For those not in the know, Freerice.com is run by the United Nations World Food Programme. It offers multiple choice quizzes/games about a variety of subjects, including Geography, English, and Mathematics. For every correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated to the World Food Program (through advertisers and sponsors). Admittedly, 10 grains isn't a lot, but if you and many others are playing, it adds up.
I'm not sure how many educators out there use Freerice or tell their students about it. Certainly, it doesn't offer an in-depth geographic education of any kind, and to say so would be disingenuous at best.
However, it does give geography teachers the chance to build some basic locational knowledge into the classroom. Locational knowledge has taken a backseat to 'skills' over the last decade or so. I'm not saying that skills aren't important, but an integral part of Geography is knowing where places are located, and where events happen.
It also offers teachers with IT access (or 1:1 programs) the chance to build in a little locational extension - so, some of your students finish early, and you have no extension work for them (it happens to the best of us)? That's okay. Just get them playing Freerice.
The quizzes are levelled, and while 3 correct answers will see you rise one level, one incorrect answer will see you drop a level. For teachers, this means that the quizzes are automatically differentiated - more capable students will be able to work to higher levels, while less capable students are able to work to their own level. The questions that are answered incorrectly will repeat in a few turns, giving students the opportunity to rectify their mistakes and to consolidate knowledge.
My favourite part of this is that as students are playing this game, they are helping others around the world (make this clear to them!). It might even be fun to register as a class team to see how much rice can be raised in a set amount of time, or to set a class target.
Can you think of any other ways to work it into classes?
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