Gene Rummy Card Game
February 26, 2018
The bunny-themed card game that helps teach the basic principles of Mendelian inheritance.
We’ve all heard the idiom: “breeding like rabbits”.
Well, here is a card game that brings it to life!
No smell, no fuss, no need for cages!
Here’s a visual way to learn the jargon and the basic principles of Mendelian inheritance while playing a fast-paced card game.
Gene Rummy is a variation of Gin Rummy, which is one of the most popular card games of the mid-20th century, and still popular today. Here at Mink Hollow Media, we’ve been looking for a way to combine our expertise in teaching and science with our decades of first-hand experience playing around with coat colors in rabbits. We think you will enjoy our take on this classic card game, and invite you to learn about the principles of Mendelian Genetics and Inheritance along the way.
Through playing the game and matching phenotypes w/ genotypes as well as determining what can be produced given a specific phenotype, players will learn basic principles of genetics:
This looks like a fun little game. You can buy a novice version, the full version, or a combination novice+full version. I haven’t tried it in glass yet (I don’t teach grade 11 biology) but the novice version is fast and easy to pick up. When you buy the game you also get lesson plans giving suggestions for how to use it in class.
Linked on the grade 11 biology page.
We’ve all heard the idiom: “breeding like rabbits”.
Well, here is a card game that brings it to life!
No smell, no fuss, no need for cages!
Here’s a visual way to learn the jargon and the basic principles of Mendelian inheritance while playing a fast-paced card game.
Gene Rummy is a variation of Gin Rummy, which is one of the most popular card games of the mid-20th century, and still popular today. Here at Mink Hollow Media, we’ve been looking for a way to combine our expertise in teaching and science with our decades of first-hand experience playing around with coat colors in rabbits. We think you will enjoy our take on this classic card game, and invite you to learn about the principles of Mendelian Genetics and Inheritance along the way.
Through playing the game and matching phenotypes w/ genotypes as well as determining what can be produced given a specific phenotype, players will learn basic principles of genetics:
- Familiarity with the standard genotype notation.
- Terminology: homozygous, heterozygous, gene, allele, locus, genotype, phenotype, dominant, recessive
- Gene pairs code for specific traits
- Separate alleles on different loci can interact
- Genes combine to produce more complex effects
- Phenotype vs. genotype
- Homo- vs heterozygous effects
This looks like a fun little game. You can buy a novice version, the full version, or a combination novice+full version. I haven’t tried it in glass yet (I don’t teach grade 11 biology) but the novice version is fast and easy to pick up. When you buy the game you also get lesson plans giving suggestions for how to use it in class.
Linked on the grade 11 biology page.
Gene Pool Card Game
February 26, 2018
Join the fight against rare genetic diseases by becoming a DNA engineer in Gene Pool, the new fast-paced mind-bending card game! Use strategy and spatial thinking to mutate, invert, delete and insert your way to success! Gene Pool is a card game for two players, ages 10 and up, and takes about 20 minutes to play.
How do you play Gene Pool? You will be competing with your opponent to repair important genes of various length and difficulty with gene therapy. Make these repairs by modifying and rearranging a common DNA sequence. Your current genetic research goals are private, and are only revealed when they can be found within the DNA sequence. Continue repairing genes until one player completes enough research to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the game!
Featuring amazing new artwork by Ariel Seoane, this edition has significant improvements in aesthetics and design. Along with exciting game play, Gene Pool retains all the scientific accuracy from earlier editions, and can be used to demonstrate the concepts of genetics across all levels, from molecular models and double helix structure, to individual chromosomes and the whole genome.
This is the third time Gene Pool has been made available, having sold out of a first hand-crafted edition of 200 copies in 2006, and again selling out of a second limited self-published run of 500 copies in 2009.
Goadrich Games will again be donating a portion of the profits from Gene Pool to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), a non-profit dedicated to rare disease education, research, and advocacy.
This two-player card game teaches about inserting, deleting, and transposing genes in a DNA sequence. It is simple and fast. I haven’t tried it in class, but I look forward to playing it with my grand-niece.
Linked on the grade 12 biology page.
How do you play Gene Pool? You will be competing with your opponent to repair important genes of various length and difficulty with gene therapy. Make these repairs by modifying and rearranging a common DNA sequence. Your current genetic research goals are private, and are only revealed when they can be found within the DNA sequence. Continue repairing genes until one player completes enough research to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the game!
Featuring amazing new artwork by Ariel Seoane, this edition has significant improvements in aesthetics and design. Along with exciting game play, Gene Pool retains all the scientific accuracy from earlier editions, and can be used to demonstrate the concepts of genetics across all levels, from molecular models and double helix structure, to individual chromosomes and the whole genome.
This is the third time Gene Pool has been made available, having sold out of a first hand-crafted edition of 200 copies in 2006, and again selling out of a second limited self-published run of 500 copies in 2009.
Goadrich Games will again be donating a portion of the profits from Gene Pool to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), a non-profit dedicated to rare disease education, research, and advocacy.
This two-player card game teaches about inserting, deleting, and transposing genes in a DNA sequence. It is simple and fast. I haven’t tried it in class, but I look forward to playing it with my grand-niece.
Linked on the grade 12 biology page.
Fixed link to Here Comes Science
February 11, 2018
Fixed the link to Here Comes Science, a really cool science-themed children’s album by They Might Be Giants.
Linked in the grade 9 and 10 general science pages.
Linked in the grade 9 and 10 general science pages.
Phylo: Coral Reef Deck
February 11, 2018
This deck, hosted by the World Science Festival, is an "expert" STARTER deck due to the unconventional food chains in the habitat being represented. It includes a variety of organisms that are relevant to coral reefs ecosystems. Note that this "advanced" game has been play tested for kids ages 10 and up.
The WSF Coral Reef Deck was produced in collaboration with the 2012 World Science Festival‘s coral reef exhibit, Reefs As Never Before Seen. The exhibit premiered on May 31st, 2012, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
This is a beautiful Phylo deck. You can download it from the Phylo website or have a copy professionally printed at The Game Crafter.
In addition to the reef ecosystem, the game includes event cards for threats like shoreline development, ocean acidification and warming, and too many scuba divers. These make it a useful activity for both the grade 9 ecosystems and grade 10 climate change units.
Linked in the grade 9 biology unit and the grade 10 climate unit.
The WSF Coral Reef Deck was produced in collaboration with the 2012 World Science Festival‘s coral reef exhibit, Reefs As Never Before Seen. The exhibit premiered on May 31st, 2012, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
This is a beautiful Phylo deck. You can download it from the Phylo website or have a copy professionally printed at The Game Crafter.
In addition to the reef ecosystem, the game includes event cards for threats like shoreline development, ocean acidification and warming, and too many scuba divers. These make it a useful activity for both the grade 9 ecosystems and grade 10 climate change units.
Linked in the grade 9 biology unit and the grade 10 climate unit.
Subatomic: An Atom-Building Board Game
February 10, 2018
Subatomic is a deck-building game themed around the intersection of particle physics and chemistry. Players start with a hand of Up Quarks, Down Quarks and Particle/Wave Duality cards, which they use to form protons, neutrons, and electrons. Players combine these subatomic particles to either build available Elements or buy even more powerful cards for their deck.
Players start with a hand of 5 cards. They use their Up Quarks and Down Quarks to create Protons and Neutrons, and use their Particle/Wave Duality Cards to create Electrons.
They can either use these Subatomic Particles to either purchase Subatomic Particle cards that get mixed into a player's starter deck, making it more powerful, or build up the atom on their player mat (in order to claim Element Cards, which are what score them points).
When a player claims an Element, they also place two Goal Markers on the board, competing over control for additional end game points. At the end of the game, you'll get points for End Goals based on the Elements you built during the game IF you have the most or second most Goal Markers on any given End Goal.
Player can also remove weaker cards from their deck (cull their deck) by Annihilating cards from their hand for a cost of 2 energy.
I backed this game on Kickstarter, after playtesting it a couple of times. While too complicated to fit into the regular science classroom, it would make a useful addition to a school gaming club's library.
Linked in the grade 9 chemistry unit and grade 12 modern physics unit.
Players start with a hand of 5 cards. They use their Up Quarks and Down Quarks to create Protons and Neutrons, and use their Particle/Wave Duality Cards to create Electrons.
They can either use these Subatomic Particles to either purchase Subatomic Particle cards that get mixed into a player's starter deck, making it more powerful, or build up the atom on their player mat (in order to claim Element Cards, which are what score them points).
When a player claims an Element, they also place two Goal Markers on the board, competing over control for additional end game points. At the end of the game, you'll get points for End Goals based on the Elements you built during the game IF you have the most or second most Goal Markers on any given End Goal.
Player can also remove weaker cards from their deck (cull their deck) by Annihilating cards from their hand for a cost of 2 energy.
I backed this game on Kickstarter, after playtesting it a couple of times. While too complicated to fit into the regular science classroom, it would make a useful addition to a school gaming club's library.
Linked in the grade 9 chemistry unit and grade 12 modern physics unit.
CO2: Second Chance Board game
February 09, 2018
In the 1970s, the governments of the world faced unprecedented demand for energy, and polluting power plants were built everywhere in order to meet that demand. Year after year, the pollution they generate increases, and nobody has done anything to reduce it. Now, the impact of this pollution has become too great, and humanity is starting to realize that we must meet our energy demands through clean sources of energy. Companies with expertise in clean, sustainable energy are called in to propose projects that will provide the required energy without polluting the environment. Regional governments are eager to fund these projects and to invest in their implementation.
If the pollution isn't stopped, it's game over for all of us.
In the game CO2, each player is the CEO of an energy company responding to government requests for new, green power plants. The goal is to stop the increase of pollution while meeting the rising demand for sustainable energy — and of course profiting from doing so. You will need enough expertise, money, and resources to build these clean power plants. Energy summits will promote global awareness, and allow companies to share a little of their expertise while learning still more from others.
A game of CO2: Second Chance lasts 4 or 5 decades; in each decade the players alternate taking a certain number of turns (depending on the number of players). During the game, the players must build and develop green power plants to supply the energy demands from all regions of the world. If there are not enough green power plants, the regions will build fossil fuel power plants to cover the energy gap increasing global pollution. If the pollution reaches 500 ppm the game is over and all players lose the game.
In CO2, each region starts with a certain number of Carbon Emissions Permits (CEPs) at its disposal. These CEPs are granted by the United Nations, and they must be spent whenever the region needs to install the energy infrastructure for a project or to construct a fossil fuel power plant. CEPs can be bought and sold on a market, and their price fluctuates throughout the game. You will want to try to maintain control over the CEPs.
Money, CEPs, Green Power Plants that you've built, UN Goals you've completed, Company Goals you've met, and Expertise you've gained all give you Victory Points (VPs), which represent your Company's reputation — and having the best reputation is the goal of the game … in addition to saving the planet, of course.
I backed this project on Kickstarter (where you can find a walkthrough of the game if you want to check it out). It looks too complicated (and expensive) to use in one of my classes, but I could see a group of students really enjoying it. If your school has a gaming club it would make a good addition!
I suspect that the place for this in the classroom would be as a long-term game (in cooperative mode) where teams of students make one move per period, with the teacher handling all the logistics and dice-rolling between classes). I did something similar with Tribes and it worked well. To make it work you'd need a place you could leave the game out undisturbed for weeks, and the flexibility to take 5-10 minutes out of every period for the duration of the game.
Linked in the grade 10 climate unit.
If the pollution isn't stopped, it's game over for all of us.
In the game CO2, each player is the CEO of an energy company responding to government requests for new, green power plants. The goal is to stop the increase of pollution while meeting the rising demand for sustainable energy — and of course profiting from doing so. You will need enough expertise, money, and resources to build these clean power plants. Energy summits will promote global awareness, and allow companies to share a little of their expertise while learning still more from others.
A game of CO2: Second Chance lasts 4 or 5 decades; in each decade the players alternate taking a certain number of turns (depending on the number of players). During the game, the players must build and develop green power plants to supply the energy demands from all regions of the world. If there are not enough green power plants, the regions will build fossil fuel power plants to cover the energy gap increasing global pollution. If the pollution reaches 500 ppm the game is over and all players lose the game.
In CO2, each region starts with a certain number of Carbon Emissions Permits (CEPs) at its disposal. These CEPs are granted by the United Nations, and they must be spent whenever the region needs to install the energy infrastructure for a project or to construct a fossil fuel power plant. CEPs can be bought and sold on a market, and their price fluctuates throughout the game. You will want to try to maintain control over the CEPs.
Money, CEPs, Green Power Plants that you've built, UN Goals you've completed, Company Goals you've met, and Expertise you've gained all give you Victory Points (VPs), which represent your Company's reputation — and having the best reputation is the goal of the game … in addition to saving the planet, of course.
I backed this project on Kickstarter (where you can find a walkthrough of the game if you want to check it out). It looks too complicated (and expensive) to use in one of my classes, but I could see a group of students really enjoying it. If your school has a gaming club it would make a good addition!
I suspect that the place for this in the classroom would be as a long-term game (in cooperative mode) where teams of students make one move per period, with the teacher handling all the logistics and dice-rolling between classes). I did something similar with Tribes and it worked well. To make it work you'd need a place you could leave the game out undisturbed for weeks, and the flexibility to take 5-10 minutes out of every period for the duration of the game.
Linked in the grade 10 climate unit.
Updated Molecular Models for Balancing Equations
February 07, 2018
Added template equations to the activity, suitable for setting up stations in an applied class.
Linked in the grade 10 chemistry unit.
Linked in the grade 10 chemistry unit.
In Our Time: Cephalopods
February 01, 2018
In Our Time is a wonderful series on BBC Radio 4.
The octopus, the squid, the nautilus and the cuttlefish are some of the most extraordinary creatures on this planet, intelligent and yet apparently unlike other life forms. They are cephalopods and are part of the mollusc family like snails and clams, and they have some characteristics in common with those. What sets them apart is the way members of their group can change colour, camouflage themselves, recognise people, solve problems, squirt ink, power themselves with jet propulsion and survive both on land, briefly, and in the deepest, coldest oceans. And, without bones or shells, they grow so rapidly they can outstrip their rivals when habitats change, making them the great survivors and adaptors of the animal world.
Linked in the grade 11 biology course.
The octopus, the squid, the nautilus and the cuttlefish are some of the most extraordinary creatures on this planet, intelligent and yet apparently unlike other life forms. They are cephalopods and are part of the mollusc family like snails and clams, and they have some characteristics in common with those. What sets them apart is the way members of their group can change colour, camouflage themselves, recognise people, solve problems, squirt ink, power themselves with jet propulsion and survive both on land, briefly, and in the deepest, coldest oceans. And, without bones or shells, they grow so rapidly they can outstrip their rivals when habitats change, making them the great survivors and adaptors of the animal world.
Linked in the grade 11 biology course.
Updated CO2 Food Activity
February 01, 2018
Minor updates to the CO2 food activity in the grade 10 climate unit.
Teaching Science