Earth and Climate Lab
From the center of Earth to the top of the atmosphere, one level at a time.
Earth and Climate Lab follows the path of a high school earth and environmental science course. Level 1 starts with Earth's layers, drawn as a cross-section from thicknesses printed on the card, and then turns to plate boundaries, where arrows show which way each plate moves and students say what forms at a convergent, divergent or transform boundary. Level 3 puts numbers on the motion: rate times time in centimeters per year, earthquakes, seismograms and the difference between P waves and S waves.
Later levels identify minerals from their tests, read the rock cycle, and date drawn rock layers that include faults, dikes and an unconformity, followed by half-life problems. After that come the atmosphere and weather, with fronts drawn in their standard symbols, then ocean currents and the water cycle. The last level covers greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide data, energy sources and cost, then mixes everything. Each picture is made from the same numbers as its question, and every example is original.
What children practice
- Read Earth's layers and use thickness and the temperature gradient for depth problems
- Say what forms at each kind of plate boundary and work out plate movement in centimeters and kilometers
- Tell P waves from S waves, read a seismogram and compare earthquake magnitudes
- Identify a mineral from its tests and place a rock in the rock cycle
- Order drawn rock layers by relative age and solve half-life problems for radiometric ages
- Read fronts and pressure systems, follow ocean gyres, and separate weather from climate using evidence
Levels
- Level 1: Earth's layers
- Level 2: Plate boundaries
- Level 3: Plates and earthquakes
- Level 4: Rocks and minerals
- Level 5: Dating Earth's history
- Level 6: Atmosphere and weather
- Level 7: Oceans and water
- Level 8: Climate, energy and mix
How it works
- Eight levels build from the planet's interior outward to the atmosphere, oceans and climate, ending with a mix of every kind of round.
- Students pick a drawing or a word answer, tap parts of a figure, sort cards into groups, put steps in order, work through a few linked steps or type a number with its unit shown.
- Every constant a problem needs is printed in the question or the picture, so nothing has to be memorized to answer. Examples are one kilometer being 100,000 centimeters and the air cooling by 6.5 degrees Celsius for each kilometer of height.
- Five right answers plus a short practice timer open the next level. A wrong answer is met with a nudge, and up to three hints are on offer.
Best for: A good fit for grades 9 to 12 in earth science, environmental science or physical geography, and for students who want extra practice with the number problems in those courses.
Tip for parents: On a weather map or a news forecast, ask your child to point out a front and explain which way it is moving and what weather it brings. They can use the symbols they met in level 6.
Questions parents ask
Is the climate material presented as opinion?
No. It sticks to settled evidence and states it neutrally: how greenhouse gases trap heat, what carbon dioxide measurements show, and how mitigation differs from adaptation. The numbers are rounded practice values.
Do students need to memorize numbers such as wave speeds?
No. Wave speeds, half-lives and rates are given in each problem. The game checks whether a student can set up the method, not whether a table of values has been learned.
How does the game handle fronts on a weather map?
Fronts are drawn with the standard marks: triangles for a cold front, half circles for a warm front, and the two together for stationary and occluded fronts. The marks point the way the front moves.
Ready to try it?
Earth and Climate Lab is free with a parent account. A parent adds a child profile, and the child's progress is saved.