Hangman

• You can utilize the classic Hangman game to help students learn and remember scientific vocabulary terms. On the blackboard, draw the gallows. Choose a scientific term apropos for the grade level, such as "continental drift" if you are working on geology. Draw blank lines to represent each letter in the term or phrase. Students, in turn, guess a letter that might be in the mystery phrase. If the student is correct, write the letter on the appropriate blank line. If the student is wrong, draw a part of a stick figure onto the gallows, starting with the head. If a student guesses a letter correctly, they have the opportunity to guess the phrase. The idea is to guess the phrase correctly before the entire stick figure is drawn and hung.
  
  

Who Wants to Be a Geologist?

• You can incorporate the TV quiz show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" to help students with scientific vocabulary. Create 15 multiple choice question -- four choices per question. The questions should increase in difficulty and value as the game progresses. Create three "hints" for each question. The student is presented with a question such as, "What is the material that forms the Earth's hard surface?" If she answers correctly, she moves on to the next question. She may use any of her three hints along the way. If she answers incorrectly, she is out of the game and a new game is started with another student.
  
  

Flashcards

• Flashcards have long been a tool for teaching younger students vocabulary; it works well for scientific terminology as well. This works especially well for Earth science. Write a scientific term on one side of the card (index cards work nicely) and the definition on the back. For example, write "Magma" on one side of the card and "Molten rock made from the mantle" on the other. Hold the card up so the student can see the term, then let them guess the definition. Flip the card over and let them see the answer and whether they've matched it. They must move through the stack of cards as quickly as possible. Note how many out of the pile they got right. Of course, you can alter the game for other scientific disciplines.
  
  

Matching Squares

• This game is similar to the old TV game show, "Concentration." On the blackboard, create a large square and divide it into 16 smaller squares, much like a checkerboard. Write scientific terms into eight of the squares and their definitions into the remaining eight. Go around the room and ask students to match a term to the proper definition. If they are matched correctly, erase the term and definition so that those squares are now blank. If incorrect, move on to the next student. Continue until all the spaces are blank.