Explore 14 Metabolic Diversity of Microbes review games designed by a teacher to engage students and reinforce curriculum. When students are having fun, they forget they are reviewing, making games a great way to practice Science.

• In GRUDGEBALL, teams answer questions to fire on their opponents’ ships, then make baskets to earn even more shots.
• In The BIG TERRIBLE Game, every team answers every question and earns unpredictable positive or negative points while trying to finish closest to zero.
• The TERRIBLE Game makes review wonderfully terrible as teams answer questions, uncover unpredictable scores, and use positive and negative points to get closest to zero.
• FRAZZLED turns review into an unpredictable competition where teams win points, lose points, steal points, and try to avoid the dreaded bomb.
• With SCOOT, students move around the room answering task cards, turning curriculum review into an active classroom game.
• BUMP gets teams racing to answer correctly, then gives them a chance to score points by knocking other teams off the platform.
• TRASHKETBALL™ mixes fast-paced question review with a classroom shooting competition where correct answers earn shots for points.

Turning review into a game is one of my favorite ways to get students participating without making practice feel like more work. Students who normally sit back during review often jump into the action, working with their teammates and getting caught up in every question and result. When games become a regular part of review, students quickly learn that knowing the material gives them an advantage, and they start showing up ready to compete.

Want the evidence behind the games? Research comparing game-based learning with traditional approaches has found improvements in achievement, retention, and student motivation. See the research.