A Card-Sorting Activity to Engage Students in the Academic Language of Biology

Abstract

The activity described in this article is designed to provide biology students with opportunities to engage in a range of academic language as they learn the discipline-specific meanings of the terms “drug,” “poison,” “toxicant,” and “toxin.” Although intended as part of an introductory lesson in a comprehensive unit for the high school level, this approach to teaching academic language can be adapted for use with older or younger students and can be modified to teach other terms.

Simplifying Biology Vocabulary via Morphology

“…In a liberal arts college in the Midwest, one instructor designed a card game to teach students biological vocabulary and received feedback that it "helped with terminology and figuring out and connecting words and ideas together" (Burleson & Olimpo, 2016). Further, one instructor put together a card sorting assignment to make students organize chemical substances (Wallon et al, 2017). By learning about the substances as they sorted them, students quickly identified what distinguished one from the others and what details were most important.…”