Brainball

Teaching Inquiry Science as a Team Sport

By (author) Mickey Kolis, Todd Lenz, Benjamin H. Kolis

Paperback - £35.00

Publication date:

18 March 2014

Length of book:

196 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

227x154mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781475808889

What is a game? You might think of cards and dice, computers, or sports. You might even think of music or theater as games. But what about Science? Games have rules, players, and objectives, but, maybe most importantly, games are fun. People play games because they think they are “fun,” and sometimes they even learn some important lessons. Classrooms are intended to teach important lessons, and sometimes people think they are fun (not nearly often enough).

Brainball (Science Edition) is designed to combine the best of both worlds! Science Inquiry is the game and learning the intended outcome! Veteran science teachers Kolis and Lenz provide small step-by-step 5E’s lessons and an inquiry-based sequence to guide you through that first learning experience so that you too can play the game of Brainball (Science Edition)!
I love all of the different viewpoints: professor, teacher, and student. This made the book practical, rather than so many other theoretical education-related books. I thought the book had a very nice flow to it – professional when needed, yet candid at times to give my mind a break.

This book forces you to think about the fundamentals of teaching and learning and makes science inquiry seem simple and practical, with the added lessons in the final chapter (great idea, keeps the skeptics at bay). Brainball (Science Edition) is an easy read with many "ah ha" moments along the way. I highly recommend this for any high school or middle school science teacher, school administrator, or curriculum leader.