Community Review of Thingdom | Common Sense Education

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Teacher Review for Thingdom

Christine F.
Classroom teacher
Van Wyck Junior High School
Wappingers Falls, United States

My Subjects English Language Arts

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Engagement

Pedagogy

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Classroom feedback

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.

Cute-but lacks critical thinking

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