Teaching and Learning with Games
Integrate game-based learning into your classroom with CEEE programs, activities, and instructional videos, offering students an interactive approach to environmental science.
Game-based learning and hands-on activities provide an engaging way for students to develop critical thinking and teamwork skills while deepening their understanding of environmental issues and connecting them to their local communities. This resource collection features CEEE programs, such as HEART Force and We Are Water, which explore topics related to natural hazards and water resources through interactive games and activities. HEART Force includes role-playing games that simulate responses to wildfires, floods, and droughts, enabling students to apply their knowledge in realistic scenarios, along with instructional videos that offer guidance on game mechanics and educational strategies. We Are Water offers trivia challenges at various skill levels and a Take and Make Kit that includes a collaborative board games focused on protecting rivers from pollution and hands-on exploration of local water topics.
CEEE's resources on teaching and learning with games empower students to tackle real-world challenges and foster resilience in their communities.
Environmental hazards—such as wildfire, flood, and drought—are increasingly affecting communities in Colorado. With this rise in hazardous events, there is a pressing need for communities to become more resilient through education, preparation, and planning.
The Hazard Education, Awareness, and Resilience Task Force (HEART Force) is an award-winning collaborative project implemented by the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and Climate Adaptation Partnership (CAP) partner Western Water Assessment that engages rural Colorado middle and high school students, teachers, and communities to take proactive steps in preparing for and responding to natural hazards.
HEART Force Educational Games: Building Community Resilience
HEART Force offers interactive games where students work in teams to tackle challenges from natural hazards like wildfire, drought, and flood.
- Wildfire: Students plan and invest in community resilience before responding to a simulated wildfire.
- Drought: Teams use resources to navigate the effects of extreme drought.
- Flood: Students collaborate to solve issues during a simulated flood event.
Each game follows a corresponding hazard lesson, allowing students to apply their learning in realistic scenarios.
Water, critical and scarce in the Four Corners Region, connects diverse communities through our shared place and unique stories.
We Are Water is a place-based education program that connects rural, Latinx, and Indigenous communities in the Four Corners Region of the U.S. with water topics through stories, activities, and a traveling exhibit and engages community members in conversations about their personal and community connections to local water topics.
We Are Water: Engaging Students with Water Topics
We Are Water offers a variety of interactive games and activities to challenge students' understanding of water science and its significance in the Four Corners Region.
- Water Trivia: Challenge students at various knowledge levels with beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert trivia about the science of water and the geography of the Four Corners Region.
- Take and Make Kits: These hands-on activities allow students to explore water in their community from home, with materials available in Spanish. Students participate in a collaborative board game where they work together to protect a river from pollution, search for evidence of pollinators in their backyard, and learn about the connections between water, pollution, and pollinators.
