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Teacher Review for Thingdom

Cute-but lacks critical thinking

Christine F.
 Classroom teacher
Van Wyck Junior High School
Wappingers Falls, United States
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My Subjects English Language Arts
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My Rating
Learning Scores
Engagement
Pedagogy
Support
My Students Liked It No
My Students Learned No
I Would Recommend It No
Setup Time Less than 5 minutes
Great for Further application
Individual
Great with General
Low literacy
How I Use It
This can best be used to reinforce how genetics works and the results of the combination of certain traits. It does little to teach concepts and does not require much critical thinking on the part of the student since it gives them the prediction. In other words, students don't have to pay much attention to the combinations since the percentage of the likelihood of a trait showing up is revealed.
My Take
This is a cute appealing game that starts off strong. Definitions of key genetic terms are given up front, and students can select their "thing" and name it. In fact, giving the students choices is one thing that is good about this game. However, too much time is spent on impressing the potential mate, and while it may be true that in the natural world, animals sometimes perform elaborate rituals to obtain a mate, this point may be lost on the learner. Time could be better spent analyzing traits and making prediction that are tested, not outright given. Students may come away from this having a better understanding of genetics in general, but won't get an opportunity to truly test their knowledge.