The Carbon Footprint Game: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Climate Change

As the global community grapples with the urgent challenges of climate change, there is an increasing need for innovative and effective educational tools to enhance understanding and engagement with this critical issue. This paper introduces a novel pedagogical approach (the Carbon Footprint Game) that harnesses the power of gamification to educate students (11-14 years old) about the complexities of climate change and the impact of individual choices on carbon emissions. Through a blend of interactive gameplay, real-world data analysis, and collaborative learning, this teaching method seeks to cultivate a deeper awareness of environmental issues and promote sustainable behavior among students. We conducted the pilot study involving students at a lower secondary school in the northern of Italy. Two lessons with a different slant were taught in two different classes: the first class received a traditional frontal lesson, while the second class participated in the Carbon Footprint Game. Before and at the end of both lessons, the students engaged in filling in the evaluation questionnaire (the same for both classes), in order to assess the effectiveness of the tested novel pedagogical approach.