Here’s an idea for those of you familiar with my previous efforts in Pokemon 101 and Pokemon 102.

A big movement in K-12 education is Project Based Lessons (or Project Based Learning, abbreviated PBL). Those of you who aren’t familiar with this concept, it’s a lesson that is based around students learning-by-doing (instead of sitting and listening to a classroom lecture).

Step 1: Advocate for funding to purchase 10-20 Nintendo DS’s or DSi’s and copies of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum for students who don’t own the game or handheld. Odds are, many students already will. This is a great idea for a grant, too, if you can’t get “real” funding ;) For $3000, you can purchase 15 DSi’s and 13 copies of Pokemon.

Here’s my lesson:
Compare habitats in Pokemon with real-world habitats.

“A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal or plant or other type of organism. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds (influences and is utilized by) a species population.”

Chose a Pokemon and its habitat. Using internet sources, encyclopedias, library databases, game guides, wikis, and your own play experience, research both its game habitat and (your opinion of) the real-world animal and real-world habitat it is based on. Write a 3-page paper comparing how the “real world” animal interacts with its habitat, and how the Pokemon interacts with its habitat. Some questions to think about while writing the paper:

  • What are the differences between the real animal’s behavior and the Pokemon’s behavior?
  • How is the Pokemon habitat realistic, and how is it unrealistic, when compared with a similar real habitat?
  • How would the Pokemon be different if it was in a different habitat? How would the real animal survive in a different habitat?
  • What part does the animal play in its ecosystem?
  • How would your Pokemon survive in the real-life habitat you’ve chosen? Who would be its predators and who would be its prey? If it is an herbivore, is there sufficient food? Would it be doomed to extinction or would it threaten other life?

I bet your classes would go bananas over this assignment…