PREDITOR / PREY
The idea of the game is to develop students awareness of the eco-system, give students a physical work out, challenge students social skills for working with peers, develop students problem solving skills for capturing and avoiding being caught and enable students t appreciate how animals behave.
For a class of 24 students:
C= Carnivores
O= Omnivores
H= Herbivores
Red pinnies
C C C C = 4
Green pinnies
O O O O O O O O = 8
Blue pinnies
H H H H H H H H H H H H = 12
This food triangle can be experimented with based on the numbers of students and the space to play in.
Use a large space with plenty of tree and shrub cover so that the hunted and predators have places to hide. A 100-meter square area works quite well for a class of about 24. Make sure a parameter is defined so students do not run riot.
PREPARATION
Using colored card, give 8 lives to each of the herbivores, 4 lives to each of the omnivores and 1 life to each of the Carnivores.
Place 6-10 water and food stations in the playing area indicated by clip boards with a pen attached.
Create a safe area where the teacher is located – Teacher can decide if a player is distressed enough to stay in the safe area.
SCORING
Each of the animal groups is a team. Each time an Omnivore and a Herbivore signs the water and food holes they get a point. Each life that Carnivores, Omnivores or Herbivores have at the end of the game is worth 5 points. At the end of the game tally up the points and create a weighting system that makes the scores close. In practice the first time kids play this game the score does not matter they are having too much fun. Gradually in later games a scoring system can develop as the strategies of the game evolve.
ADVANCED GAME
Once the students have played the game additional roles and artifacts can be added. These include:
Disease indicated by white pieces of card. A player having this card at the end of the game means that the player does not score any points or it can be worth negative points. A player who has disease and is caught passes the disease card onto the predator. A Carnivore passes on the disease card by losing a life and passing on the disease card to a prey. Three or four disease cards can have quite an impact on the game.
A "Human" who can take away disease or kill when he or she tags a player.
FIRE player dressed in a yellow pinnie. This can be added at the end of the game (last 5 minutes). Fire kills everything it touches taking away all a players lives and returning them to the teacher.
Rules can be negotiated with the students as they play. For example, can animals be eaten when they are drinking?