Phyto Heroes

A gaming app that teaches the importance of phytoplankton in our ecosystems.

OCEANIC SCALES: PHYTO HEROES

The Challenge:

Unsung and largely unnoticed, phytoplankton are the microscopic heroes that produce half of the world’s oxygen and absorb much of its carbon dioxide. But how do we educate children about the downstream implications of their everyday actions on the ocean?

The Solution:

We placed the fate of phytoplankton in users’ hands by re-creating real-life cause-and-effect through an interactive science and art exhibit and accompanying mobile application. Through simple touch-and-learn activities, children could understand how their everyday actions, like turning off the lights, can affect carbon levels, pH balance and temperature, which must remain in a delicate balance for phytoplankton—and the ocean as a whole—to survive. The art exhibit, created from ecologically friendly materials, let users feel they were inside a bioluminescent microcosm of the ocean, but when the user altered the ocean’s key metrics, they could watch its health fail. Similarly, the mobile app gamified the experience, teaching kids things like how picking up dog poop off the sidewalk can reduce carbon emissions and how cutting down on plastic products can reduce pollutants in the ocean.

Thousands visited the portable art exhibit on both coasts and played the app. The mobile game and corresponding worksheets were taught in the San Francisco school system as a precursor to visiting the exhibit at the Randall Museum.

AWARDS: Gold Horizon Interactive Award – Mobile Apps: Education, Gold MarCom Award – Mobile App, Gold MarCom Award – Pro Bono, Gold Hermes Award – Mobile & Web-Based Technology, Webby Awards Honoree – Apps, Mobile, and Voice: Education & Reference