Chemistry Everyday for Everyone
Using Games To Teach Chemistry. 1. The Old Prof Card Game Philip L. Granath* Crockett Junior High School, Odessa, TX Jeanne V. Russell** Chemistry Department, The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, 4901 E. University Blvd., Odessa, TX 79762
Many students taking introductory chemistry have confessed that they start the class with much apprehension and fear. Some have heard stories about how hard chemistry is and others have previously had a poor experience in chemistry. Therefore, like many others (1), we at The University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) have used both puzzles and games to try to make learning chemistry more fun and interesting (2). The “Old Prof ” card game was developed and has been used for the past two years in our first General Chemistry laboratory session as an “icebreaker.” We feel that it has worked well in several ways and would like to share our experiences with others who may consider adopting it for the same or similar pedagogical reasons. Game Description The “Old Prof ” card game is a cross between Old Maid and Go Fish. There are 24 pairs of cards containing the symbols of the most common elements and one “Old Prof ” card, for a total of 49 cards in the deck. The goal is to obtain both cards of a like pair and lay them down. However, the students must name the element correctly to do this. Thus it is necessary for them to learn element symbols as well as the correct name for each element. The game can be played with 3 to 9 players. Rules of the Game • •
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The dealer shuffles the cards and deals out the entire deck. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each person asks another student, by name, for a certain symbol. The card does not need to be in the player’s hand. If the player gets the card, it is still his or her turn. If the player does not receive the card, he or she must choose a card from that student’s hand. However, the player can lay down any pairs that he or she can name before the next player’s turn begins. The play continues around the group to the left (clockwise). The game is over when one student has no cards left. The winner is the person who has laid down the most pairs and the loser is the person holding the “Old Prof ” card. The winner and loser can be the same person.
First Laboratory Session As in most schools, the first laboratory session is dedicated to checking out lockers and going over safety rules, leaving about an hour and a half of the session. The next task was to introduce the student to our computer tutorials, but we currently have only six computers in our computer laboratory and about 20 students in each laboratory session. Therefore, the students are divided into groups; some students Figure 2. The Old Prof card. work on the computers while others play the “Old Prof ” game, and then the groups switch activities. The advantages of this situation have been that students find the game fun and relaxing (see Fig. 1). While some students are still intimidated by computers, playing a card game like “Old Prof ” (as easy as Old Maid) is very nonthreatening. Since they call each student by name to request the card that they want, they learn each other’s names. Thus the students make their first contact with their peers in a relaxed atmosphere. Creation of the Cards The cards have been made using a word processor and a color printer (although a black-only printer could be used). Using a table format, the page is divided into 8 cards in a landscape orientation. The symbols are printed in the center of each card. The back of the card is decorated in color with an atomic motif. One card contains the “Old Prof ” instead of a symbol (see Fig. 2). The cards are printed on card stock first on one side and then on the other. The card stock is laminated and the cards are cut apart. Cards constructed in this manner have held up for several years through several laboratories each year, with little damage. Acknowledgments
*Undergraduate student at The University of Texas of the Permian Basin when this work was done. **Corresponding author. Email:
[email protected].
We wish to acknowledge Caroline Burgess and Teresa Rogers, who have helped test this game in their laboratory sessions. Kari Rogers drew the “Old Prof ” picture after the fashion of the I2R Calendar for Scientists. It is published with permission from Instruments for Research and Industry, I2R, Inc., Cheltenham, PA.
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 76 No. 4 April 1999 • Journal of Chemical Education
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Chemistry Everyday for Everyone
Figure 1. General Chemistry students playing the “Old Prof” game.
Literature Cited 1. A review of the literature found 67 games for such purposes: Russell, J. V. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 481. 2. Russell, J. V. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 487.
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Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 76 No. 4 April 1999 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
