Tragedy of the Commons Simulation

Supplies

individually wrapped candy (I used starbursts)
- you will need about 15 pieces of candy per student
cups (1 per student)
blankets (1 per group)

Divide the students into groups of 4-6 people
The candy represents a shared resource: fish in a pond
Explain to the students that candy represents fish and the blanket represents a pond that the group shares. They will go "fishing" during several rounds and each round will represent a year.
Explain to the students that each kid needs 2 “fish" (pieces of candy) per “year” (round) to “survive”
Place cups (1 for each student in the group) in a wide circle around each blanket
Use about 1/3 of the candy to scatter pieces on each blanket
Everyone in the group will have a cup to put the candy in
Tell the students to start at their cup and go back and forth gathering pieces of candy (1 per trip) for 15 sec. Tell them to leave the cups on the ground.
At the end of each round, double the number of pieces left on the blanket. This represents the fish reproducing. Do NOT tell the students that you will do this prior to the first round, but explain what you are doing when you double the candy.
Have the students empty their cups before each new round.
The group(s) will have a chance to meet at the end of each round and discuss what happened
They should realize that taking less per round will keep them “alive” longer
Continue doing rounds with the group(s) that still have fish to reproduce until the point is made clear

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse