Can You Imagine It?

Science Activity

This activity will give students the opportunity to practice their research skills while discovering fascinating bits of information about the world of science.

WHAT YOU NEED

Reference materials, such as almanacs, books of records, field guides, nonfiction books
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 __________ days.
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.

TEACHING OPTIONS

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 championship.

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