What is BetterGeo?
BetterGeoEdu was a pilot project which was carried out in 2017 and later expanded in 2019 and 2020. The project is funded by EIT RawMaterials, initiated and funded by The European Institute of Innovation and Technology - a body of the European Union.
The material is free of charge, but requires you to have the original version of Minecraft installed.
Below you will find installation guides, teacher handbooks, and exercises to help you start teaching Earth science using Minecraft.
Getting started with BetterGeo
BETTERGEO CLASSROOM EXERCISES
In this exercise the students get to work on skills in Natural science, Computer science and English while looking at and describing different rocks and minerals in BetterGeo and in real life. The exercise is made up of two parts in different steps, which can be found below.
Ages: 8-11
Time: 1:30 hours
Difficulty: Low - Medium
This activity can be used to teach about the need of raw materials in the manufacturing of everyday products. The exercise uses the concept of the bingo, adapted to the crafting of new battery powered objects available in BetterGeo. Topics like natural resources, products manufacturing, rechargeable battery and sources of energy can be treated and coupled to school subjects such as geography or technology. This lecture do not require computers and BetterGeo.
Ages: 7-13
Time: 1:30 hours
Difficulty: Low - Advanced (difficulty can be adjusted)
This exercise aims to teach about raw material and how we obtain them from the earth. The exercise uses lego pieces to illustrate how metals come from minerals that build up different rocks. It also introduces students to the concept of processing rocks and ore to retrieve the metals we need for everyday life. Topics range from natural science, mathematics, resource management, circular economy and social sciences behind mining.
Ages: 7-11
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Low - Medium
Reduce—Reuse—Recycle
Students are introduced to the basic concepts of the life cycle of products and waste management and learn some of the methods (reduce, reuse, recycle) used in the circular economy vision of the sustainable development. These three Rs are approaches that youngsters can apply to their everyday lives and households. In order to achieve long-lasting knowledge and develop creativity and imagination, students are asked to construct 3 R letters and constructions in the Minecraft game. They need to explain at the end which letter and construction stands for which R word.
Ages: 7-11
Time: 2:00 hours
Difficulty: Easy
BetterGeo HUNT is an exercise that develops orientation skills, teaches about the importance of circular economy for our society and improves the students' ability to work in a team. To successfully find the hidden treasure, the teams must complete an orienteering route and solve various tasks. They must find points with the help of a map and a compass in the game. The tasks touch every step in the raw materials circular economy scheme. In the end, each team must answer three questions related to the tasks that they solved to find a hidden treasure.
Ages: 10-12
Time: 2:00 hours
Difficulty: Medium