games

Password Game: Holiday Edition (free)

Liz Belasic1 Comment

My students enjoyed playing “Password” and I created a Holiday Edition that I used just prior to our Winter Break. Here are the details:

Google Slides: Holiday Password (link)

Set up:
  • 2 chairs in front of the whiteboard, with their backs to the board.
  • 2 students stand behind desks facing the board and the seated players
  • rest of students on teams off to the sides.
  • students on each side will determine what order they go in.
  • once the round is over, the students giving the clues will now be the guessers
  • the seated person who was a guesser, goes back to sit with their team
  • a new person from the team stands to give clues
  • all students will rotate through
holiday-password-public
Classroom set up with 20 students, modify as needed
Giving Clues/Points
  1. Team 1 – gives first clue to their partner in the chair
  2. Student in chair guesses.
  3. If they are correct, their team earn 5 pts
    1. their team will then rotate, team 2 stays where they are
  4. If Team 1 is incorrect, Team 2 gives the second clue to their partner
    1. If they get it right, they earn 3 pts, everyone rotates
    2. If they are incorrect, Team 1 gives the next clue
  5. If Team 1 is right, they earn 2 pts and everyone rotates
    1. If Team 1 is incorrect, Team 2 gives the final clue
  6. If Team 2 is right, they earn 1 pt and everyone rotates
    1. If Team 2 is incorrect, no points, everyone rotates
Next round:
  1. Team 2 gives first clue, continue following steps above
  2. Each team has an opportunity to start a round, alternating rounds.
  3. If either team guesses it on the first try, the other team will stay since they did not have a chance to guess.
  4. Add up points and see who wins.

Transition Metals Bingo Card – Free Template

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Screen Shot 2016-01-23 at 1.54.21 PM

Downloads:

During our chemistry unit, playing games is a fun way to become familiar with the elements and the vocabulary associated with the periodic table.

Different ways to play:

  • Say the element symbol
  • Say the atomic number
  • Say the name of the element
  • Describe the properties of the element:
    • “I am the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature’
    • “I am used in light bulb filaments and have 74 protons”
    • “My atomic mass is 52”
    • “I have 29 electrons”

Different ways to win:

  • Any 5 spaces in a row that are vertical, horizontal, or diagonal
    • good for quick games
  • An “X”, “L”, or “T” formation
    • takes longer to win
    • “L” or “T” can be in any orientation such as sideways or upside down
  • After a few rounds, have students switch cards with their seat mate, if either one wins, they both win
  • Collect all bingo cards, shuffle and hand out, if someone wins, the person with the card and the person who made card are both winners
  • Small prizes such as stickers or other knick-knacks are fun to give out

 

 

Rocks ROCK! Identification Stations

Liz Belasic8 Comments
Research & Note taking
Rock Identification: Research and note taking

Materials:

  • At least 4 samples for each of the following 12 rocks:
    • Igneous Rocks: Pumice, Obsidian, Basalt, & Granite
    • Sedimentary Rocks: Sandstone, Limestone, Conglomerate, & Coal
    • Metamorphic Rocks: Slate, Gneiss, Hornfels, & Marble
  • Rocks, Gems, and Minerals Guide – classroom set
  • Google Slides – Types of Rocks (Public) (UPDATED) 10/26/17
  • Handouts for note-taking
    • Types of Rocks (pdf)
    • Igneous (pdf)
    • Sedimentary (pdf)
    • Metamorphic (pdf)
  • Flashcards – print out and glue onto index cards (pdf)
    • each student made their own set to keep
  • Index cards with rock IDs on them
    • 1 set per lab table
  • Paper plates
    • 12 plates with rock IDs
    • additional plates: 1 set per table if not using index cards

rocks_id_2

Students will learn to identify & categorize 12 common rocks samples during this multi-day lesson. To introduce the unit, students are given the foundation of how rocks form and the three types of rocks: Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary.

rocks_id_3

Working with a partner and/or in small groups, they will research, handle, and compare the rock specimens and take careful notes at the different stations. Once their research is done, they will practice identifying the rock samples by creating and teaching each other different games using the rocks samples.

rocks_plate_id_game

Some games the students played are:

  • Sort the rocks into 3 piles: I, S, or M, who can do it the fastest?
  • Rock races
    • 2 students are given 6 rocks each to find and sort from the pile of 12
    • can you find it? Name a rock and pick it from the pile
  • Match the rock samples to the name of the rock
  • Mis-match some of the rocks with their ID cards, can you figure out which ones are incorrect?
  • Rock Quiz – creating questions from the index cards
    • examples:
      • Which rock is the only intrusive igneous rock?
      • Which rock floats on water?
      • Which one used to be limestone?

rocks_id_indexcards_2

For more lessons related to Rocks & Minerals, be sure to visit my Earth Science Page (link).

rocks_id_indexcards_1

Charles Darwin Survival Game – Link Updated

Liz Belasic4 Comments

Screen Shot 2015-03-13 at 11.11.19 AMWill your species survive for a million years? Will it survive a viral outbreak, meteorite impacts, predators, temperature changes, and changes in food sources?

In this natural selection simulation, students will choose 3 individuals as their starter population. What traits do they think will increase the chances of survival for their species? Long legs? Long necks? Stripes? Furry or bulky bodies? Only time will tell!

My 6th graders enjoyed playing this game and many were much more successful than I was 🙂

Links:

  • NEW LINK UPDATED 12.18.17 https://www.ologames.com/Free_Games/Who-Wants-To-Live-A-Million-Years 
    • I removed the old link, looks like you can’t play in online anymore, needs to be downloaded now and says might be harmful?
  • Natural Selection – how are traits passes on?
    • Click on Natural Selection in the menu options
  • Who wants to live a million years?
    • Click on Survival Game in the menu options

“Pour to Score” – Interactive Website for Volume

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Screen Shot 2015-03-11 at 7.03.20 PM“Pour to Score” is an interactive website created by PBS. The objective of the game is to pour the water between the larger container and the smaller container to create 8 different volumes of water.

At first glance, it may seem like an easy exercise in addition and subtraction, but it requires problem solving skills, logic, and patience. My 5th graders have enjoyed using this game as part of our volume unit. Some students will figure out the pattern quickly, and advance to the next few levels, while for others, it will require trial and error, and perseverance.

Websites

  • Pour to Score (link)
  • Can you fill it? (link)  and Fill it Up (link)
    • Try to fill up the container in the least amount of moves, and without over filling
  • additional games from PBS (link)

‘Alien Juice Bar’ – Cabbage Juice and pH Values

Liz Belasic3 Comments

Screen Shot 2015-03-05 at 11.29.30 AM

This classic interactive website is a great way to practice identifying acidic, basic, and neutral substances along with reading pH values. There are three different levels which increase in difficulty as the students complete each activity.

Challenge 1 – students have to identify and categorize the different ‘juices’ that they will serve to the aliens as either Acids, Bases, or Neutral.

Challenge 2 – students will practice serving requested juices to aliens, but if they serve a juice from the wrong category, aliens can become sick, or worse!

Challenge 3 – students have to change the pH values of the juices on the tray by either adding acids or bases to raise or lower the pH values.

Blood Types Flashcards & Games

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I used this hands-on activity as a review/reinforcement with my 7th graders and it really helped them understand the different blood types, about blood donation, and basic Punnett Squares. Plus they had fun playing the games and making up their own games.

Materials:

  • One set of laminated flashcards (pdf) per person, or two sets shared in a group of 4 students
  • pencil and lined paper to make Punnett Squares

All of the instructions and different games to play are explained in the handout. Some examples are: Who can donate? Punnett Square Practice, Identification, Memory, and Matching.

Other ways to use the cards:

  • Flashcards –  Students can print their own at home and use them to study
  • You can set up a station/rotation to play the games as they are, or as ‘make your own’ game stations. Or a combination of both. Place one game at each station and have the students rotate every 7-10 minutes (see below for logistics)
  • Rotation Directions – students will rotate from table to table and learn to play the game at each station
    • Need a group of 4 students at each station.
    • When it is time to rotate, only 2 go to the next station, and 2 stay.
    • The 2 that stay are the experts on that game.
    • The 2 experts teach the 2 novices how to play when they rotate to the table.
    • When it is time to rotate, the 2 experts who stayed go to the next group, and the novices are now the experts and teach the 2 new novices that came to the station.
  • Quiz-Quiz Trade –
    • give each student a RBC card and have them identify it, then trade
    • give each student a blood-type card and ask for the genotype (ie AA or AO)
    • Or mix both decks and play both games
  • Find your Partner –
    • give half or your class Blood Type Cards and the other half of the class RBC cards and have them find the matching set

Interactive Links for further practice

  • Blood Typing Game – can you make the right choice? (link)
  • Are you my blood type? can you find the donor? (link)
  • Emergency Room – figure out the blood type and correct transfusion (link)
  • NatGeo – interactive heart (link)
  • BrainPOP:  Blood & Blood Pressure

If you use this lesson in your classroom, I am always happy to hear how it went!

For related lesson plans, please visit my Life Science page.

Science Scramble Puzzles

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Science Scramble Puzzles

You can access them as a Shared Google Drive Folder (Click for link)

I always like to have puzzles handy for students to work on when they have finished their classwork, or if they completed a test and are waiting for other students to finish, or just for fun!

I have 72 science themed scramble puzzles (Scrabble-like) based on Physical and Earth Science vocabulary words. There is a Master List that shows all the words and which number puzzle it is. Each file is saved as the answer, too. Students can make 3, 4, 5, and 6 letter words and calculate their scores based on the letter values within each word they find. There is one 7 letter science word answer for each puzzle.

Have fun!