Thursday, February 24, 2022
This guest post is provided by Marci Glaus, PBS Wisconsin Education.
PBS Wisconsin Education recently launched the new point-and-click adventure video game, The Legend of the Lost Emerald! Students in grades 4-6 search for shipwrecks on the Great Lakes in this story-based game, playing Jules, a maritime archaeologist, who gets pulled into a mystery exploring a shipwreck from her family's past. Students use critical thinking and historical inquiry skills to recover the real treasure: stories of shipwrecks inspired by real Great Lakes history.
Players start their search by locating wrecks and diving to take pictures underwater, then investigate primary and secondary sources to connect strings on the evidence board to support an evidence-based conclusion. Students apply the language, practices, and tools of maritime archaeologists.
Educators can access the game guide for vocabulary, aligned academic standards, discussion questions, and support for learning more about actual shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. The average time to play the game in its entirety is two 35-40-minute class periods.
The Legend of the Lost Emerald was designed by Field Day Lab, PBS Wisconsin Education, Wisconsin Sea Grant, and of course, Wisconsin educators and students.
The PBS Wisconsin Shipwrecks! project includes a 60-minute documentary and a virtual reality experience.