Abstract:

This communication presents a series of card games inspired by Goliath Games' "Virus!" to teach common processes of environmental technology, in the frame of the Chemical Engineering degree. The first of them is related to soil pollution and subsequent soil recovery. The objective is to reunite different kinds of clean soil (sand, lime, silt), and the first player gathering one card of each wins the game. However, any pollutant card (heavy metals, drugs, polycyclic aromatics) on any soil card would prevent them from claiming victory. Surfactants, acids, green solvents, and alternative solutions (e.g., cyclodextrins) could then be used for remediation. In addition, the different porosity of each kind of soil was taken into account, as the effective diffusion coefficient through a sandy soil would be greater than that of limestone, for instance. Hence, that soil would resist fewer pollution cards leading to its destruction and, similarly, it would need fewer remediation cards to be safe. This is a key difference from the aforementioned Goliath's game, in which all organs follow the same rules. Likewise, with the purpose of easing the understanding of core concepts, environmental remediation cards might be specific. For example, dilute mineral acids would help solubilize heavy metals, but not hydrophobic compounds. Although the activity was not evaluated, students enjoyed it to the point of taking the initiative to color and protect the cards. Their learning was evidenced by the fact that, while relying first on the cards' description, after two or three sessions they could rapidly associate each pollutant with each remediation method and each soil with each degree of porosity.

Additionally, alternatives for off-gas treatment and wastewater treatment are also displayed. Regarding vulnerability aspects in these other card games, it is clear, for example, that urban ponds and shallow lakes are more prone to eutrophication. Likewise, when it comes to atmospheric pollution, cities located in basins surrounded by mountains are more prone to suffer from smog. Regarding the treatment operations here are some examples: an A2O process would be adequate for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and phosphates, poly(styrene sulfonate) resins would target heavy metal cations by means of ionic exchange, gaseous effluents containing sulfur dioxide could be neutralized by means of absorption with a calcium hydroxide suspension, a selective catalytic reduction process with ammonia could convert nitrogen oxides into molecular nitrogen, etc. The objective is for the students of the Chemical Engineering Degree to associate easily the concepts of wastewater, flue gas, treatment, and prevention. Gamification is proposed to promote such an association. Indeed, the feedback from the students was overwhelmingly positive. Besides presenting all the cards and the rules of each game, we also comment on the combination or comparison with popular online tools such as Kahoot! or Educaplay.

Keywords:

Card game, chemical engineering degree, environmental technology, gamification, unity.