Element Cycles: An Environmental Chemistry Board Game

“Element Cycles” is an activity designed to reinforce correlation of essential elements and their different forms in the ecosystem. Students are assigned essential elements to research as homework, then share results, and construct game boards with four ecosphere sections: geosphere (earth), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air), and biosphere (life). The outside track is marked with essential elements, and “transition cards” move elements between ecosystem sections. Students play the game, individually or in teams, to reinforce understanding of the biogeochemical cycles. As players proceed through the ecosystem, they are shunted randomly between sections and must answer questions about the elements. The winner is the first student to successfully pass through the entire ecosystem. The game can be tailored to different grade levels by varying card complexity and game-board terminology. This game format is also adaptable to other chemical concepts. Cost for one game setup is less than $10. Average time required to complete one game is about 12 min. One class period is required for Internet research (if done in class), and one period is needed to share results and construct gameboards and cards. Alternatively, the teacher can construct the materials and only one class period is used for the activity.