Explore 7 STEM in Pop Culture review games designed by a teacher to engage students and reinforce curriculum. Give students a break from worksheets and bring Science review to life with a classroom game.

• In TRASHKETBALL™, students compete to answer questions quickly and correctly to earn chances to shoot and score for their team.
• Turn review into a team battle with BUMP, where correct answers earn shots and students can bump their opponents off the platform for extra points.
• Get students moving with SCOOT, where they travel from desk to desk answering task cards and recording their answers along the way.
• Keep students on their toes with FRAZZLED, where every answer can reveal points, help the opposing team, or uncover a bomb that resets the score to zero.
• The TERRIBLE Game rewards correct answers with positive or negative points that students can strategically assign to their own team or their opponents.
• The BIG TERRIBLE Game keeps the whole class involved as up to eight teams answer together and watch their scores swing above and below zero.
• In GRUDGEBALL, teams answer questions to fire on their opponents’ ships, then make baskets to earn even more shots.

I’ve always found that students are much more willing to review when they feel like they’re playing instead of studying. Once the game starts, students start talking, thinking, and working together, with hands shooting up and everyone waiting to see what happens next. 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.

There’s research behind the fun too, with studies finding better academic performance and greater student engagement when games are brought into learning. See the research.