Lesson Plan - RiverCraft

Learning Objectives

Game 1 – Managing Flood Risk

  1. Be able to identify those towns, cities and catchments flood from rivers (fluvial), the sea (tidal and coastal), and surface (pluvial) water flooding.

  2. Understand there are multiple ways to mitigate flooding but that flooding can only be mitigated and not prevented entirely.

  3. Understand that the Environment Agency works to protect communities from flooding in different ways.

  4. Preston is at risk from surface, fluvial and tidal flooding.

Game 2: Climate Change and Flooding

  1. Understand that climate change will exacerbate flooding in Preston, England and globally.

  2. Understand how flooding can devastate communities.

  3. Understand some of the consequences of climate change, and what individuals can do to help alleviate it.

GAME 3: Environment and Wellbeing

  1. Promote the use of local parks, sports facilities, and wetland habitats for wellbeing.

  2. Learn about invasive species.

  3. Learn about priority species and their habitats.

Guiding Areas

Game 1 - Managing Flood Risk

Flooding can be mitigated in some places, but not prevented entirely. 

To reduce flooding, hydraulic models are built on computers to understand the amount of water in a catchment and provide information on what type of flood defences would be suitable. 

Flooding prevents communities living normal lives. Floods can devastate catchments in different ways. 

Different types of defences are used in different areas e.g. glass flood defences may be used in conservation areas or where homes are close to the river, natural flood management including storage areas may be used to ‘slow the flow’ and hold water back in a catchment.  

Game 2 - Climate Change and Flooding

Flooding will impact different communities around the world differently, towns and cities, low lying land and food production will all be impacted, and
populations will face different challenges. 

Ensure students understand the concept of carbon reduction through a discussion. Climate change is a global issue and worsened by carbon emissions, but there are things everyone can do to help mitigate it. 

Lead a discussion on what would be saved by students if their home (e.g., pets, games consoles) were to be flooded. Would this be the same for all young people around the world? 

How are communities impacted? If infrastructure such as roads and bridges are closed because they are impacted by flooding what happens to that town or city? 

If farmland is flooded for short or long periods of time what would this mean for food production? How might areas in the northwest of England adapt food production and would this be the same around the world?  

Game 3 - Environment and wellbeing

Which species exist in our towns and cities and why is it important to protect them?  

What are the different habitats which exist in the game and which species and habitats are threatened in the UK and globally?  

Is there anything students would like to do locally to learn about the biodiversity that surrounds them?


Student Activities

Roughly 45 to 60 minutes to complete per lesson/game.

Game 1 - Managing Flood Risk 

Part 1 –

Students will spawn into the Environment Agency offices. Here they can interact with Environment Agency experts who are non-player characters and will provided information and greetings. These are real life members of the project team and real project management roles.  

Allow them to explore for 5 minutes. At the end of the 5 minutes get them to select the project expert for ‘Game 1 – Managing Flood Risk’ and click
the button to be teleported to the site.  

Part 2 –

The students will be teleported to the Preston Sea Cadet’s building on the River Ribble. Let them explore for 5 minutes and read all the
boards that explain various types of flooding. When they are ready, they can begin part 1.  

They will need to build the first type of flood prevention, a river wall. Using the items in the chest they must build a layer of stone on the build allow blocks, and then a layer of glass on top of it. They can then press the ‘test the barrier wall’ button to see if it worked. If they did it right,
no water will get through. If water does get through, they can press the ‘clear the flood’ button to try again.  

Part 3 –

Once they have successfully stopped the area from flooding, they can move to the second task. Here they must replace the concrete blocks with the special grass blocks from the chest, then add some podzol blocks and plant trees on top of them. Once they have replaced all the concrete they can click on the ‘test the natural flood prevention method’. If it has worked, they will still see some flooding, but it will be much less, as the grass absorbs the water. They can also ‘clear the flood’ and try pressing the test button.  

Part 4 –

Bonus Game – If any students manage to complete the above activities, there is a small bonus game. The students can build a flood gate
using a variety of objects made available to them. Some objects are obviously not ideal to use, such as ice, whereas others are more well suited. The students can decide what they think will make the best flood gate.  

Game 2 - Climate Change and Flooding

Part 1 –

Students will spawn into the Environment Agency offices. Here they can interact with Environment Agency experts who are non-player characters and will provide information and greetings. These are real-life members of the project team and real project management roles. Allow them to explore for 5 minutes. At the end of the 5 minutes get them to select the project expert for ‘Game 2 – Climate Change and Flooding’ and click the button to be teleported to the site.  

Part 2 –

The students will be teleported to a flooded house in Preston, England in 2050. Ask students to follow the instructions of the first project
expert, explore the house, and head outside for their next steps. Once outside they will interact with the ‘Next Step’ project expert who will tell them that they can do to help prevent this outcome. They can click on the button to be transported back to the present day. This will take 5 minutes.  

Part 3 –

Students will now be in the same house, but it isn’t flooded. They will be asked to complete 4 tasks in 10 minutes to help alleviate the
effects of climate change. They can do the tasks in whatever order they wish.  

WATER REDUCTION – Water goes through many different processes to ensure it is safe to drink and wash with. These processes require energy. Students need to turn off the sink and shower taps to stop their wasted water score from getting higher.  

LIGHTING – Students can add daylight sensors to the roof, but change them to reverse daylight sensors, so the lights only come on when it is dark
outside.  

SUSTAINABLE MEALS – Students cook a sustainable, plant-based meal to reduce their personal carbon impact. They can cook different plant-based meals.
 

RECYCLING - Students will take the rubbish from the bin and sort it correctly outside in the recycling area and will earn points based on how well
they sort it. They can then continue to the ‘Finished’ project expert and teleport to
the future again.  

Part 4 –

Students are back in 2050, but there is no flooding (however, the animals are free and roaming around the city!).  

RESULTS: Once they have completed all 4 tasks ask them for their water litre number and their recycling score. Whoever has the lowest water litre
number wins, as they turned off the taps the fastest. Whoever has the highest recycling score wins as they sorted all the recycling quickly.  

Game 3 - Environment and Wellbeing

Part 1 –

Students will spawn into the Environment Agency offices. Here they can interact with Environment Agency experts who are non-player characters and will provide information and greetings. These are real-life members of the project team in real project management roles.  

Allow them to explore for 5 minutes. At the end of the 5 minutes get them to select the project expert for ‘Game 3 – Environment and Wellbeing’ and click the button to be teleported to the site.  

Part 2 –

Students will arrive in Avenham Park, England and be told that they must find 5 different native species and 2 invasive plant species. Once
they have spoken to the project experts and read the board with the habitat information, they need to click on the ‘Workbook’ project expert. They will get the camera and workbook from them. Once they have those, the students can explore the park and find each of the species, take a picture of them, put it in their workbook and write down the facts they learn.  

Native species – Water voles, Otters, Foxes, Bees, Bats  

Invasive species – Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed  

Part 3 –

Check they have all the species (or as many as time will allow) and then ask them to discuss the facts they have learned.  

Performance Expectations

Game 1 - Managing Flood Risk

Students will be expected to identify the different types of flooding and build defences suitable to reduce that type of flooding and catchment. Students should understand what might prevent flood defences being built.  

Game 2 - Climate Change and Flooding

In the game students will complete 4 mini-tasks and are expected to understand why flooding occurs, how it impacts communities and what they can do personally.  

Game 3 - Environment and Wellbeing

Students will use the in-game camera and workbook to document each of the species and habitats located in the game. Students will discuss their real-life outdoor experiences and how they manage their health and wellbeing.