Author: Puji Masireddy, WI Policy Team
Last year, the Policy team blogged on the importance of education and climate change, discussing the promise of climate curricula and the barriers to climate change education in the U.S. In 2024, education remains key to addressing climate change, and more educators and students are interested in learning more about climate change and its impact on our lives and learning. Despite this, recent studies show that climate-relevant classroom instruction time varies widely, as does the state regulatory landscape. For example, while New Jersey, Connecticut, California and New York are incorporating climate change into their curriculums, states like Virginia, Florida and Texas are rejecting the inclusion of climate change in schools.
While classroom education remains paramount to mitigating the effects of climate change, other avenues are emerging. Enter video games. According to the Pew Research Center, 85% of U.S. teens play video games, and 72% of these teens report that they play games in order to spend time with others. Though the vast majority of video games are purely entertainment-based, a growing number aim to make a difference. Below, we bring attention to innovative, fun, free online games that teach youth about climate change and would make a great addition to schools, after school programs, and clubs, starting with Rising Tides.
Rising Tides
Rising Tides was developed by Dhruv Jhamb, a rising senior at Avenues: The World School in New York City. We spoke to Jhamb, who said he designed the game after taking a class centered around sustainability and climate change. He deduced that the first step towards climate action is education, and wanted to contribute to learning in a fun environment. Jhamb explained that he originally envisioned Rising Tides as a board game, but pivoted to a video game to best reach a younger, more digitally-focused audience. He hopes that the game serves as an educational and collaborative tool that teachers can use to help expand their students’ knowledge on climate change.
Rising Tides is an immersive, collaborative game designed to simulate the challenges and strategies involved in combating climate change. It is complex, involving multiple players and requiring a combination of strategy and skill. Rising Tides is aimed at students 11 and older and is best played on a laptop/desktop, with each player on a separate device. Jhamb hopes players will gain skills in strategic resource management, tactical planning, and collaborative decision-making, which are crucial in achieving both individual and common climate goals. Jhamb stated,“I would love for this game to be used as an efficient tool in educating students across schools, programs, camps, and different educational institutions.”
“I would love for this game to be used as an efficient tool in educating students across schools, programs, camps, and different educational institutions.” – Dhruv Jhamb, creator of Rising Tides.
More Free Online Climate-Oriented Games
While Jhamb’s game is unique and an accomplishment in itself, we’ve also played other climate change-oriented interactive computer games. These are also free and available for teachers and others to use in lesson plans, curriculum development, or free play.
Nasa Climate Kids: Launched in 2010, NASA’s Climate Kids tells the story of our changing planet through the eyes of NASA scientists studying Earth. Targeting kids ages 8 and up, the site includes multiple games, activities and articles that make climate science accessible and engaging.
The Climate Game: Developed by the Financial Times (FT), the Climate Game challenges players to reduce the effects of climate change by reaching net zero emissions by 2050. The Climate Game is based on published scientific research and bespoke modeling by the International Energy Agency for the FT.
The Very Simple Climate Model: Created by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the Very Simple Climate Model allows students to learn about the relationship between average global temperature and carbon dioxide emissions while predicting temperature change over the 21st Century. UCAR offers a learning guide for teachers, enabling students to use the Very Simple Climate Model to explore future climate scenarios from the comfort of their classrooms.
Looking Ahead
While classroom climate education is of the utmost importance, the variability in climate change curricula by state or even classroom calls for additional creative solutions. Students themselves are heeding the call, as evident by Dhruv Jhamb’s creation of Rising Tides. The other games listed above also offer creative ways to learn, and additional resources are available. For example, the Yale Program on Climate Change Education offers free materials for teachers of grades 6-12. The largest school in the U.S., New York City Public Schools, held its first Climate Action Days this year and offers free resources for families, students and educators on climate change. Educators and others can find additional materials from groups like Climate Generation, whose mission is to “Ignite and sustain the ability of educators, youth, and communities to act on systems perpetuating the climate crisis.” Finally, we can all advocate for compulsory climate education in schools, and, when age appropriate, curricula that link climate change and extreme heat with increasingly poor health outcomes.