Minecraft and mining combine
AUSTRALIAN students can now learn about the country’s world-leading minerals industry and electric car manufacturing with the launch by the Minerals Council of Australia and the University of Queensland of Mine Solar Car Lab – a new 3D digital game for Minecraft’s Education Edition.
In an Australian first, primary school students will use the world-famous Minecraft education platform to work together to collect raw materials, then use the giant machines to build an electric car.
Accessible on Windows 10, iOS and Android devices, teachers and students will collaborate in the Mine Solar Car Lab virtual environment to learn about different minerals and metals sourced from Australian miners.
The MCA launched the game as part of the industry’s approach to educating young Australians on the innovative, technologically-driven Australian minerals sector.
Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time. As of May 2019, more than 176 million copies had been sold across all platforms, and it has won numerous awards and accolades.
Since its release in 2011, it has amassed 91 million players worldwide.
By introducing students to a modern electric car in a collaborative, interactive way, Mine Solar Car Lab aims to excite them about the way electric cars are built and spark interest in learning more about this rapidly-changing industry.
In the game, students visit the fictional Institute for Voltaic Propulsion, a research facility full of researchers and enormous machines.
They are tasked with mining and collecting raw materials used to build major parts of an electric car, then correctly inserting them into machines that will combine them into the finished components via an abstract version of a car factory.
Transformational educational tools like Mine Solar Car Lab will also provide Australian students with the opportunity to expand their computing skills, an increasingly important part of the world- leading modern Australian minerals sector.
This valuable new educational resource has been built and designed by the University of Queensland and funded by Mining Education Australia and the MCA.