Sustainability and Economics in Middle School
/“The students sure did not want to stop playing and even asked if we could keep the game going the next week! We plan to revisit at the end of our unit and have students help generate rules/ideas to further the sustainability portion for the game and a future they’d like to see.
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At Breakwater, we strive to make learning authentic. Information is presented in a meaningful context, is relevant to students’ interests, and has useful, real-world applications. This fall, 7th and 8th grade students have been learning about the overlap of economics and sustainability in their sustainability and environmental concerns interdisciplinary studies unit. During the second week of school, students took their first group bike ride making stops to engage with speakers from the University of Southern Maine and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine who helped introduce the class to topics of environmental justice. With the seed planted, so to speak, and students already making meaningful connections between sustainability and economics, 7/8 teachers Kelly Steinhagen and Jesse McDonough wanted to provide another avenue for students to make connections - through an adapted version of the classic board game Monopoly.
In preparation for the activity, Kelly and Jesse brainstormed several rule adaptations based on the unit’s goals and after reading scholarly articles supporting the use of the game Monopoly as a learning tool. Using the original rules of play, Kelly and Jesse made creative variations to rules and playing cards. At the beginning of the game, students were given different ‘player cards’ by which they would have certain inherent advantages and disadvantages such as collecting more or less than $200 when passing go to represent economic inequality. When buying property, students could choose to make the purchase at the original value that would have standard oil heating, electricity, and other average features OR they could choose to be environmentally-conscious and purchase the property with solar paneling, renewable energy, and other sustainable features for 30% more of the asking price. In return, your rent increases by 50%. The choice of adding these environmentally-conscious additions was of course easier for some students based on what ‘player card’ they were issued at the beginning of the game and other decisions/ investments they had made. Other game additions allowed students to think of the connection they had with other players and their community. For example one of the cards read ‘Your dog needs exercise! If someone in your game owns the dog park, travel to that location. If not, you must pay $50 for a dog walker.’ Kelly noted that, “students were very excited to buy the Dog Park, even if the return to them was very small.” Furthermore when students wanted to buy hotels and houses on their property, they had to consider the environmental impact of their investment and consider public park fees that may apply by rolling the dice.
After a Friday spent playing this new version of Monopoly, students were eager to continue playing in coming weeks. “It was great to see them begin to make connections, from the game to the real world,” shared Jesse, “We plan to play again later in the unit to see if their knowledge and reactions change.” Now that the students have already played once and are looking forward to playing again, Kelly and Jesse want to give students a chance to add their own rules based on what they've learned later on in the unit. Kelly and Jesse are looking forward to seeing how student questions and ideas guide them during this unit that will later connect to their civics unit centered around environmental policy.