MinecraftEdu in 8th Grade Science

As part of a unit on the earth's surface and topographical maps, 8th grade students came to the computer lab where they worked as a team to create a virtual topographical map in MinecraftEDU.   They were first given a mountain that they were to mark each elevation pint using different color blocks.   Once completed the class identified steep and gentle slopes as well as made predictions about erosion.   Next they were challenged to build a mountain up based on the lines given.   This proved to be a bit more challenging to work collaboratively and problem solve to complete the task.