(which one would certainly not do today!). From the deck of the boat, students could see and even smell some of the industries they were “investing” in, such as the food mar- ket, a beer factory and numerous restaurant boats, and they could observe for themselves how development over time can damage natural environments. Planet Transit evokes greed, frustration, mediation and
much laughter. Most important, it is a good starting point for discussions of industrialization, sustainable development, natural resource use, and concepts such as carrying capacity and the “tragedy of the commons.” Be prepared for a game of animation, transition and consequence. Chork Dii! (Good luck!)
Time: 90 minutes for the activity and 30 minutes for discus- sion afterwards.
Materials: For each “planet” of 7 or 8 students: 1 cush- ion (or piece of cardboard) per group member, plus two additional cushions; 25 beads (or other objects to represent money); one set of Industry Cards (see pages 17-18); chart paper; marking pens. Enlarge or make an overhead trans- parency of the “Planet Transit Accounting” chart (see page 19) and cover up the “EI Penalty,” “LR fee” and “GT Price” sections so that they can be revealed one at a time as the game proceeds. Optional: Large chart paper and colored pens with which to graph the planets’ monetary gains and land losses over time.
Facilitation roles The following roles may be played by one or more facilitators.
Leader: The Leader distributes materials at the beginning of the game, explains the game, introduces each round, and graphs the profit and loss of each planet (if a graph is used) as the game proceeds.
Banker: The Banker collects the money (beads) paid for investments at the beginning of each round, and distributes the profits at the end of each round.
Environmental Impact Agent: The Environmental Impact Agent prompts participants for ideas about the environmen- tal impacts of various industries, reveals the penalties for these impacts, and removes land (cushions) accordingly.
It is recommended that the facilitator(s) circulates among the groups throughout the game, recording students’ comments and reactions for use as discussion points in the follow-up discussion.
Getting set for round one
1. Divide the group into three or four “planet” groups. The group size will vary with class size, but seven or eight is a good number because it is challenging for students to make decisions in a group this large.
2. Give each group a large sheet of paper and marking pens, which they will use to record the industries they invest in during each round. Have each group give its planet a name and write the name at the top of their paper.
3. Give each group one cushion (or piece of cardboard) It’s not easy giving up land to the Environmental Impact Agent!
for each member and two extra cushions that represent common land. Instruct the students to join their cushions together and sit on them, ensuring that all body parts are aboard their “planet.” This creates a sense of dependence on their planet.
4. Give each group one bead for each member (e.g., a group of eight receives eight beads). The beads represent money, in this case the return from their crops during the last season.
Game overview
The game is played in three rounds representing three different periods in history: 1900–1920, 1920–1960 and 1960–2010. At the beginning of the game (in 1900), the citi- zens of each planet are all small-scale farmers. They possess land (one cushion per person, plus two extra cushions) and a small amount of money (a quantity of beads equal to the number of group members) to be used for the development of their society. Each planet starts with the same amount of money and land, and then operates independently in making decisions about investments. The objective of the game is to have as much money (beads) and as much land (cushions) as possible by the end. In introducing each round, the leader may wish to evoke
the atmosphere of the period by wearing a costume and describing, or asking students to describe, what was happen- ing around the world at that time.
GREEN TEACHER 83 Page 15
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