Game of Life

Kids are endlessly full of energy, and it can be especially difficult to channel that pizzazz within a classroom. After concluding our 2 poetry lessons with dozens of small hands determinedly scribbling, I thought it would be a good change to go outside for a little bit during my next lesson. The topic of our new lesson was decomposition, and we discussed the whats and hows of decomposers and life without them. However, to further expand their understanding of a detritivore's role, I decided to plop them into a simulation — a game of freeze tag! One student had a dark arm band and took on the role of death. Three students had light arm bands and took on the role of decomposers. The remaining students were plants and animals. Death was not allowed to freeze the decomposers, but they could freeze the plants and animals. The freezing indicates the dying of an organism. To be unfrozen, a decomposer has to run around that plant or animal 3 times. This action represents to breaking down of an organism and the fact that it takes longer than just a tag. The game has no natural end because the flow of energy and nutrients goes on and on.

After a few minutes, I proposed a hypothetical situation... What if there were no decomposers? What would happen to all the plants and animals? We resumed the game and it soon became very clear. Quickly, students began to "pile up." With no decomposers, the dead plants and animals just stay there! Gross, right? This portion of our game help establish the importance of decomposition.

While this activity had educational value, it was also so fun! I even got into the game and was chasing these very spry young people. I didn't remember them being so quick! But what made my day was when one of the students went up to his teacher afterwards and asked if they could play again during recess. My heart smiled. The fact that my students were genuinely engaged fueled my purpose. A purpose of education, support, and sense of community.