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Science Sequence Games

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Science is full of processes that proceed in steps: the development of a plant from a seed, the stages of cell division, the formation of a sedimentary rock, succession in a meadow, the steps of a chemical reaction, etc. Learning these processes can be turned into cooperative games in various ways.

For example, depict or describe individual steps of the process you want the students to learn on different cards. Students shuffle the deck and draw cards. When each player draws a card, he places it in the correct sequence with respect to the other cards.

Or play a line-up game. In a line-up game, students again put items in order. But now, they hold their cards and walk themselves into a line in the correct order without talking. Sequences such as the steps of cellular division can be used. Or, relative distances can be put in order. For example, geographical locations can be lined-up in terms of distance from your school. Or, students represent astronomical objects and line up in terms of distance from the Sun.

Cooperative Stories

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Students sit in a circle and build a story together by taking turns. Where one storyteller leaves off, the next one begins. This basic structure is adaptable to all grade levels and can be used in various ways.

The most challenging version is for each storyteller to add a single word to the progressive storyline. But players can take turns adding sentences or paragraphs. To make this game more academic, students can practice building proper sentences or paragraphs. Or the format can be used to review a story that the class has read together.

A modification of this game (attributed to Arnold, 1972) is called Because. In Because, the first player describes an event; the second player describes the cause; and the third player describes a consequence. For example: (Player 1) “The cat jumped out of the window onto the lady’s head”; (Player 2) “The cat jumped out of the window onto the lady’s head because there was a fire in the house”; (Player 3) “The cat jumped out of the window onto the lady’s head because there was a fire in the house. Then the lady realized the house was burning, and she called the fire department.” Now it goes on to another Player #1 to begin a new thread in the story.

Cooperative Alphabet (reading practice)

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This game is like the foregoing where kids line up in alphabetical order. But in this version, kids each choose a card with a picture on it. The pictures show items beginning with each letter but the words are not spelled out. (For example, “A” is represented by a picture of an apple not accompanied by the word “apple.”)  Again, children are encouraged to help one another get into line but no words can be exchanged!

Human Number Line

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This is a game that involves     sequencing. It can be adapted to decimals, fractions, integers,     etc. Give each student a large card with a number on it. They     self-assemble in numerical order without talking. For more fun,     have kids play against a timer so they have to scramble quickly     into line. A fun variation is to play this with positive and     negative integers such that pairs of kids choose to be the     positive and negative side of 1, 2, 3, etc. Kids should catch on     quickly that they need to position themselves symmetrically     around the “0” card to build a number line of all the integers.
(This game was developed by Suzanne Lyons, founder CooperativeGames.com)