Sequence Games for Understanding Biology Concepts
Arthur Wohlwill Science Department Lansing Community College
Lansing MI 48901
Abstract
In order for college students to understand difficult concepts
like meiosis and signal transduction, I have developed several
games in which students arrange events using logical
reasoning. Thus, instead of simply memorizing steps,
students can “connect the dots” to visualize the process. In
some cases (games 1 and 3) little or no prior knowledge is
needed to play the game.
Game 1: Meiosis: Starting with a cell with a
a single X chromosome (long) and Y chromosome
(short) the students arrange the cells so that
each cell ends up with only an X or Y chromosome.
A
B
C
Game 2: Step by Step Meiosis: For each step,
students have to decide where the image goes.
If they are correct, they receive points for the
steps. The later the step, the more choices the
students have and the more points they
get. Does B go before or after A? Where does
step C go?
Electronic Version of Game 2
http://tinyurl.com/jxk5ygo
Blog with links to games
http://wp.me/p42QPP-1y
Game 3: Insulin Signal Transduction
This game can be played like Game 2
Images: http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/PH/PH709_Heart/PH709_Heart7.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Insulin_glucose_metabolism_ZP.svg