Are you looking for a way to inspire curiosity, creativity, collaboration, optimism, and problem-solving skills in your students or youth group? Educational Game Jams do that and more! Games can help address real-world challenges, encourage systems thinking, and promote active engagement, making them particularly well suited to conservation education.
The 2020-2021 Game Jam focused on soil. Teams were encouraged to incorporate field investigation data and observations, online data resources, and investigations in a new game idea. Learn more about Game Jam and award winners on this dedicated site.
Educators/leaders registered teams of 2-5 students in two age categories (Grades 3-5 and 6-8). Games can be either analog or digital. See rubric here. Teams learned about soil, worked individually or in groups to create and test a game to help learn about soil. Teams submitted completed games and descriptions for review.
Thank you to our sponsors, committee members, and judges!
Sponsors
- Iowa Conservation Education Coalition
- Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
- Iowa Project WILD
Game Jam Committee
- Patrick Chase, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Barb Gigar, Iowa DNR
- Julie McMichael, NRCS
- Jerry Neppel, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS)
- Peg Steffen, NOAA, NASA, Contractor
Judges
- Alex Martin, Iowa DNR
- Amie Davidson, Iowa DNR
- Barb Gigar, Iowa DNR
- Jerah Sheets, Iowa DNR
- Jerry Neppel, IDALS
- Lori McDaniel, Iowa DNR
- Peg Steffen, NOAA, NASA, independent consultant