Geology Bingo Cards

The popular image of most sciences is one of being about general laws, theories and mathematical formula. Thus, we tend not to think of science subjects as requiring the study of many facts and details. Indeed, just like in other science subjects, students of geology need to become familiar with numerous facts. In geology these range from the names of geological periods and eras, to types and properties of different minerals, and of course the terminology used to describe various geological processes.

Consequently, one of the key challenges that teachers face when educating their students in geology, is finding ways to get these facts across in an interesting and memorable way. The most effective way for students to learn is by participating in educational activities which will genuinely arouse their interest. For example, games with educational themes can be a very effective teaching tool, and as a result, more and more teachers are adopting them. In particular, one such educational game that is gaining widespread popularity is bingo.

Bingo turns out to be ideally suited to educational environments. The beauty of bingo is that almost everyone already knows how to play, and those few who don't can quickly learn how, as well as the fact that bingo can easily be adapted to teaching virtually any subject, including geology, by using bingo cards printed with words or phrases related to geology, instead of numbers. Furthermore, and quite importantly, given the financial constraints teachers work under nowadays, the game has the advantage that it does not require expensive specialist materials.

To play geology bingo in class, every student is given their own printed bingo card, the teacher acts as the bingo caller, and then you play. Of course, the teacher might decide to adapt the game play so as to better suit their class, perhaps by having a classroom discussion after each item is called out, or by requiring students to describe the items that they have marked off on their bingo cards.

Of course, if you want to play geology bingo in class, you will need to obtain some bingo cards containing items related to the subject. The best way to obtain these bingo cards, is by simply printing them yourself using your computer. This is completely straightforward, either by using ready-to-use bingo printables that are available online, or by using easy-to-use bingo card maker software, which can print whatever kinds of bingo cards that you might want.

By S. Tanna. For free geology bingo card printables, please go to http://www.bingocardscreator.com/bingo_geology.php

To create your own custom bingo cards, please go to http://www.bingocardprinter.com/

Bingo Card Creator Software

At some point in their lives, most people have played the game of bingo, but even those who haven't probably do know how to play the game. Even if you don't know however, it's very easy to learn!

1. One person acts as the bingo caller and referee.

2. The other participants are all players.

3. Each of the players is given a bingo card containing a grid of squares, each square containing a number.

4. The bingo caller calls out numbers in a random order, and the players mark off any square on their cards which matches the number.

5. When a player gets a complete line across his card (vertical, horizontal or diagonal), he calls out "Bingo!". The first player to call bingo is the winner.

6. If you prefer a longer game, instead of a single winning line you can require two or more complete lines, or even players to mark off every single item on their bingo card.

So far so good - you're probably already familiar with all the above. Today however, variations on the standard game, most frequently using bingo cards containing customized items based around a particular theme (instead of numbers), are growing in popularity.

Some examples include:

- Bingo has become very popular with teachers. This is because it can be adapted to almost any lesson or subject, and thus become a fun as well as educational classroom activity.

- Holiday bingo is played using cards relating to a particular holiday. For example a Christmas-themed game would be played using cards containing words like "angel", Bethlehem or "shepherds". Of course there are many other holidays around the year which can be used to inspire specially themed bingo games, including New Year, Valentine's Day, July 4th, and Halloween.

- Wedding and baby shower bingo are also growing in popularity. As you might expect, these variants are played using words relating to weddings or babies.

If you fancy playing any of these versions of bingo, you will of course need bingo cards relating to your chosen theme. While it may be possible to obtain preprinted cards for certain (not all!) themes from a specialist publisher, the cheapest and most flexible option is almost certainly to print them yourself using your computer. If you use some bingo card creator software, you can simply put in a list of the possible items, and the software will generate as many different cards as you want.

By S. Tanna. For free bingo card printables, please go to http://www.bingocardscreator.com/
To create your own custom bingo cards, please go to http://www.bingocardprinter.com/