Woodlice or students?

Instead of using woodlice and a choice chamber to study behaviour, use students and your classroom - a role play.

Ask four students to leave the room. Get the other students to rearrange the tables so that there are four large tables.

On two tables have female students and on the other two have male students. On one of the male and one of the female tables put some food. Leave the other two tables without food.

You should have set up tables with the following:
1 girls and food
2 boys and food
3 girls no food
4 boys no food.

Invite the students outside the room back in, one student at a time. Inform them that there is a new seating plan, and that they can sit wherever they like.

The students inside the class should record where the entering student decides to sit.

What made this activity go well
Students engaged more than if they had used woodlice and choice chambers.

They got to eat a little food.

There is a lot to evaluate, and students did this very well because they were involved. For instance, one student was not motivated by food or gender because he decided to sit with his friends; the food was not identical on both the tables so this affected students' decisions.

Last updated: 7 February 2008