Dr Laura Hobbs Laura5.Hobbs@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Research Fellow - CHSS - DAS
Sarah Behenna Sarah.Behenna@uwe.ac.uk
Casual Research Associate - CATE
Phoebe Clayson-Lavelle
Abstract
Science Hunters (1) is a programme of projects that has successful utilised the popular computer game Minecraft to engage children from under-represented backgrounds with geosciences, engineering and other related areas for the last decade (2). Projects use a defined approach which allows interest-led, constructive exploration of specific topics, which our research has shown can successfully increasing subject knowledge and understanding (3), while Minecraft can act to draw children to engaging with topics (4).
Since 2020, the Building to Break Barriers (5) and Engineering for Sustainable Societies (6) projects, supported by Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Awards, have used Minecraft to engage children with exploring the Sustainable Development Goals, developing a range of topics for children, mainly within a key target age range of 7-14 years, to explore. These were delivered as virtual and in-person sessions with schools and community groups, with related activity resources freely available on the project websites.
‘River management’ resources introduced information about rivers, flooding and resulting disruption, and the concept of river management for flood prevention including examples of both ‘hard’ structural measures and ‘soft’ natural approaches. ‘Natural Flood Management’ resources built upon these, to consider sustainable solutions and link explicitly to the SDGs, in particular SDGs 6 (Clean water and sanitation), 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure) and 11 (Sustainable cities and communities). Here, we outline our approach, outputs for supporting children to explore river management and sustainable solutions, and feedback from teachers, community group leaders and children.
2 Hobbs et al., 2018. Digging Deep into Geosciences with Minecraft. Eos, 99(11), 24-29
3 Hobbs et al., 2019. Science Hunters: Teaching Science Concepts in Schools Using Minecraft. Action Research and Innovation in Science Education, 2(2), 13-21
4 Hobbs et al., 2019. Using Minecraft to engage children with science at public events. Research for All, 3(2), 142–60
