Glencoe Science Level Green

Unit 5: The Interdependence of Life

Nitrogen cycle review game

Project Type: Model
Have pairs of students design a review game with cards or a game board that demonstrate the nitrogen and oxygen cycles, and how all life is interdependent. All game parts should be assembled in an environmentally friendly, student-made box with complete directions and user recommendations. Have students present their work, and then have students rotate through different stations as an end-of-unit review.

Ideas: cards/game board type
These are only suggestions.
Cards type:

• Memory/matching: one card is a term and the second is a definition or description
• Go fish: 2-4 students, each student is dealt 5-7 cards and is looking for the matching card where one card is a term and the second is a definition or description

• Move around a board to different squares to answer questions about the topic (i.e. plant, animals, bacteria, nitrogen in the atmosphere, fixed nitrogen, etc). The Nitrogen cycle resource site has an image that could be used as a game board starting point
• Spelling out a word that pertains to the Nitrogen cycle, with particular spaces and letters being worth more points. Students could use paper, cut into squares, as the letters.

Time:
1 class period to brainstorm ideas, 1 week to work on the game at home 1-3 days at the end of the chapter/unit to rotate through the different game/stations

Resources:
Use the following web sites to help students understand the nitrogen cycle.

Nitrogen fixation
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/N/NitrogenCycle.html
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/9s.html

Nitrogen Cycle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_cycle

Encyclopedia
Type in "nitrogen cycle"
http://www.encyclopedia.com

Oxygen cycle
http://paos.colorado.edu/~fasullo/pjw_class/oxygencycle.html
http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/environ/m3/s4/cycleOxygen.shtml

Rubric:

Click here for a rubric to help score this project. (65.0K)