Evolution in a Box
The project “Evolution in a Box” aims to develop and provide teaching materials for school lessons on the topic of “evolution”. The finished box contains 12 games that can be played by 2-4 players in 15 minutes. Each game deals with a different aspect of evolutionary biology and is reinforced with a corresponding worksheet. The games are also suitable for non-specialist teachers, e.g. for stand-in classes and can be played from the 7th grade onwards.
The games were passed on to interested persons in school. Unfortunately, there are no more games available.
This is how "Evolution in a Box" came about
In the summer semester of 2013, 30 secondary school teaching degree students dealt with the playful teaching of aspects of evolutionary biology under the direction of Susanne Weller. Accompany us on the different stages of development of “Evolution in a Box”:
At the beginning, the students revised the most important concepts of evolutionary biology and worked through the current textbook literature.
Using various newspaper articles and secondary literature, the students discussed the topic of “creationism”. Thanks to the various secondary subjects, such as theology and philosophy, many different points of view could be examined.
While developing the games, we examined the following questions:
- What ideas do students have about “evolution”?
- Where are specific difficulties in understanding?
- What kind of misconceptions are there?
- What characteristics does a game have to have in order to remain exciting?
First prototypes were examined over and over again…
After a busy final phase, the finished games and worksheets were presented and evaluated.
The finished games were intensively revised graphically by Verena Lohmüller and then printed. Students, institute staff and volunteers worked together to pack individual parts into the boxes and label them.
The special commitment of the students made this project possible and we would like to give special thanks for the kind support to
Tefa cardboard packaging (www.tefa.de)