Schell Games’ Water Bears EDU is coming to GlassLab Games this week.
Water Bears EDU is
a 3D puzzle game that requires students to use spatial reasoning and
color-mixing skills to redirect water through pipes in a grid-based
environment, giving students hands-on experience with Systems Thinking
concepts.
Developed by Schell Games in collaboration with the Creativity Labs at Indiana University,
the Serious Game – or Transformational Game, according to Schell Games’ value
proposition - is based on a prototype funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
Leveraging the expertise of all the involved
parties to address the teachers' needs and create a quality product, the
educational content of the game is curated by and based on the research of Dr.
Kylie Peppler, Janis Watson and their team at Indiana University. The teacher
tools and framework through which educators implement the game are developed by
GlassLab Games, the nonprofit
focused on creating a high-impact games (please find also ELA Serious Games Infused With Stealth STEM Content).
Intended for 6-8 grades, Water Bears EDU
launches this week on the GlassLab
Games platform and will be available to educational institutions.
Each puzzle starts with a set of water bears
that are sad dehydrated and desperately in need of some water! Players use
pipes, along with spatial reasoning, color mixing, and systems thinking skills,
to redirect the water until all of the water bears are hydrated and happy. You
can have a taste of it at https://vimeo.com/121799097
with the recently uploaded video "Introducing Water Bears" on VIMEO. The game comes with real-time reports, a
teacher’s guide, and sample lesson plans that can easily complement or
supplement your existing curriculum.