The CO2 Foundation is helping to fund the creation of a 2D adventure video game focused on changes in the water cycle. It will be supported by free curriculum with hands-on activities aligned to learning standards, as well as educator training offered by a broad range of partners.

The game, which will be developed over the next year, features main character Marco the Molecule and his water molecule friends. They made their debut in a children’s story and activity book created over a decade ago. The CO2 Foundation is supporting this update to Marco’s adventures, reflecting extreme weather and other climate change-related impacts to the water cycle.

Although this project is somewhat outside our typical funding interests, we’re excited to be part of it. It is responsive to educational community demand for effective water cycle educational materials that need updating, as well as to the need for climate science education resources.

The project also has a broad audience. The team behind Marco will tap into ready-made networks for evaluating the developing project and distributing the game once it’s ready. They expect that it will be immediately usable and influential well beyond players themselves.

And it is usable across a wide variety of circumstances: the game and supporting resources will be free and open source, and even offer opportunities for young coders to create additional chapters of the adventure.

It is important to ensure that people of all ages have accurate information about our changing climate, impacts where they live, and opportunities to mitigate and adapt. In the absence of nationwide comprehensive climate education, we can utilize tools like the Marco game and hands-on activities to provide that information to students in ways that overburdened educators can easily adopt.

Through the power of partnerships like this one, we can take the necessary steps to educate all ages about the science driving extreme weather events, reduce greenhouse gasses, and forge a more resilient world together. You can learn more about this project here. Contact Rick Reynolds, M.S.Ed., who is leading program development in collaboration with partners, if you have questions or comments or would like to hear about the game and training opportunities as they unfold.