So in my last blog I talked about some tip that make science fun. The most intriguing aspect of that post was the use of games. All the games were online, so for this blog I researched classroom games that could be played. Here's a list of some games I found.
Science Jeopardy
Science Taboo
Science Bingo
Science Pictionary
Science Baseball
What in the World?
Twenty Questions
Computer Games & Simulations
Tangrams
Timers & Stopwatches
Icebreaker games
Science Bowl
What in the World
I was pretty disappointed in the classroom games I found. None of them seem to creative to me, a lot just piggyback a game and used science themes. When I was a kid I would still rather have played Science Bingo than read in a textbook or weekly reader I guess. To me science baseball sounded like the most intriguing game, although I'm a baseball nut and I think a lot of students would be bored by most of these games. If anyone has used or found some fun science games I would love to hear about them thanks.
http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/games/
http://www.ehow.com/list_5973121_science-classroom-games.html
http://www.insidemcc.mchenry.edu/PD/Tutorials/Games/Games/Games%20for%20the%20Science%20Classroom.htm
Will, I know what you are talking about! I feel like for every subject in school for every wrap up unit on everything we played Jepordy. I don't remember every actually learning anything from these games...they were more used as a wrap up on units. The bad part is that it was always the same students answering, so even if you didn't understand it at this point, the odds of you learning it was slim to none. I believe that although games are usually fun, there are other things you can do in the classroom to also make learning more fun. I thought the day we went to Oaklawn Elementary both the students and myself learned a lot! Although I know that it is time consuming, expensive, and difficult to plan a lot of field trips and such, you could always bring things into the classroom for the students to work with. I think hands on activities really get students engaged, and they also think it's fun.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both. Most of the time when playing jeopardy only one or two students on each team really knew the answers while others just helped pick the categories. What are students learning when one or two students are answering everything. Also when the teacher made everyone answer at least one question I always felt pressured and nervous hoping I actually knew the answer to the question in fear of letting my team down. I always dreaded it becoming my tuen. Hands on activities besides games just switching to science terms are a better way. Some games are good though when just focusing on just vocabulary such as a matching game. I always liked playing memory, and matching a word with its meaning. This would probably only be for lower grades, but it's a good way for everyone to be practicing and learning because they all need to pay attention to play.
ReplyDeleteWe ALWAYS played jeopardy as a review game. Your right, it is much more fun than reading from a textbook, but it is still not the most creative way to review. It also bad because it creates competition in the classroom, which can be hurtful to students who are not competitive or do not know the information and can not participate as much. This can really discourage students which is not the point of the activity, the point is to have fun while learning! I do not know of any more interesting science games, but this is something I will have to help search for!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I feel like every subject uses these exact same games. One game that my cooperating teacher used, that can be used for any subject but was acctually really engaging, was Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The teacher uses an online program to upload the exact information that students are learing, creating beneficial quetions for the students. The game can then be played via a projector system. For each quesiton a new students or pair of students gets to come up and answer. This game also includes the life lines, just like on tv. The students in my clinical placement loved playing this to review their government unit!
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