Tagged with: games
I am participating in a game evaluation of Immune Attack, an educational game developed by the Federation of American Scientists. They are looking for other science teachers to carry out trials in their classes and evaluate the game as a learning tool for cell biology and immunity. If you would like more information and/or are interested in participating with your classes this fall, register at this link. Let the games begin! (Too cheesy?)
This game simulation is a great 5-10 minute introductory activity to do with students when learning about antibodies and antigens. You are presented with three patients who need transfusions. The students draw blood and then test the blood by mixing it with vials of A antibodies, B antibodies, and Rh antibodies. They then have to select the bag of blood to transfuse into the patient. The reason that I like this activity is because when you get to the AB- patient, they end up needing four bags of blood and they only have one AB-. The students then have to decide which other blood types would be acceptable. The visual models of antibodies and antigens provide a good starting point for discussing antibody response. There are several other games for biology that you should check out on the Nobel prize website.
Jason Gots, a blogger for Big Think talked about teaching with, not to the test (standardized tests). He points out that tests can be a valuable learning tool when used effectively, particularly when the testing is low stakes, and the learning environment is enjoyable and interactive. I have been doing quite a bit of research on games-based learning, and this sentiment seems to be echoed by many experts in the field. Jeopardy Labs has created a format that is ridiculously easy to use. In fact, when I break my kids up into groups in IB Biology to differentiate learning for the different levels, I occasionally have my Standard Level students create their own jeopardy games. I then have them play and edit another student’s game. I have also broken the entire class into teams and used it to review before tests. Here is an example of one that I created for a unit over the Chemistry of Life.