# LSGCD to host summer Minecraft water challenge

Summertime — and the living’s easy, especially when young and school’s out for summer.

It’s important to enjoy plenty of outdoor fun, but during those indoor breaks, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District has something area students might find interesting — the inaugural Minecraft Water Challenge.

Minecraft is a so-called “sandbox” video game where players use textured cubes to build anything from homes to landscape features, as well as resources like rivers or trees. It is available on multiple platforms, including various smartphones, tablets, PC, Xbox. The game has become a tool many educators have been incorporating into the classroom.

“LSGCD recognized that, really, Minecraft contained everything necessary to create a contest with an educational focus on local water resources,” said James Ridgway, Jr., LSGCD education / public awareness coordinator. “Open-ended games like these, along with the contest’s specific challenges, set a framework for students to be highly creative and deeply analytical.”

Ridgway added that LSGCD hopes the contest will inspire curiosity about local water resources for both kids and adults.

“Water is a precious resource,” Ridgway said. “And I think it’s often the case that when we learn and understand more about a subject, we tend to appreciate and respect it more and waste it less.”

The contest is for 1st- through 12th-grade students residing in Montgomery County or attending a school within the county’s boundaries. Home-schooled students residing within the county are welcome to enter, too.

There are three contest brackets: 1st-5th grade; 6th-8th grade; and 9th-12th grade. All must get parental permission to enter the contest.

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For each age bracket, there is a first-, second-, and third-place prize. First place will receive $500. Second place will receive $250. Third place will receive $100.

The contest is based off the completion of three open-ended objectives: depict where entrant’s water comes from; how it’s delivered; and where it ends up. The judging, first and foremost, will seek out projects that successfully meet all three objectives. From there, originality, creativity, and application of critical thinking will be driving factors.

To officially enter contest, entrants must create and upload a 30-second video to YouTube with a brief summary in video’s description box outlining what was made and how it meets each of the three objectives. Lastly, an online submission form requiring parental approval, with a parent’s contact number, is required to be submitted. Deadline for contest entry is Aug. 21.

For a more detailed account of contest rules and submission guidelines, visit lonestargcd.org/minecraft-water-challenge. Parents may also email jridgway@LoneStarGCD.org for any further clarification.