Water: The Incredible Journey
The Water Cycle is an incredible journey. Water is found everywhere on earth in one form or another and it is constantly changing places. To see how the Water Cycle really works, play the Incredible Journey Game. See how long it takes you to pass through all the places where water is found on earth.
Incredible Journey Game and format description
There are nine stations in this game. The playing field shows each station depicted with an illustration and title (i.e.: picture of soil with the term soil). The player starts at any station and clicks to activate the cycle. They will be directed to go to the next station. The direction is random but controlled by the Water Cycle. As they click on a station, a counter keeps a record of the stations visited. The stations and their links are listed below. If the “STAY” link appears, the player must click on that respective station again until they are directed to a different station. The game is completed when all stations have been visited. When this occurs, a message pops up: “Congratulations! You have just completed the Incredible Journey.”
Station Links
SOIL – PLANT, RIVER, GROUNDWATER, CLOUDS, CLOUDS, STAY
PLANT – CLOUDS, CLOUDS, CLOUDS, CLOUDS, STAY, STAY
RIVER – LAK, GROUNDWATER, OCEAN, ANIMAL, CLOUDS, STAY
CLOUDS – SOIL, GLACIER, LAKE, OCEAN, OCEAN, STAY
OCEAN – CLOUDS, CLOUDS, STAY, STAY, STAY, STAY
LAKE – GROUNDWATER, ANIMAL, RIVER, CLOUDS, STAY, STAY
ANIMAL – SOIL, SOIL, CLOUDS, CLOUDS, CLOUDS, STAY
GROUNDWATER – RIVER, LAKE, LAKE, STAY, STAY, STAY
GLACIER – GROUNDWATER, CLOUDS, RIVER, STAY, STAY, STAY
INSTRUCTIONS TO PLAYER
This game presents a different version of the Water Cycle than just condensation, precipitation and evaporation. Play the Incredible Journey game to discover how water moves around the earth. Your challenge is to follow the movement of a molecule of water through all nine places where water is found. Be careful, you might get frozen in a glacier, trapped in deep, slow moving groundwater, or carried to the deepest parts of the ocean.
Start at any station. Click the station and proceed to the next station as indicated. If it indicates “STAY,” click on the station again. The counter tells you which stations you’ve visited and how many times you clicked on them. You complete the Incredible Journey when you have visited all nine stations. Good luck!
Revised for Website By: Eric Pollard, Graduate Student, Auburn University