Hurricane Game

By University of Central Florida

 

Business Category

 

 

 

 

 

Skills and Ideas Taught:  Critical thinking, problem-solving, iterative thinking, using the scientific process.

Goal or Challenge: Create the best house you can and prepare it appropriately to withstand the force of an impending hurricane.

Primary Audience: Museum learners, with a special emphasis on older adolescent and young adult learners.

Assessment Approach: The final screen of the game is a recap of what happened, and what the result of the player’s actions were. The game is intended to be experienced in a group learning environment, where discussion after each pass through the game subjectively measures learning.

Description:“Hurricane Game” is an interactive learning experience that allows exploration from both the perspective of a storm and a house builder, allowing choices to be made that change the scenario outcome. By playing multiple times, changing the parameters, and seeing the resulting damage, learners gain a broad understanding of the factors that influence storm impact on human populations. In testing at the Museum of Discovery and Science, evaluation showed not only increased engagement with museum learning, but also strong feeling that youth better understood the relevance of science to their lives.

Game Engine: Unity

Operating System:  Web, Windows 7, Windows 8

Platform:  Personal Computer

Special Hardware:  Networked Computers