Creative Role-Play Encourages Deeper Science Learning

Learning how the body works becomes an adventure as sixth grade students embark on a biology-based narrative journey at game-based learning school Quest to Learn. 

March 11, 2014

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For 12 weeks, sixth graders in my class embark on a learning adventure based on the misadventures of a fictional character called Dr. Smallz. The class is a hands-on, inquiry-based, integrated science and math course. Students get a chance to be scientists, designers, makers and players as they learn all about human body systems, cellular functions, and the ability of the human organism to maintain dynamic equilibrium. The Dr. Smallz Mission is a great example of the type of game-like learning experience that creates a powerful "Need to Know" in students, leaving them hungry to learn more.

Microscopic Message

Who is Dr. Smallz? My students will describe him as if he's an old friend. He's a clumsy, disorganized, well-intentioned medical doctor who decides to diagnose a patient's mystery disease by taking a closer look inside the body. Without the knowledge of his bosses at Shrinkley Labs, he puts himself in their newly-developed shrinking machine (which has not yet been tested on humans), boards a microscopic ship designed to withstand the tough interior conditions of the human body, and rides the air current of an inhalation to get inside his patient's respiratory system. Unfortunately, during the shrinking process, his brain gets a little bit jumbled up, and he experiences amnesia specific to all of his medical vocabulary. He finds my class through an Internet search, and is sure that we'll be able to assist him.

The adventure starts with a "micro-postcard." I begin the trimester teaching my students how to use microscopes, and when they receive samples to analyze, they're under the impression that they will just be looking at a few plant cell samples. But when they switch their microscopes on, they find an encoded message -- microscopic letters and numbers that they decode to find a website address. When I go to that URL and project Dr. Smallz' first communique to the students on my SmartBoard, you can hear a pin drop in the classroom. Jaws are hanging open, and eyes are bright with wonder and amazement.

Credit: Institute of Play
Students in Leah Hirsch's classroom work on a mission.

Leveling Up at Mission Control

In Dr. Smallz’ first dispatch to us, he explains his situation, provides some clues of his whereabouts and sends some photos of the view from his ship’s windows. After a class discussion, my students determine his location, and this is where our Need to Know really comes into play. My students usually agree that he's somewhere in the throat or nasal passage. At this point, I ask them:

From this point onward, they're hooked. The Doctor’s communiques provide clues about the mystery illness his patient is suffering from. In the end, students use the clues to diagnose the patient with Dengue Fever, advise Dr. Smallz on the best treatment, and find him the safest route out of her body (they usually decide to take him through her ear). While my students give Dr. Smallz advice and information on the body, I embed assessment into the narrative, asking them to create films, posters, travel guides, emails, etc.

Students learn about the body by "leveling up" -- as they become experts in one body system, they are able to "unlock" the doctor’s safe passage into the next body system. As the narrative progresses, Dr. Smallz' movements and decisions become increasingly influenced by the advice from my students, allowing them to chart the course of their own learning and serve as mission control for Dr. Smallz' journey. The students are immersed in what they're learning because they develop a sense of empathy for both Dr. Smallz and his patient.

Building Narrative, Inviting Inquiry

The Dr. Smallz Mission is a multi-layered narrative, but the Need to Know is simple -- my students want to learn about the body systems because they want to help this character, and it's fun for them to feel as though they have a hand in shaping the course of the doctor's travels within the body. Creating meaningful Need to Knows not only allows me to engage hard-to-reach learners, but it has also pushed the limits of my creativity in the classroom and kept me engaged as well!

Here are some steps to design a Mission that creates a Need to Know in your classroom:

Designing Your Mission

Institute of Play's Q Curriculum Design Pack has a number of worksheets and resources to help you design your own Mission.

You can even try the Dr. Smallz Mission Pack in your own middle school science classroom.

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Filed Under

  • Game-Based Learning
  • Inquiry-Based Learning
  • STEM
  • Science
  • 6-8 Middle School

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