Abstract
I present a game for teaching plate tectonics in the secondary school.
The subject of the game is the interactions of plates and phenomena
connected to it. The game is composed by cards that represent oceanic or
continental lithospheres and a dice that indicated the type of boundary:
convergent, divergent or transform. Students, generally in groups,
collect “Events Cards”, for example “Earthquake” or “Volcano” or
“Oceanic Trench” if they are able to identify the correct event
associated to the boundary. The winner is who collects all “Events
Cards”. The game is a cognitive model for involving students in a
stimulating activity and for applying knowledge acquired in the process
of problem-solving. Working in groups is an opportunity of peer to peer
learning, where the content transmission occurs ‘horizontally’ with the
teacher who acts as facilitator. The sharing of common rules within the
class groups has also positive effects on group cohesion, also in
contexts outside the school, implying teaching and educational values on
social scale.