The Amazing Race: A Fun, Interactive Way to Practice Science Concepts!
Are you looking for a way to get your students up out of their seats, actively practicing skills and concepts from class and getting instant feedback as they go? Then you need to try out the Amazing Race activity, after you prepare it once, it is low prep and can be used year after year. In this blog post I will explain how this activity works and how to run it for your class, I have also included free templates to help you get started making your own game!
How to Run the Game with your Students
I spent a one hour block doing the Amazing Race game with my students and while some finished a bit early, others didn't have time to complete all of the questions, this was with a set of 25 questions of varying levels of difficulty. I recommend you have slightly more cards than you have students, my largest class this year is 24 students, so I had 25 cards.
Step 1: Explain how the game works with your students, they must choose a question to start with, mark it on their answer sheet, and then answer it. Once they answer the question they should move around the space until they find the card with their answer on it. Remind them that the card numbers have nothing to do with the order, they are simply a reference for the answer sheet.
You can modify the slides I made to introduce the game & go over it afterwards, they are here for your use.
Step 2: Pair up students and give each pair a clipboard with a blank answer sheet on it, you may also wish to let them use their notebooks or a study guide (I allowed them to use their Punnett Square Reference sheet, available here).
Step 3: Take students to the space where the cards are posted on the walls, then have each group pick their starting card and indicate the number on their answer sheet, then set them free to complete the race! I often have a prize for the first team to get all of the answers right.
Step 4: During the race use your answer key to help any students who get lost in the loop, if they end up back at a question which they have answered before it is because they have made a mistake. I use my answer key to help them find out where they went wrong.
Step 5: In order to identify the winner I check over the group's answers on their answer sheet using the answer key to ensure that they actually answered every question correctly, they didn't just run around or guess. Once the game is over I take down the cards and keep them in my classroom for extra practice problems throughout the rest of the unit & eventually store them away for next year.
Prep Before Playing
If your cards are already made or you purchased some (like these Heredity ones in my TPT shop) then all you need to do is print them (I use regular paper colour printing & then slide them into page protectors, but you could laminate them or print them on cardstock). And put them up in a hallway or large open space such as a gym or flexi-space. You can see the set-up I used most recently in the video below.
Note: Be sure not to put the cards in order, I make sure that the numbers on my cards do NOT reflect the question and answer order, but simply act as a reference tool to identify questions.
How to Make your Own Game
If you would like to make your own game then all you need to do is write a bunch of questions on the topics you would like your students to practice. I find this to works best with a variety of question types, for example the goal of this particular game was to review heredity and so I included a mix of vocabulary questions, Punnett square questions (monohybrid crosses, codominance, incomplete dominance, blood types and sex-linked traits) as well as pedigree questions. I try to make more cards than I have students, so this year my biggest class is 24 students, so I made 25 cards.
Using the template below, write a question on one page, then put the answer on the next page, make sure you don't have the same answer more than once. I chose to write at least two questions of each type so that students had to actually solve the question rather than just look for an answer that matches the question type. Your final question will have the answer on the first page, completing the loop.
The final step is to make sure that the answer sheet has enough space for all of the questions, this template includes space for 25 questions, but you can easily change it to match your game's needs.
I hope that you enjoy this fun way of helping your students practice their knowledge and skills in class, it's quite a bit of work the first time around, but really low prep after you have made the questions.
Thanks for reading teachers, travellers and curious souls of all kinds.
The Roaming Scientist
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