Science Thinking Bingos
- The Biology Buzz Place
- Jul 6
- 3 min read
I love incorporating games into a classroom! Let's face it, students crave a break from the regular schoolwork routine every now and then, and yes, so teachers too. Adding games to the classroom reduces boredom while at the same time strengthens social skills through peer interaction. They also help to increase students’ motivation by getting them actively involved in the learning process.
Adding games to your class is a fun way to review relevant academic content whether you play them before a break when students are already on “school’s out mode”, or the day before a test as a review. They are a win-win situation for everyone any day! You are sure to see lots of smiles on your students’ faces when you announce at the start of class that they will be playing a game-you will be their shining hero for the period :).
Health and Science Thinking Bingos in the Classroom
My science thinking bingos are an excellent way to engage students to learn about biology and important health-related topics. There are six:
The Biology Thinking Bingo was the first one I created. This game was such a hit with my students that it led me to make more of bingos down the line. My human body system bingos cover important teen health topics too, like nutrition, heart health, tobacco, and drugs & alcohol facts. For example, the nervous system thinking bingo contains nervous system vocabulary as well as plenty of drugs and alcohol facts.
These games can be played in ways that appeal to both students with little prior knowledge of the topic as well as to those who know the content well (reading clue and letting students figure out the answers). The later was my true intent for creating these bingo games. When playing the challenging way, students hear the clues read to them, then they must figure out the answer to it, then check if they have it on their playing board, if so, they mark that space. At the end you check winning boards by looking through your saved clue cards that were called out.
*The clue cards in the game can be used as flash cards to review the topic/unit covered.
I like to encourage activities that build social skills in students, so for this reason I usually have students play in pairs where they can work together to find the correct answer. Of course, in most classes, there is always at least one student that will ask if they can play alone, and this is fine. I'd let them.
Another perk about these games is that they are designed to get a winner within 10-15 minutes usually, enabling you to play more than one round in a class period. Most students love the opportunity to play a second round!
At Home Fun Too
Not just for teachers! These games are perfect for homeschooling parents too! Pop some popcorn and use these bingos for your family's game nights. These thinking bingos are a great way to get the whole family involved in what your child is learning. Younger children will get a heads up on a topic that they will eventually be learning if they play along.
I don't know about you, but I prefer that my kids have less screen time play. Summers is especially hard on me now that my kids are getting older. They want video games and phones 24 a day if I would let them do this, but I don't. I set limits for this, although I do give them more time in the summer than during the school year when it is extremely monitored. I make sure they have what I call, "creative time breaks", which is time off screen devices of any sort doing screen free activities. These bingo games, like other games, can give kids a break from the screen and gets them back to playing the old-fashioned, classic, fun way!
