Brainstorm and win: How do different organs and organ systems work together to release energy from food; and what is aerobic respiration all about? | tricider

Using "tricider" a question answering program to stimulate discussion and dialogue in Biology:

I posted this question for my year 9 students:

How do different organs and organ systems work together to release energy from food; and what is aerobic respiration all about?

Students could log in with their Google account and post ideas to answer the question.

Others could add 'arguments' which either added some extra detail, or corrected an imperfection in the original post. The students were really keen to participate, but they didn't want to look stupid, so they researched their answer first.

You can see the result of 30 minutes of class time in the link.

powered by tricider

The question was carefully chosen to present a challenge which required linking simple facts into an explanation. It was easy to set up, and the prizes were a real motivator to students. Prizes were awarded to the three answers with the most votes (I gave out cheap Merits) and random 'spot prizes' to three students who voted. Once I'd chosen to end the task, Tricider even sent emails to the students who were awarded prizes telling them so and a summary of the results.  This is an activity well worth trying again.

'via Blog this'