Games are a proven tool for learning at all ages and in many contexts. They increase the attractiveness of learning processes through arousing interest and enhancing motivation, and aid with the development of social skills. Educational games provide teachers with different approaches to teaching. ‘The Game of the Sea’ is an interdisciplinary board game, specifically designed to teach its players about the marine environment, regardless of their age. Through its 68 sections, coloured according to particular topics and organised as a fish shape, players encounter a wide range of questions and activities. Through playing this game, players acquire a broad knowledge of science, the marine environment and its importance, and literature. The game uses an interdisciplinary approach with question cards on a variety of topics (including maths, physics, biology, chemistry, art, etc.). A total of 222 players (111 children, aged 11–15, and 111 adults, aged 18–72) tested the game. These players were enrolled in different formal and non-formal educational contexts and had different educational backgrounds. For a qualitative analysis of game sessions (participant observation), researchers acted as game moderators and, while doing so, made subtle observations of players playing the game. On top of this, the value of the game, as a didactic tool, was evaluated with a test that players took before and after the game. After playing the game, knowledge of the marine environment, increased in both children and adults, with a slightly higher increase in children. Therefore, ‘The Game of the Sea’ is suitable for teaching all ages about the marine environment. Further, this game can impart to its players the importance of the marine environment and the importance of protecting this environment.

Readers of the journal Education Sciences probably agree that playing games comes naturally—we all know how to play some game—however, because of the complexity of gaming, it is almost exclusively limited to mammals with regard to all animals: almost 80% of mammals use some sort of game for learning

The social value of natural aquatic ecosystems is very important to set management priorities. River connectivity is essential for the conservation of freshwater ecosystems because barriers alter both abiotic conditions and the biotic communities, compromising biodiversity; however, the appreciation of this river feature has been insufficiently considered in socio-environmental studies that are mainly focused on the acceptance of new dams. Here we used a willingness to pay approach to estimate the value of connectivity, native species, fish diversity (measured as functional diversity or as species richness), fish abundance and environmental quality in three groups of students of different educational background in Asturias (NW of Spain). As in other studies where they are more sensitive to environmental issues, educational sciences students would pay more to conserve and improve river conditions than students of other disciplines. Connectivity was the least valued river feature by students of educational and natural sciences, and the third (before biodiversity and fish abundance) by engineering students. We measured the same features on lowland reaches of four coastal rivers in the Bay of Biscay, and applied declared will amounts to model their appreciation. Differences between the river ranks obtained from functional diversity (that changes with non-native species) and species richness, and small differences between students of different disciplines in the gap between most and least preferred rivers arise from the model. This indicates the importance to involve diverse stakeholder sectors in decisions about rivers. The importance of river connectivity in the conservation of local biodiversity should be explained to general public, perhaps through environmental campaigns.

Incorporar al ámbito educativo los recursos naturales del entorno de vida y los dispositivos móviles presentes en el contexto cotidiano de los y las estudiantes a través de experiencias didácticas activas y participativas, favorece la motivación del alumnado. Estás dinámicas educativas facilitan aprendizajes significativos junto con actitudes y valores que contribuyen al desarrollo sostenible. Este trabajo presenta evidencias pedagógicas sobre como una actividad complementaria desarrollada en los espacios naturales de los entornos inmediatos de estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria de dos centros educativos de Asturias (España), junto a la incorporación de los teléfonos móviles inteligentes, empleados como recurso didáctico, les proporcionan ganancias de aprendizaje y fomentan su conocimiento y el interés por la protección de la flora y fauna de los ecosistemas en los que viven. Aunque no es muy popular la utilización del teléfono móvil en estas etapas educativas, la disponibilidad de uso y la facilidad de aplicación permitió recoger información medioambiental directamente por los y las estudiantes y geolocalizar las especies autóctonas y alóctonas que pueblan los entornos naturales inmediatos del alumnado de ambos centros. El objetivo pedagógico perseguido fue vincular a estos jóvenes con la sostenibilidad ambiental de su entorno de vida. Palabras clave: herramientas didácticas; dispositivos digitales; actividades complementarias, entorno natural; currículo flexible.