Eco-Choices: A Decision Making Game

Preparation: Prepare one packet for each town. The packet should include the student instructions, graph paper(s), town descriptions, starting number of icons and money (found at the top of the town description), thinking and decision charts, county decision choices. Print and laminate extra icons and money, to make a “bank”. Either print the large watershed map, or draw on a large poster paper.

Use the powerpoint, available online, to begin the game. This helps explain the town (and the goals of the "game") to students. Break up the students into 5 groups, give them their packets and ask them to open the instruction booklet and begin the game accordingly. You will need groups of at least 2-3 students per group. Ideally, you will have enough students in each group so that you can have a Banker, Recorder, Graph-keeper, and Speaker. If you don’t have enough students, just double up on the roles.

Part 1 - Town descriptions and initial decisions

a. Students should carefully read through their town description and fill in the constraints and considerations table, which is designed to help them make decisions appropriate for their town (even if they personally feel otherwise). Visit each group to make sure they have understood their town “identity”. For younger students, creating a town slogan/cheer helps with this aspect.
b. Be sure that they fill in the first graph which represents where they stand before making any choices. Older students can draw the bar graphs, while younger students may benefit from having large graphs which they visualize with the help of the icons. Positive and negatives are represented on the same graph, but with different colored icons. Poor quality=red colored icons, while the white icons are positive or good quality of water, air, biodiversity, and health.
c. Students will now make decisions on water, air, and land in their town. The Recorder should write down all the options on the “Thinking Chart”, and make final decisions on the “Decisions Chart”, which needs to be signed off on by a teacher. At this point, you can check in with each group to make sure they are keeping the main goals of the game in mind, and not just focusing on the numbers of icons they will gain or lose. Asking students “Why did you make that decision?” or “How will that improve your ecosystem?” will help them think through their choices.
d. Once students have made their decisions, they will visit the Banker (an adult or a trusted student) to get the money they need, and the icons that have changed as a result of their decisions.
e. Students should fill in the next graph before going to the whole-class activity of looking at the watershed map. Using different colored paper for the various stages of the game graphs helps students keep track, but is not necessary.
f. All icons should get the name (or the first letter) of the town written on the back with wet-erase marker. This will help identify the pollution in the next step.
g. Ask the Reporter in each group to explain to the class the decisions made by his/her town, and the reasons for those choices.

Part 2 - County level pollution movement

a. Gather students around the large watershed map, where they have placed poor (red) water and air quality and positive (white) human health and positive (white) biodiversity. All icons should have the town name on the back of the originating town, so that students will know where the pollution came from.
b. Starting with the concept of watersheds, remind them what direction water flows and then begin moving water pollution cards in that direction, while removing human health and biodiversity cards. Move one red card at a time; this portion of the game will be different each time as students make different decisions. A red water quality card will affect downstream towns by reducing their biodiversity and human health. You can decide “how much” each red card will affect each downstream (or downwind) town. You can also add “pollution” from outside the county if the towns were environmentally friendly and didn’t create any pollution.
c. Do the same for the airshed by moving air pollution cards along the direction of the prevailing winds while removing human health and biodiversity cards that the pollution crosses on its path.
d. Students now take all the cards that are in their town back with them, and create a new graph accordingly. Since all icons have town names on the back, students will know who caused pollution in their town. This will help them think about who should reduce pollution at the county-level decision making process.

Part 3 - Five years later!

a. Important: When each town calculates the amount of money they have 5 years in the future, you may or may not want to make them pay back the loan. It is important that at least 3 towns have money going into Part 4. So, if the towns are relatively cash rich, they should pay back their loan. If they are relatively cash poor, you can let them defer loan payment! These are all interest free loans.
b. Students now split up into county level decision making teams; one representative from each town meets with the other towns. In these county level groups, they will choose which county-level decision is best, and return to their town teams with their decision. The town has to approve the county-level choice, and determine how much money to provide to the county for the action to move ahead. Now, the county-level debate can begin.

Part 4 - County Decisions

a. This last part of the game often lends itself to heavy debate. It is important to stress the real-world context in this portion. The decision they are fighting for should not just depend on number of cards, but the concepts of watershed and airsheds, as well as the what people in their town would support or not. This is also an opportunity to bring in any regional issues or decisions (a proposed wind farm or increase in farmer’s markets, for example) in your area to help bring this game into the real world of the students.

Pre and post assessment
There are two types of assessments, either a pre and post questionnaire and/or a reflection. The reflection determines the level at which students reflect on their impact on watersheds, airsheds, or ecosystem services. The pre and post assessment questionnaire assesses students’ ability to connect several environmental issues, and thus describe the multifaceted consequences of one decision.