DOCUMENT RSOME. ED 141 071 SE 022 437 \ AUTHOR Hounshell, Paul .13.; Trollinger, Ira R. TITLE \\ Gapes for the SOience Classroom. An Annotated . Eibliography. INSTITUTION \ NationalScience TeaOhers AsSociation, WaShington, \L.C. PUB DATE NOTE' 238p AVAILABLE FRCM National Science Teachers Association, 1742 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Washingtpn, D.C. 20009 (Stock Number 471-14710, $3.75) EDRS PRICE ME-$0.83 BC-$12.71 Plus Postage. DESCRIITORS Eiology; Earth Science; *Elementary School Sciende;. *Elementary'Secondary Education;Environmental Education; *Games;.*Instructional:Materials:Physical Sciences; *Science Education; *Secondary, Sdhool Science ABSTRACT The purpose of this publication is to provide science teachers with the means to enhance the learning of environment 'thrOugh the use of instructional games. IndIeded-arescience and .Science-re2ated..games currently available commercially, from individuals or .groups of teachers, and from private andpublic 'organizations and agencies,-Gver 100 entries are listed, andindexed by content_areas, grade levelsby cOntent'areas, andtopics.and grade levels. Games are categorized by the following subject areas: ,biological science, physical science, earth/spacescience, and general scienceEach entry includes.the followinginformation: title grade level, purpose, playing time, number ofplayerS, price, developer, source, description, preparation and comments. (Author/RB) 9.*;'. * . Documents. acquired-by ERIC include many informalunpublished * Materials not available from other sources.ERICmakes every effort * * to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless,items of marginal. * * reproducitility are'often encounteredand this affedts the quality * * of' the microfiche and hardcopyreproductions ERIC makes available Via the EEIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of the originaldocument., Reproductions * supplied by EDES are the best that can be-made fromthe original. * 44***,*******4*************************************4*****************.* ames for the science classroom an annotated biloliography Paul B. Hounshell Ira R. Trollinger School of Education Science arid Mathematics University of North Carolina Supervisor at Chapel Hill Buncornber County Schools Chapel Hill, North Carolina Asheville, North Carolina nAN IMENT OF EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPRO- DUCED 0,ACTLY AS RECEIvED a.DM THE PERSON Op ORGANIZA TION OR6,,IN- A4INC, IT POINTS OF V !Ex OP OPINIONS STATED DO NCri NECESSARILY REP.RE SENT OF FIC,AL NA T OPAL NSTI:UTE DUCAT ON POSITION OP POLlCr National Science Teachers Association 1742 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 Robert L. Silber, Executive Director Robert Vi r Cover by Joe Jacobs 4-1 Copyright. 1977 by the National Science Teachers Associ\Stion 1742 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 Stock No: 471-14710 Price: $3.75 TAJ4LE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Rationale 4 Use 8 Evaluation 10 Indices 11 Index by Content Arecp ( with grade levels) 13 Index by Grade Levels and Content Areas 17 Index by Topics ( with grade levels) 25 Biological Science Garnes Physical Science Gaines 147 Earth/Space Science Games 173 General Science Games 183 Appendices 233 Appendix A: Definitions 235 Appendix B: History 236 Appendix Ci-List of Publish Ts C.); 9 Bibliogi:aphy 241 INTRODUCTION he purpose of this publication is to provide. science teacherswith the means to enhance the le.arning environment- through the use of instructional games. Included are science and science-related games currently available commercially, from individuals or groiips ofteach- ers, and from private and public organizationsand agencies. All the entries\arc indexed by content areas, gradelevels by cOntent areas, and topics anc,1 grade levels. Game* are categorized according to subject area: biological science, physical 'Science, earth/space science, and general scienee. Foreach entry the \following information is given:4111e, gradelevel, purpose, playing tinie,'number of players, .price, developer, source, deScription, preparation, \ and comments: In researching the subject o games for this publication, theauthors solicited entries from' individuals and/orffanizations across the-mtion, as well asexaMining the existing literature. The response to their re- quests was outstanding,\ totalling about 130 entries that metthe criteria for incluSion. Sumitted garnes were examined, analyzed, and played by the authors, and--whenever possible-used by classroom teachers with their classes. Although the authors verified the data given foreach_ entry-( grade-level, \priCe, etc.), it should be" noted that there maVbe exceptions. For, exarnple, the ,"grade -level" designation varies greatly depending on the cap4bility of any particular group; also, thepublish- er s information onara\de lev'el often covers ti broad ranere (such as a(re 8-adult). Tk: "number'of players" may be misleadingfrequez0, a" team may ,plav in place Of one player, thus significantlyincreasing the-. number of participants. "1"laving time"'depends on theicycl of sophis- tication of the students, and on -whether or not the grouphas played the game before. The "price"..is always subject to change. "Source" can be either the original publisher or a distributor (both are givenwhere availablj).° The addresses giYen for the sources' were correct at publi- cation; addresses may change Over time. re'ibn r (5"-for a_zpne, please serid a stamped; ..sell-addressed envelope .,vvith yourreque;Ato Facilitate their response. RATIONALE There are many questions concerning the effectiveness of gaming as an instructional technique. Do games teachfacts as well as other in- stmetional techniqueS? Do educational, gameincrease a student's decision-making and critical-thinking skills? DO games motivate stu- dents to learn? Do games increase the retention of knowledge by students? Are games able to modify a student's 'attitude? If games are as effective- as (or even more effective than)other techniques, bow does one explain this phenomenon? What ddvantages do games offer teachers as they develop their curriculum? If the answers to these questions were readilv available and positive, ,the rationale for utilizing gaines in tlie science curriculum would be apparent. In fact, though, they have not ,been answered .1w systematic research e'ven though stiidies have been ,conducte(i with varying de- grees' of success. As with much social .research, the conclusions drawn from many of the studies are in direct conflict with conclusions from other studies..This does not mean, however, that some benefit cannot- be gained fi'om the research or from discussing the value of simUlation gaMing as a science teaching strategy. Numerous game theorists Claim that simulation gaming can teach factual knoWledge to include speeifie terms, concepts, facts, of relation- ships between items) For example, certain science games may be designed to teach the names ollab equipment, the concept of. food Chains, the processes associated with science in general,or the 'relation- ships of the cell organelles with their functions. These expeiis feel that students learn factual information from games because of the immediate reward the students receive' from using the information correetlY during play. Thus students are motivated to learn the infor: Illation SO that it can be utilized correctly during play of the game to provide the player With sonie type of advantage. Games do provide students with oppoi tunities to utilize the knowledge learned in an active manner. Many theorists also maintain that students may increase their critical- thinking and decision-making skills during the play of certain types of games.2 They assert that many games call for the careful scrutinyof several factors (critinhthinking) before a decision is made by a player' I Samuel A. 1_,ivinw;ton and Clarke Stall, Simulation Games An Introduction forthe &idol gtudies_Tealgic.r_ 12n,s,i, 1973), p 2 Sivasanarn Thiagaritjan, '.`Camegame 11", Phi.Delta Kappan, 60" ( March 197-1), p. 47,1. that affects his status in the game. Taylor and \Valford state that cer- tain games are designed so that -issues must be treated on their merits, alternative strategics must be devised and attempted, resuks observed, and conclusions drawn. on the basis of direct experience," Many game enthusiasts are quick to point out that plavers may make realdifc decisions without suffering severe consequences. Thus gaining provides students with tlw opportunity to explore complex, situations. critiCallY analyze the information available, and formulate iMportant decisions without fear of personal lastinu-, penalty. Investi(2,ators have also looked into the questioli of knowlekereten- tion as it relates to gamilor. It would seem that the active utiliz..ii`ion of factual knowledge would enhance the retention of that knowledge OVer a longer pertpd of time but conclusions from research studies are in- consistent oil this point, One might well expect students to retain a piece of information low,c.r if the% have had. opportunities to recall the facts and utilize them in critical am:1l\sis ui deeisionanaking processes. The fact that a game might constinitiv require students to recall sp.- cifie bits of information would lead (mne to suspect that they mitffit- be able to recall it readily at u later-date. Basic learning theorists agree that retention is enhaneed by the !lumber of times an item is presented to a student. Many games are designed so that information is not only presented