Free Poverty is a game similar in concept to the popular Free Rice game. In Free Rice you test your vocabulary and donate rice to charity, in Free Poverty you test your Geography knowledge and donate water to charity. I learned about the game yesterday on Fred Delventhal’s blog then immediately tried it out with one of my classes. My students enjoyed playing Free Poverty as much as I did.

Here is how Free Poverty works; players are given a city and country to locate on a map by clicking their mouse on the appropriate location. If you place your mouse on the exact location, Free Poverty donates 10 cups of water to places in need of clean, potable water. If you don’t get the answer exactly correct then Free Poverty donates up to nine cups of water depending on the relative accuracy of your answer.

Applications for Education
Free Poverty is a great way for students to learn and development knowledge of geography. Based on my informal testing with students, the game has an addictive quality that will keep students interested in playing and learning.