Active Learning Activities

Snowball Starter: Goals of Science Education

In this activity, the snowball strategy links students' prior beliefs to a deeper inquiry of science education goals.

The Heart of the Matter: Exploring Exercise in Cardiac Disease

Before class, students read an article and gather 5 elements. In class, they "pool" findings and sort into categories.

Data Mining and Sorting: Scaffolding the Exploration of Scientific Articles

The purpose of this activity is to deepen students' understanding of cardiac pathophysiology.

Rough Draft Workshop: Group Peer Assessment Jigsaw Activity for Case Study or Procedural Writing

Students bring a rough draft of a written group project for peer evaluation and feedback

Communicable Puzzles: Children’s Most Common Infectious Diseases

Using the Jigsaw strategy, students become an “expert” for one communicable disease through self-directed research.

How to Write Reading Annotations

This activity helps students improve their quality of reading annotations using platforms like Perusall.

Understanding Agro-Ecosystems by Observing, Writing & Discussing

In this semester-long activity, students visit a farm several times to engage in a critical analysis of that ecosystem.

Jigsaw Geography Presentation

Protein Separation

Homeostasis: Mapping the Endocrine System

Experimental Design in Neurobiology

Muscle Videos

Muscle Snowballs