We love our planet and want to make sure we all have clean air to
breathe.
We created the Treewala vocabulary game to be an educational way to help increase the number of trees planted in the rainforest. Rainforests help keep our Earth healthy by regulating temperature and fighting air pollution. Mighty rainforest trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) and produce clean air.
By playing Treewala for fun, you help us do some serious work to fight rainforest deforestation. You earn one leaf for every word you define correctly. Every leaf generates ad revenue, which Greeewala uses to buy trees. The more leaves earned by all Treewala players, the more trees we can plant. Check the totals page to see how many trees we have planted.
Please help us by playing Treewala and sharing it with your friends, co-workers and loved ones. Who knows? You might impress them with your new vocabulary.
We call that a breath of fresh air!
How we’re planting trees
Treewala works with Trees For the Future to plant trees as part of their various tree planting initiatives. This tropical rainforest is a special model for addressing climate change. As the Treewala game grows Greenwala will be adding additional partners to plant trees on a global scale.
Greenwala decided to benefit the Las Gaviotas project at launch because of its excellent model of sustainability.
For more than two decades, the residents of Las Gaviotas have been planting trees in the dry Eastern plains of Colombia, South America. This region, with highly acidic soil where little grew 25 years ago, now boasts a 24,000 acre poly culture rainforest with over 250 species. The rainforest supports the Gaviotans who sustainably harvest palm oil and Jatropha, used to make biodiesel, as well as pine resin and cashews. While the forest sequesters carbon at a rate three times faster than forests in higher latitudes, this tropical rainforest is a special model for addressing climate change. Residents derive their livelihood from the rainforest and have a vested interest in keeping the forest alive.
The community has also addressed other important dimensions of sustainability, specifically the importance of valuing the wisdom of local indigenous peoples and of tackling extreme poverty issues. Las Gaviotas was founded by engineers and community organizers who invited Guahibo Indians and urban street orphans to contribute their strengths and talents to this community and engineering experiment.
In a town that functions independent of fossil fuels, the residents have built windmills to pump water, designed nature-mimicking buildings that stay cool in the tropical heat, and built solar hot water kettles to sterilize hospital instruments. All this creativity and innovation supports a community in a nation torn apart by civil war and drug trafficking. Las Gaviotas demonstrates that even in the face of seemingly intractable problems, dedicated individuals working together can forge a model of sustainability for the rest of the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does playing the Treewala vocabulary game help me?
Learning new vocabulary has many benefits. It can help you:
- Understand environmental terms
- Formulate your ideas better
- Write better papers and emails
- Speak more precisely
- Read faster
- Get better grades in school
- Score higher on tests
- Improve your ability to sell
- Perform better at job interviews
- Get a better job
- Be better at your job
- Save the environment
- Get a date with that special someone
- Win on Jeopardy!
How do I start playing Treewala?
In the middle of the Treewala Home page you will see something like:
CO2 means:
Cohabitat
Carbon monoxide
Care of two
Carbon Dioxide
To play the game, click on one of the four definitions (“Cohabitat,” “Carbon monoxide,” “Care of two,” or “Carbon Dioxide”) that you think is correct. If you get it right, Treewala donates a percentage of ad revenue for each correct question.
In the example above, you would want to click on “Carbon Dioxide,” which means “CO2.” You can play as long as you like and earn as many leaves as you like. When you are finished, you do not have to do anything―your donation is already counted.
How does the Treewala vocabulary program work?
Treewala has a custom database containing thousands of words at varying degrees of difficulty. There are words appropriate for people just learning English and words that will challenge the most scholarly professors. In between are thousands of words for students of all ages, business people, homemakers, doctors, truck drivers, retired people… everyone!
Treewala automatically adjusts to your level of vocabulary. It starts by giving you words at different levels of difficulty and then, based on how you do, assigns you an approximate starting level. You then determine a more exact level for yourself as you play. When you get a word wrong, you go to an easier level. When you get three words in a row right, you go to a harder level. There are 100 levels in all.
How is the difficulty level for each word determined?
The program keeps track of how many people get each word right or wrong, and then adjusts each word’s difficulty level accordingly. So the words at the easiest levels are the ones that people most often get right. The words at the hardest levels are the ones that people most often get wrong. As more and more people have played the game, these levels have become increasingly more accurate.
Where does Treewala get the word definitions from?
The word definitions come from a wide variety of sources including dictionaries, thesauruses and books of synonyms. Each definition is checked and edited for accuracy.
Why do I see some words repeated?
Whenever you get a word wrong, Treewala will repeat the word a few turns later to give you a second chance at it to help you learn it better. You can turn this feature off in the Options page if you do not like it.
What is the Options page?
On the Options page you can set up Treewala to work the way you want it to. For instance, you can choose to always start at a certain vocabulary level. You can choose whether you want Treewala to remember how much total rice you have donated the next time you play. You can choose whether to re-test yourself on words that you get wrong.
Who pays for trees?
Trees are paid for by ad revenue generated by sponsors and advertisers whose names you see on the bottom of your vocabulary screen when you enter a correct answer. These sponsors support both learning (free vocabulary for everyone) and replanting the rainforest.
For information about how you or your company can sponsor Treewala, please email here.
Are there any banners or logos I can use to link to Treewala?
Treewala offers banners you can use to create links on your web pages to easily refer your friends to the site. Banners are available here. Since Treewala’s strength is in the number of people using it, you can also help to make a big difference simply by spreading the word through emails, internet social networking sites and blogs.
Click Here for Banners
Can I share Treewala with other sites?
Yes, click on the share button above and you can link Treewala to Facebook, MySpace, and other sites.Who do I contact if I find an error or have a suggestion?
Please send an email to: Contact Greenwala!Learn Vocabulary & Plant Trees
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