Active Learning Activities

Biologist Says: Mini-Game for Recalling Biology Terms

A familiar and easy to implement game to help students with recall of biological terms.

BioQuest: Mini-Game for Categorizing Biology Terms

A fun consolidating activity at the end of a topic or unit to help students categorize and consolidate biological terms.

Keeping Up With the Trends

This activity is aimed at getting students to write sound, scientific rationales for observed phenomena.

Hemoglobin Hustle: An Adaptation of Race for the Hat

Used the Race for the Hat activity to create a Jeopardy-style session on blood & blood disorders for a pathophysiology class.

Crash Course: Collision Theory

Students use PhET simulation to learn how factors affect reaction rate (collision theory) through hands-on activities

To Pass or Not to Pass: Acting out Membrane Transport

Aim of the activity is to increase students’ understanding of molecules’ movement through the cell membrane.

Don’t go NUTS: A Case Study on the Physiology of Stress

Feeling Feverish: Homeostasis of Pyrexia

Peerwise Assignment: Human Body

Instructional Survey

The aim of this activity is to provide students with an overview of survey design and execution.

Vénus d’Ille: Police Enquiry

This activity has students challenge the literal meaning of a text (ie. the supernatural explanation for a murder).

Rock Paper Scissors Lizard

Sustainability Development Plan (Part 1 and Part 2)

In this activity, students learn to define sustainability and apply this to a single Montreal neighbourhood. 

Mouse Coat Colour

Fireweed and Seals, oh my! Mini Cases in Population Ecology

Let There Be Light! ATP and Cellular Respiration

In this activity students explore data from a study of cellular respiration.

The Sailing Iguanas: A Mini Case in Speciation

AR’e You Talking to Me? Mini Case Study in Cell Signalling

Now you see me, Now you don’t: Fluorescent Tagging Membranes

Cytoskeletal Proteins in Amoeba

Taking the role of a biologist, students statistically determine how different drug treatments can affect amoeba cell shape.

What Numbers Tell us about Enzyme Inhibition

PCR CAG HUNTING’ton

Disappearing Sea Otters

Students take the role of an ecologist and try to analyze species behaviours and predict population change.

Photosynthesis: Light Dependent Reactions