Losing the Lake: Development and Deployment of an Educational Game

Authors

Joseph M. Vesco, University of Nevada, Reno
Katie Gilgen, University of Nevada, Reno
Anne Paine, University of Nevada, Reno
Marissa Owens, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Michael Nussbaum, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Gale M. Sinatra, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Sajjad Ahmad, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Kent J. Crippen, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Sergiu Dascalu, University of Nevada, RenoFollow
Frederick C. Harris, University of Nevada, RenoFollow

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

3-12-2012

Publication Title

Proceedings of the 2012 Conference on Computers and Their Applications

Publisher

ISCA

Abstract

When asked what the top three issues of the Las Vegas region were, the reply was “water, water, water!" This was the result of a survey done a few years ago of Las Vegas Valley TV anchors. The reason for this response is that sustainability of the urban environments requires sufficient water resources as does population growth. With the advent of global climate change, this resource is in danger. Water flow and mountainous ice packs are impacted by this change in climate there by impacting the amount of water the the region. This is compounded over time as the population increases and the water supply decreases. Even as the flow of water to the Las Vegas Valley is decreasing, many people in the area do not fully appreciate the severity of this crisis. This knowledge is at many times not brought to fruition as many people do not even understand some possible ways to contribute to water conservation. With the idea of educating young Nevadans, future initiatives can be put into practice to further alleviate a dire situation. Research has shown that imagery is important for a students' attention and enables changes in their thought process. With this approach, the goal of this project is to create an engaging environment to help awareness for the young and old alike.

Keywords

Climatic changes; Computer simulation; Global warming; United States – Lake Mead; Water consumption; Water Conservation – Study and teaching; Water-supply; Web applications; Web-based Application

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering | Environmental Engineering | Environmental Sciences | Natural Resources and Conservation | Software Engineering | Sustainability | Water Resource Management

Language

English

Comments

Conference held: March 12-14, 2012, Las Vegas, NV

Related lecture and conference presentations:

http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/climate_change/9/ http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/epscor/2010/feb02/48 http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/epscor/2010/feb02/26/

Repository Citation

Vesco, J. M., Gilgen, K., Paine, A., Owens, M., Nussbaum, M., Sinatra, G. M., Ahmad, S., Crippen, K. J., Dascalu, S., Harris, F. C. (2012). Losing the Lake: Development and Deployment of an Educational Game. Proceedings of the 2012 Conference on Computers and Their Applications ISCA.
https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/fac_articles/124