Human Impact - A Biological Card Game - Ecology, Climate Change + Sustainability

A simple card game for groups of four, it is quick to print, quick to set up and easy to run. It is a great tool for creating discussions on the topics of human impact on the environment, food webs, ecology, sustainable living and a jumping point for the students to delve deeper, to begin their own research into their habits and what they can do to make a difference.
Simply print the the pages double sided, cut them out and you are ready to go. It is possible to have bigger or smaller groups, as there are seven included location cards, however, for balance of scores at the end, I have had most success with four students.

Teacher Instructions
The pages are set so that, when printed double sided, they have a back and front, enabling for easy sorting. There are location cards with different habitats, scenario cards which give instructions for the students to add or take tokens away and lifeline cards, which can be used once in a game to protect against the effect of a scenario card.
Before you print the whole deck, test your settings by printing the first two pages of cards, to check alignment. If it doesn’t match, then its likely to do with how the printer flips the page (either long end or short end), so make sure it is on the flipped on the long end. If you don’t want backs, then print every second page. There are two sizes of cards, mini and large, so have a look at both before you print.
You will need some tokens, but if you can’t find some, having the students keep track of their points on a piece of paper should suffice.
At the start of each game, the decks are shuffled and the students each pick 1 lifeline and 1 habitat card at random. Then, they take turns drawing scenario cards and either add or remove points/tokens as instructed. At the end the points are tallied and a winner is determined. They can check the score card for extra reference and discussion points.
An extension activity, might be to discuss the cards and what could be added to them. Then, as homework, the students could be set to design 7 more scenario cards to add to the deck. The point is that this game, while fun, should be used as a starting point to jump into a discussion of the impact of human activity on earth. Enjoy.
The Efficient Science Teacher