Exploring the product carbon footprint through gamification: a learning tool for children

Sustainability is one of the most important topics of our time and will continue to stay relevant, as mitigating the effects of global warming will stay a challenge for decades to come. Therefore it is of high importance to teach children the concepts of sustainability and how their actions can affect the climate. We design an experiment for an open day at our university consisting out of a physical and digital demonstrator that aims to teach the consequences of material choice in a product to children aged six and above. To achieve this, a simple carbon footprint calculation for a rocket is conceptualized. The users can manipulate several interacting parameters, creating a complex challenge. The complex topic of sustainability is augmented with gamification elements to provide a level of motivation and interaction and achieve a better accessibility.