In this interactive game, students must save Ecotopia and prevent the ecosystem from being destroyed by a fictitious villain.
Using their knowledge of the different ecosystems, students must select the correct animals to replace after they have been removed due to disease or other disasters.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This is a great resource to help students put their learning into practice through play and experimentation.
The animation and sounds are engaging for young learners.
Additional Prerequisites
This game is unfortunately not accessible for blind, visually impaired, or deaf students because there is no text and the buttons are not read aloud.
The instructions for the game are given over audio when the game is first loaded. Ensure that students do not skip this section so they understand how to play.
Because the audio is necessary for playing the game, students would benefit from having headphones if they are playing this game in a classroom at the same time.
Differentiation
Students could play this game as part of a lesson about ecosystems and protecting wildlife.
After playing the game, teachers could ask students the following questions:
What happened when the fish disappeared from the lake?
What happened when the crocodiles or storks disappeared from the lake?
What made the lake ecosystem healthy?
What did you learn about lake ecosystems?
Other resources on this topic include this video about ecosystem dynamics or this game about invasive species.
Scientist Notes
The game contains interesting features and expeditions for students to engage and have fun while protecting nature from threats. This is recommended for classroom.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
K-ESS3-1 Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.
K-ESS3-3 Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
