A playful approach can make the often complicated subject of climate change easier to understand. Victor Habbick Visions/Science Photo Library via Getty Images Climate change is among the more difficult but important topics to teach to young people. It involves complicated science and data, and it can be really depressing, given the bleak picture it paints of Earth’s future. So how do educators get students more engaged in lessons about climate change? One way that works is to make the lessons into a game. As a professor of educational psychology, I conducted an experiment that found that high schoolers are more interested and absorb more information about climate change when it’s presented as a game. In the study, 248 high school students throughout the U.S. were randomly assigned to either read a text about climate science or to play a number estimation game – that is, a game in which they guessed 12 numerical facts about climate change. I found that the number estimation game improved high schoolers’ climate change understanding , interest in science and willingness to take actions to help solve climate change. For instance, one question asked: “What is the change in percentage of the world’s ocean ice cover since the 1960s?” After students submit an estimate, a window pops up showing the true value – a “40% decrease” in the ice cover question. Gold stars appear to indicate their accuracy, as does a short explanation of the true value. The answers also list actions that people can take to address the issue and links to the sources of the information. I found that students who played the game had a better understanding than those who did not that there is a scientific consensus around human-caused climate change. Students who played the game also thought the […]