Are you folks aware of The River City Project? Although I have no hands-on experience with it, it seems worth investigating. I learned about it in a tweet on Twitter about fifteen minutes ago from Scientific American magazine, which lead me to their online article which includes it in a discussion of learning science virtually.
Here’s how the Graduate School of Education at Harvard begins its introduction to this project:
With funding from the National Science Foundation, we have developed an interactive computer simulation for middle grades science students to learn scientific inquiry and 21st century skills. River City has the look and feel of a videogame but contains content developed from National Science Education Standards, National Educational Technology Standards, and 21st Century Skills.
Posted by curiositymatters 
