Active Learning Activities

Biologist Says: Mini-Game for Recalling Biology Terms

A familiar and easy to implement game to help students with recall of biological terms.

BioQuest: Mini-Game for Categorizing Biology Terms

A fun consolidating activity at the end of a topic or unit to help students categorize and consolidate biological terms.

Group Work Project Contracting

For instructors planning student group work projects over many weeks or months.

Find Someone Who… An Icebreaker With Purpose

In this activity, students try to find someone for each list item. Items highlight key issues explored in the course.

To Pass or Not to Pass: Acting out Membrane Transport

Aim of the activity is to increase students’ understanding of molecules’ movement through the cell membrane.

How to Write Reading Annotations

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

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard

Darwin’s Finches: Natural Selection

In this game-based activity, students learn about natural selection, evolution of traits, and data collection and analysis.  

How to Read a Research Article

Students learn how to read a research article and what information is contained in each section of the article.