions, and the carbon footprint can include gaseous emission numerical values associated with each activity.
In one version of the game, the game further includes a fourth group of “Chance” cards wherein at least one card in the fourth group is provided with text selected from one of (i) a social issue question and corresponding answer, (ii) an environmental issue question and corresponding answer, (iii) an economic issue question and corresponding answer, (iv) an instruction to add a counter to the scoring surface, and (v) an instruction to remove a counter from the scoring surface. At least one of the marked spaces of the circular game board path can include a fourth “Chance” symbol indicating that a card from the fourth “Chance” group is to be selected. Also, the game board can include a marked region for placing each of the first group of cards, the second group of cards, the third group of cards, and the fourth group of cards.
In another aspect, the invention provides an educational game for teaching sustainability concepts. The game includes a first group of cards wherein each card in the first group is provided with a social issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Social” on one surface. The game includes a second group of cards wherein each card in the second group is provided with an environmental issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Environmental” on one surface. The game includes a third group of cards wherein each card in the third group is provided with an economic issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Economic” on one surface. The game includes a fourth group of cards wherein at least one card in the fourth group is provided with text selected from one of (i) a social issue question and corresponding answer, (ii) an environmental issue question and corresponding answer, (iii) an economic issue question and corresponding answer, (iv) an instruction to add a value to the number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions answered correctly, and (v) an instruction to subtract a value from the number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions answered correctly. These cards may be labeled “Chance” on one surface.
The game also includes a game board having a circular path including a plurality of marked spaces. At least one of the marked spaces includes a first “Social” symbol indicating that a card from the first “Social” group is to be selected. At least one of the marked spaces includes a second “Environmental” symbol indicating that a card from the second “Environmental” group is to be selected. At least one of the marked spaces includes a third “Economic” symbol indicating that a card from the third “Economic” group is to be selected. At least one of the marked spaces includes a first “Chance” symbol indicating that a card from the first “Chance” group is to be selected. Typically, there is a plurality of each of the first “Social” symbol, the second “Environmental” symbol, the third “Economic” symbol, and the fourth “Chance” symbol in the path. The game board can include a marked region for placing each of the first group of cards, the second group of cards, the third group of cards, and the fourth group of cards. In one form, the game board depicts at least a part of a global map projection, and the path encircles the global map projection.
The game also includes a scorekeeping device for keeping track of a number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions answered correctly by a player. The scorekeeping device includes a scoring surface and a plurality of “carbon offset” counters wherein the counters and the scoring surface are dimensioned such that the plurality of counters covers the scoring surface when a predetermined number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions has been answered correctly. When a player answers the predetermined number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions correctly, the scoring surface will be completely covered by the plurality of carbon offset counters indicating that the player has won one round of the game. In one form, the scorekeeping device includes a side wall extending upward from the scoring surface, and the plurality of counters are retained within the side wall. When the scoring surface is completely covered by the plurality of counters, the “carbon offset” counters fill the volume defined by the side wall and the scoring surface. The scoring surface can include a representation of a carbon footprint. The carbon footprint can include indications of activities contributing to gaseous emissions, and the carbon footprint can include gaseous emission numerical values associated with each activity.
In yet another aspect, the invention provides an educational game for teaching sustainability concepts. The game includes a first group of cards wherein each card in the first group is provided with a social issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Social” on one surface. The game includes a second group of cards wherein each card in the second group is provided with an environmental issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Environmental” on one surface. The game includes a third group of cards wherein each card in the third group is provided with an economic issue question and a corresponding answer. These cards may be labeled “Economic” on one surface.
The game also includes a game board having a circular path including a plurality of marked spaces. At least one of the marked spaces includes a first “Social” symbol indicating that a card from the first “Social” group is to be selected. At least one of the marked spaces includes a second “Environmental” symbol indicating that a card from the second “Environmental” group is to be selected. At least one of the marked spaces includes a third “Economic” symbol indicating that a card from the third “Economic” group is to be selected. Typically, there a plurality of each of the first “Social” symbol, the second “Environmental” symbol, and the third “Economic” symbol in the path.
The game includes a scorekeeping device for keeping track of a number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions answered correctly. The scorekeeping device includes a scoring surface including a representation of a carbon footprint. The carbon footprint can include indications of activities contributing to gaseous emissions, and the carbon footprint can include gaseous emission numerical values associated with each activity. The scorekeeping device includes a plurality of “carbon offset” counters wherein the counters and the carbon footprint are dimensioned such that the plurality of “carbon offset” counters covers the entire carbon footprint when a predetermined number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions has been answered correctly. When a player answers the predetermined number of social issue questions, environmental issue questions, and economic issue questions correctly, the scoring surface will be completely covered by the plurality of “carbon offset” counters indicating that the player has won one round of the game.
Therefore, one advantage of the educational game of the invention is the capability to teach sustainable thinking by relating it to personal and business situations.
Another advantage of the educational game of the invention is the capability to create an awareness and a framework to think about sustainability trade offs.
Yet another advantage of the educational game of the invention is the capability to help an organization to better respond to customer requests for information on sustainability.
Still another advantage of the educational game of the invention is the capability to teach cradle to cradle thinking.
Yet another advantage of the educational game of the invention is the capability to teach the three pillars (social, environmental and economic) in corporate social responsibility policies and triple bottom line reporting.
Still another advantage of the educational game of the invention is the capability to teach the relative roles of contribution to carbon dioxide emissions.
Yet another advantage of the educational game of the invention is the capability to teach an individual carbon footprint and how the actions of individuals matter.
Still another advantage of the educational game of the invention is the capability to teach ecological facts to help customer conversations with suppliers.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood upon consideration of the following detailed description, drawings and appended claims.
Like reference numerals will be used to refer to like parts from Figure to Figure in the following description of the drawings.
Turning to
Still referring to
The game board 20 includes a first card placement space 48 having a rectangular perimeter 49 around a larger version of the first “Social” symbol 30 and “Social” lettering 50. The game board 20 includes a second card placement space 53 having a rectangular perimeter 54 around a larger version of the second “Environmental” symbol 35 and “Environmental” lettering 55. The game board 20 includes a third card placement space 58 having a rectangular perimeter 59 around a larger version of the third “Economic” symbol 40 and “Economic” lettering 60. The game board 20 includes a fourth card placement space 63 having a rectangular perimeter 64 around a larger version of the fourth “Chance” symbol 45 and “Chance” lettering 65. The card placement spaces 48, 53, 58, 63 may be arranged in the four corners of the game board 20 as in the version shown, or alternatively may by randomly arranged on the game board 20. A “start” indicator 67 is also placed next to one marked space on the game board 20.
Having described the components of an example embodiment of an educational game according to the invention, the rules of play can be explained further. The game can be played by two or more players (e.g., two players, three players, etc.), or two or more teams of players (e.g., 2 teams with up to 5 players on each team). For ease of explanation, the game is described herein as being played with two players. When playing the educational game, the players use the game board 20, the dice 71, a playing token (such as 68,69) for each player, the carbon offset counters 81 (in yellow, blue and green), a holder 77 including the carbon footprint scoring surface 78 for each player, and the four decks of cards: Social 87, Environmental 89, Economic 91, and Chance 93. The game is set up by placing the stacks of Social 87, Environmental 89, Economic 91, and Chance 93 cards on the first card placement space 48, the second card placement space 53, the third card placement space 58, and the fourth card placement space 63 on the game board 20 as described above. Each player places their selected token (such as 68,69) on the “start” indicator 67 of the game board 20. Each player should have a holder 77 including the carbon footprint scoring surface 78 and access to the carbon offset counters 81 (in yellow, blue and green).
The players roll the dice 71 to see which player goes first. The highest number goes first. The starting player re-rolls the dice 71 to determine the number of marked spaces they can move. The token (such as 68,69) can be moved in either direction on the path 26 of the game board 20. The direction can be changed by the player at each turn if desired. When a token 68,69 lands on one of the marked spaces 28, 33, 38, 43, the opposing player notes the type of marked space (e.g., the first type of yellow marked space 28 having the first “Social” symbol 30), and the opposing player picks a question card from the appropriate stack (e.g., stack of numerous yellow social cards 87). The opposing player asks the question and the player in play has a certain time period (e.g., one minute to submit their final answer).
When a social, environmental, or economic question is correctly answered, the player receives the appropriate colored carbon offset counter 81 (e.g., yellow, green, blue). The carbon offset counter 81 is placed in the holder 77 to cover a portion of the carbon footprint scoring surface 78. As detailed above, chance questions might be a social, environmental, or economic question, or they might award or forfeit a carbon offset counter 81 from the player's holder 77. Whether the question is answered correctly or not, the other player rolls the dice 71 next. In order to win, the player must have at least two carbon offset counters 81 in each color (e.g., yellow, green, blue) in the holder 77. The first player to eliminate (i.e., cover) their carbon footprint scoring surface 78 with a total of twelve carbon offset counters 81A-81L wins the game and becomes carton neutral.
In the game, the carbon footprint of the scoring surface 78 stands for a certain amount of gaseous emissions that are relevant to climate change and associated with human production or consumption activities. The complete circular path 26 around the global projection 24 signifies “Cradle to Cradle” thinking. The game uses animals as the playing tokens (such as 68,69) to call attention to the animals where the habitat is threatened. The carbon offset counters 81 can be thought of as pie pieces are placed in a re-used wide-mouth holder 77 that contains the average footprint carbon footprint 83 of a European (12 tons). Other carbon footprints 83 can also be provided such as a version for North America (24 tons).
When playing the version of the educational game that uses the game board 120 of
When a social, environmental, or economic question is correctly answered, the player receives the appropriate colored carbon offset counter 81 (e.g., yellow, green, blue). The carbon offset counter 81 is placed in the holder 77 to cover a portion of the carbon footprint scoring surface 78. As detailed above, chance questions might be a social, environmental, or economic question, or they might award or forfeit a carbon offset counter 81 from the player's holder 77. Whether the question is answered correctly or not, the other player then spins the number spinner 171 and play continues as above. In order to win, the player must have at least two carbon offset counters 81 in each color (e.g., yellow, green, blue) in the holder 77. The first player to eliminate (i.e., cover) their carbon footprint scoring surface 78 with a total of twelve carbon offset counters 81A-81L wins the game and becomes carton neutral.
Thus, the invention provides an educational game to help to develop a framework for personal understanding of sustainability. The game teaches through questions and answers in each of the social, environmental, and economic sustainability categories.
Although the invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which have been presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
