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Embodied learning experiences allow players to create and manipulate geographic features with movement

GameDesk has released two new educational games, GeoMoto and Pangean, which are embodied learning experiences that allow players to learn through direction and movement by creating geographic features by pulling, smashing and grinding tectonic plates and moving entire continents.

GeoMoto and Pangean emerged out of research and development and performance testing supported by The National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Science, the Betty Moore Foundation, as well as the Science and Entertainment Exchange. Working in collaboration with content experts from Bill Nye the Science Guy, LucasArts, Cal Tech’s Tectonics Observatory and Boston University, GameDesk merged its assessment-driven and game-based learning design practices to foster deep conceptual learning of various geosciences subjects.

GeoMoto, which is now currently available in the Apple App and Android Store, invites players to navigate a planet devoid of geographic features. Students are challenged to complete objectives by inducing the movement of tectonic plates, forming mountains, valleys, and volcanoes in the process. The interactive, animation-based learning experience allows students to physically move tectonic plates and observe as a landscape forms on the planet’s surface.

Pangean is a didactic puzzle game that introduces the geological concept of continental drift. As galactic members of the United Colonies, players travel the universe in their own scouting ship, using a hologram interface to piece together continents and demonstrate the shift that occurs over 100 million years. Initial levels challenge players to simply move and rotate landmasses, but as the difficulty increases, players are armed with advanced tools that help them complete their final mission of returning present-day Earth to its Pangean state.

By leveraging the touch screen of a tablet, GeoMoto and Pangean link students’ tactical actions to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. GameDesk originally developed and released game prototypes that worked with the leap motion controller that allowed students to use their hand gestures to kinesthetically learning the science concepts.

“During our strategy and development phases of creating any game, we ask ourselves, ‘Will this change the way students learn?’ We feel that GeoMoto and Pangean further our commitment to providing new, interactive learning opportunities, ensuring students are making the right connections,” said GameDesk CEO Lucien Vattel.

GameDesk’s mission, Vattel added, is “to provide immersive learning activities for students through gaming and simulation in a native 21st century learning environment,” with the mindset that learning and fun are not mutually exclusive. GeoMoto and Pangean embody this mission completely, combining kinesthetic activities, hands-on experience, and immersive learning with engaging, rigorous content.