Brainball: Teaching Inquiry Science as a Team Sport

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)!

Table of Contents:
Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction Section 1: Brainball! Chapter 1: Brainball (Science Edition) – The Point of the Game is Learning Chapter 2: The Big Ideas: Product, Process, and Community aligned with Purpose Chapter 3: Brainball (SE) Beliefs (Dispositions) Chapter 4: Brainball (SE) Key Concepts (Knowledge) Chapter 5: Brainball (SE) Skills Section 2: Five Coaching Tips Chapter 6: Tip 1: Keep the End-in-Mind Chapter 7: Tip 2: Play the Game Chapter 8: Tip 3: Competitions as Evaluations Chapter 9: Tip 4: Sequences matter Chapter 10: Tip 5: Explicit Communications Section 3: Day-to-Day Lesson Plans: Brainball Illuminated Lesson 1: Perceptions Lesson 2: Observations Lesson 3: Patent Description Lesson 4: Problem Statements Lesson 5: Picking Problem Statements Lesson 6: Gathering Information Lesson 7: Gathering Information Lesson 8: Hypothesis Lesson 9: Null Hypothesis Lesson 10: Experimental Procedure Lesson 11: Experimental Design Lesson 12: Presenting Data (Tables) Lesson 13: Presenting Data (Graphs) Lesson 14: Analyzing Data Lesson 15: Writing a Conclusion Section 4: A More Integrated Example! Chapter 11: All together now! Conclusion Appendix A: Community Roles Appendix B: S.C.A.M.P.E.R. Appendix C: Shifting Points of View Story Appendix D: Circle of Power and Respect Appendix E: Why Observations Matter / SRP Chart Appendix F: Recipe for Catalase Solution Appendix G: Idea Evaluator Appendix H: Checklist for Science Lab Appendix I: Bad Directions Appendix J: Data Table Assignments Appendix K: Graph Assignments Appendix L: Choosing the Appropriate Statistical Test Appendix M: Social Contracts Appendix N: Dialogue Appendix O: Team / Community Building Books

About the Author :
Mickey Kolis is the author of three books, a veteran public school science teacher, and currently a university professor. Making learning relevant is his highest professional aspiration. Todd Lenz lives with his family in Altoona, WI where he has been a high school science teacher for 16 years. In addition to “wondering” about things he enjoys reading and being active. Benjamin H. Kolis is an actor and theatre devisor in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His show CLOCKED recently won an Audience Pick Award at the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

Review :
Combining the best perspectives from two worlds--team sports and science classrooms--Brainball offers a fresh perspective on the learning and teaching of science. The authors contend that not unlike real science, games are the transformation of theory into practice; they require a clear goal, are dynamic, and yet have a clear set of rules. The ultimate aim of the so-called game is science learning, and Brainball is a teaching methodology that embraces the complexity of science education and brings it to life. Sections 2 and 3, along with the numerous appendixes, will appeal to novice teachers, as they offer straightforward guidance, including a chapter on assessment along with series of lesson plans that present a scripted narrative to help instructors immediately bring these ideas to the classroom setting. . . .[T]his one offers easily accessible, down-to-earth strategies for science teachers across the K-12 continuum. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections. 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. I wholeheartedly agree with the trajectory of the book, which in my view seeks to prepare teachers to teach in ways that foster what is indeed meaningful learning. This project has in mind the betterment of people (and thus society), and I am invigorated as an educator by this emphasis. The writing is also organized to partner philosophical vision with practical descriptions of what such a vision would look like in the classroom. Without such an emphasis, convincing people to change their practice is (understandably) a distant long shot….I found [the writing style] to be accessible and entertaining. Brainball is a purposeful and process-driven set of teaching strategies that gets kids to take on the role of being a scientist. The book focuses on creating experiences for science students to “problem notice and problem solve” through a specific set of processes. Lessons in Brainball challenge students to be creative, share their ideas, strategize procedures, analyze data, and reflect on their learning. This book is also an excellent resource to help guide teachers in intentionally planning to get students to develop positive dispositions, collaborative teams, and supportive communities where everyone contributes and everyone has a role.