DEFENDERS OF THE ESTUARY

Sure, textbooks have their place. But it’s a good bet that kids will reach more quickly for a crab-filled, touch-screen game, not even realizing that the cartoon characters they’re mixing it up with are teaching them about the ecology of estuaries - the habitats where rivers and seas intersect.

Five University of Delaware engineering students have been building such a game for the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve for students to use when they visit the St. Jones Reserve exhibit.

The game features Carrie the Crab, who enlists young gamers in an effort to catch invading mitten crabs, stop chemical runoff and identify other environmental hazards. Get through three mini-scenarios and you’ve made the party list.

It was developed by students in a class taught by Terry Harvey, associate professor of computer and information sciences, including senior Brendan Buckbee of Scranton, Pennsylvania, (chemical engineering); junior David Earley of Newark, Delaware, (information systems); senior Huayu Fu of Tianjin, China (electrical engineering); junior Zhanglong Peng of Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China (computer science); and senior Danielle Wegrzyn of Bear, Del. (computer science and visual communications).

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