I was first introduced to educational simulations in my college political science class. I cannot find the game we played, but it taught me a lot and I am still trying to use simulations to teach.
While reading Ozge Samanci's Dare to Disappoint, my students learned about various systems of government to understand the changing setting of the book.
This is a video explaining the simulation: https://go.screenpal.com/watch/c0QjrfVC2i8
This is a Nearpod link with my presentation: https://np1.nearpod.com/sharePresentation.php?code=be2cc1b016ed7c92e80ad62a713874fa-1&oc=user-created&utm_source=link
In my Nature Unit, my students worked through a Radiation sub unit that required a knowledge ionizing radiation and how to shield yourself from it.
Students read this text: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-06/documents/gamma_goat.pdf
Then students were told they had to protect three groups from three different kinds of radiation. When the group used their resources to save the lives of the people in the town, they demonstrated their understanding of shielding, distance, and time in radiation exposure.
Assignment Website: https://sites.google.com/view/e2-environment-essay/radiation
Shield Yourself Activity: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PRBbhMl5Saj2GGU5__EBRWJmxaMocZ1v?usp=sharing
To teach students about the civil rights movement, I created this activity: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JpFDnIbutCu62HQ2nBvsHnhMpyi3Zzfxuq44_0Snx0U/edit?usp=sharing
After my environment unit, students played this game to simulate the disasters that would harm their communities during climate change: https://www.climatecentre.org/games/2541/act-to-adapt/