Social Studies
Digital Game-Based Learning
Ayiti: The Cost of Life
http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/rights/explore_3142.html
What is it like to live in poverty, struggling every day to stay healthy, keep out of
debt, and get educated?
Find out now in this challenging role playing game created by the High School
students in Global Kids with the game developers at Gamelab, in which you take
responsibility for a family of five in rural Haiti.
What Would You Do?
http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/aids/explore_1360.html
An interactive game that explores real life situations with regard to HIV/AIDS.
Water Alert!
http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/wes/explore_1818.html
Tearfund and WaterAid have produced another online game to highlight issues of
EU aid for water and sanitation.
Play the game now and see how much EU money you can collect.
When you have finished the game, you can use their online form to write to Hilary
Benn, the Secretary of State for International Development, to ask him for more
aid for water and sanitation.
Darfur is Dying
http://www.darfurisdying.com/
Darfur is Dying is a narrative-based simulation where the user, from the
perspective of a displaced Darfurian, negotiates forces that threaten the survival
of his or her refugee camp. It offers a faint glimpse of what it’s like for the more
than 2.5 million who have been internally displaced by the crisis in Sudan.
World War I
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/hq/games.shtml
Experience the danger of a First World War battle. Can you win the day, or will
you be responsible for thousands of deaths?
Peacemaker ($)
http://www.peacemakergame.com/
PeaceMaker is a video game simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a tool
that can be used to promote dialog and understanding among Israelis,
Palestinians and interested people around the world.
The Calm and the Storm ($)
http://www.making-history.com/
A next step for strategy games! Making History® delivers the open-ended
gameplay of strategy-game classics, but with compelling new economic, military,
and diplomatic systems and deep research that lets you play with real historical
challenges.
The game drops you into a rich WWII world where every nation has its own
agenda, and where events can turn on a single alliance. Work with your nation’s
historic strengths and weaknesses. Build up your industry, infrastructure,
economy, military. Create alliances. Then reshape your strategy as the world
evolves with each turn.
Discover Babylon
http://discoverbabylon.org/
Mesopotamia's diverse contributions in writing, mathematics, literature, and law
will come alive again in Discover Babylon©, a joint project of the Federation of
American Scientists Learning Technologies Project, UCLA's Cuneiform Digital
Library Initiative, Escape Hatch Entertainment, and the Walters Art Museum.
Located in what is now modern Iraq—Mesopotamia was the birthplace of written
language, the first cities, the concept of the 360° circle and the 24-hour day, not
to mention the earliest known laws and literature—yet its contributions are not
well known to many Americans. Targeted at ages 8 –14, Discover Babylon© will
use sophisticated video gaming strategies and realistic digital environments to
engage the learner in challenges and mysteries that can only be solved through
developing an understanding of Mesopotamian society, business practices, and
trade.
United Nations Food Force
http://www.food-force.com/
Food Force serves as a classroom tool for teaching about hunger.
Plan Your Future Park
http://www.gothamgazette.com/parksgame/
In this game, find a plot of land, build public support, raise money, and design to
meet the needs and, often, the demands of area residents. You will be faced
with scenarios based on real New York City parks, and your choices will help
build your ideal green space. But beware, there are many political battles ahead.
The Re Districting Game
http://www.redistrictinggame.org/index.php
"The Redistricting Game is not only fun to play, it's educational. It allows players
to see how politicians use the redistricting process to select their voters,
overwhelming the voters' right to choose their elected representatives."
Courts in the Classroom
http://www.courtsed.org/courts-in-the-classroom/
Welcome to the Courts in the Classroom Web site, developed by the Judicial Council of California, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the California Courts. The site was created to help students better understand the role of courts in our system of democracy. The stories, games, and other activities demonstrate how the Judicial Branch of government protects our civil liberties such as the right of free speech and privacy, and helps society resolve fundamental conflict.
Our Courts: 21st Century Civics
http://www.ourcourts.org/
Our Courts is a web-based education project designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active participants in our democracy. Our Courts is the vision of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is concerned that students are not getting the information and tools they need for civic participation, and that civics teachers need better materials and support.
Power Politics III (Free Teacher Version Available)
https://registration.kelloggcreek.com/pp3/
The player can run the presidential campaign for any of over 90 real presidential
candidates, each carefully modeled to reflect both their political views and their
personal attributes. Note that the "free" version of the game will include only the
candidates who actively campaigned for their party's nomination in the 2004 race
The Political Machine ($)
http://www.politicalmachine.com/game.asp
The Political Machine is a strategy game in which you are the campaign manager
for a candidate for President of the United States. Choose a political party, put
together the dream presidential ticket and go for it. Based on the real world, The
Political Machine gives would-be candidates the taste of the challenge real
candidates’ face. Fund raising, campaigning, building support, going on "The
O'Maley Factor" and other cable news shows to answer the tough questions, and
more.
Shakespeare Games
http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/shakespeare/playhouse.html
Review games to test students’ knowledge of the Bard.
‘Speare ($)
http://www.apollogames.ca/
Daniel Fischlin, a university research chair in English at Canada's University of
Guelph, noticed that students couldn't relate to Shakespeare. So he created a
VIDEO GAME called 'Speare based on the play, "Romeo and Juliet." Players
score in the game, which is vaguely similar to Space Invaders, by capturing
"knowledge "spheres" from enemy spacecraft and successfully re-assembling
them into lines from the play. There are no "levels" in this game, only five "acts."
And you can play it ONLINE. To play, or not to play....
‘Speare has been designed with supplemental free activities that promote use of
the game as an effective teaching and learning tool for both teachers and
students. Game extras include activities for students and teachers hosted at the
Learning Commons and an Interactive Folio version of Romeo and Juliet, the
most sophisticated media-rich version of the play ever created. Enjoy!
Nobel Prize Educational Outreach Program
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/malaria/
Nobelprize.org has a unique way of introducing the Nobel Prize that goes beyond
the mere presentation of facts. These introductions, aptly called 'educational', are
made in the form of games, experiments, and simulated environments ready to
be explored and discovered. The productions are aimed at the young, particularly
the 14-18 age groups, who may know about the Nobel Prizes and the Nobel
Laureates, but often lack a deeper understanding about the Nobel Prize-awarded
works.