Can You Imagine It?
This activity will give students the opportunity to practice their research
skills while discovering fascinating bits of information about the world
WHAT YOU NEED
- Reference materials, such as almanacs, books of records, field guides,
- Index cards
WHAT TO DO
- Divide the class into four research teams. Pass out 30 index cards
to each team.
- Direct teams to locate 20 amazing and/or interesting facts about some
topic in science. Each team should choose a different topic. This might
include weather, reptiles, dinosaurs, other prehistoric animals, rocks or
minerals (including volcanoes), and mammals. Students are to write one
factual statement per a card. Each card must include the reference source
so that someone can follow up on the subject.
- The format of the statements might be as follows:
- The largest snake ever recorded was a __________ that was
__________ feet long and weighed __________ pounds.
- The eruption of the __________ volcano created [ ] islands in a span of
- On the other 10 cards, students must write 10 amazing and untrue
"facts," using a their imaginations but making the information sound real.
When they finish, the teams should have a total of 30 cards each, with a
2-1 ratio of true to false cards.
- The directions for the game are as follows:
- Pair each team with one other team. (Note that two games will be going
on at the same time.) A student from one team reads a fact and asks a
student on the other team, "Can you imagine it?"
- The other student considers it and must answer either "Yes, I can
imagine it" or "No, I can't imagine it."
- A right answer (that is, recognizing a true fact and accepting it or
recognizing a falsehood and rejecting it) is worth 10 points.
- Teams alternate turns (as do students within each circle) until the
cards (or time) run out.
- If it is a true fact and a student answers in the negative, he or she gets
the card and must, after the game, look up the information
and write a few sentences about the topic.
- You may wish to have the winning teams play each other for the
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