At the beginning of my teaching career, I had to face a number of difficulties that almost led to the end of this very career. As it turned out later, almost every young teacher faces similar problems. Several years ago I dealt with the problem of using didactic games in biology lessons. At that time, this topic was interesting and relevant to me. I would like to share my developments and results with the readers of our newspaper.
Wherever we are, we are surrounded by animals and plants. But studying biology does not only mean getting to know the species composition of flora and fauna, knowing individual representatives. This is the study of a large number of concepts and definitions, laws and patterns. Our main task is to make such work interesting and exciting, at the same time scientific and informative, to increase the activity of students, interest in the subject.
You cannot force students to think, reflect on this or that task, question. With the help of the game, we are captivating, not forcing. Activity has a positive effect on both the processes of thinking, memorization, increasing this ability and enhancing the strength of the memorized. This can be achieved in various ways: by showing experiments, organizing different types of observations, an unusual story, etc.
The game situation contributes to a faster and more accessible assimilation of knowledge and skills. This is necessary, since modern conditions are characterized by the humanization of the educational process, an appeal to the personality of the child. The implementation of this task objectively requires a new approach to teaching, to the organization of the entire cognitive process. In addition, the modern school requires teaching each child to learn independently. The more independence we provide to students in performing learning tasks, the more effective the learning process will be. This is a good reason for the wider use of games in organizing the learning process.
At the same time, an equally important requirement of our time is to reduce the mental and physical overload of schoolchildren. The game is one of the means that contains real possibilities for the implementation of these directions of the school.
An example of an interactive game for children:
1. The design of this diving object was based on the structural features of the frog's hind limbs. (flippers)
2. Insects (mosquitoes, mosquitoes, etc.) never bite amphibians, although their skin is bare. Why? (they are protected by the poisonous secretion of the skin glands)
3. A frog, dipped in a jug of milk, protects the milk from souring. How can this fact be explained? (mucus contains bactericidal substances)
4. The frog's head is wide and flattened, has a triangular shape, why? (cuts water when moving in water)
5. Can a frog chest x-ray be taken? Why? (no, she has no ribs and chest)
6. Why do they say that a frog has a “topsy-turvy” tongue? (the front end of the tongue is attached to the bottom of the mouth, the back is free and turned inward)
7. Why are frogs called the first saliva of the planet? (they were the first to have saliva to swallow dry food)
8. If you put dead insects next to a hungry frog, it will not touch them. Why? (frogs only grab moving prey)
9. In numerous experiments, the lungs of frogs were removed. After that, they lived for 20-40 days. But if their skin was lubricated with oil, then the animals died after 3-4 days. Why? (Frogs breathe mainly through their skin)
10. As you know, the skeleton of a frog lacks a rib cage. How does the air necessary for breathing get into the lungs of the frog? (due to the movement of the bottom of the oral cavity)
11. From the villagers you can sometimes hear the following phrase: “in my garden the toads ate all the strawberries”. What are they wrong and what are the toads doing in the strawberry beds? (toads eat slugs, not strawberries)
12. Scientists have long noticed the strange behavior of common hedgehogs. Having caught a toad, the hedgehog digs its teeth into its parotid glands, after which it abundantly moistens its needles with saliva secreted from the mouth. How to explain this behavior of a hedgehog? (This is how he fights his parasites)
13. Frogs are good at hearing sounds in the air. So, if you go to the shore of the pond and scare one frog, then all the nearest ones, as if on command, will start jumping into the water. On the other hand, you can shout loudly, whistle, shoot a gun – the frogs will not move. Why?
14. Frogs are often called pop-eyed because of their large eyes. It is noticed that at the moment of swallowing food, the eyes for a moment “disappear” from the surface of the frog's head. Why does a frog need such large eyes and where do they disappear when swallowing? (Eyes help push food).
The game, like any other means, becomes an educational factor only if a number of conditions are met. The main one is our attitude towards children, which changes for the better, and is expressed through playful techniques. We ourselves must actively participate in the game, and not be outside observers.
The didactic game in the lesson helps to change the emotional atmosphere, which becomes more lively, relieves stress, fatigue and allows students to tune in to assimilate new information. But didactic play cannot be regarded as entertainment or recreation in the classroom.
Observations show that many teachers have not entirely correct attitudes regarding didactic play. The teacher still has a lot of methodological recommendations at the disposal of the teacher, which, along with effective didactic games, offer those that only distract students and take away precious lesson time. It is no coincidence, apparently, even in the latest editions of textbooks on pedagogy, as well as the methods of individual subjects intended for students, there is no description of didactic games.
In practice, however, there are many times awkwardness, inability of individual teachers when turning to didactic games. Some of them forget during the game about the didactic problem, which must be solved with its help.
The methods of well-known educators-innovators interconnect the learning and leisure of the child. For all their differences, they imply the imperative of the fascination of learning. Neither activation nor optimization of the educational system led to advanced teaching, did not combine into one process (not always and not everywhere it is necessary) knowledge through interest. Nowadays, no doubt, education should be developmental, serious and exciting, but not stupefying; it must necessarily be guided by the theoretical experience, knowledge and emotional world of the child. The search for innovative teachers, the best teachers in the country is proved by the importance of liberated forms and methods of classes, the use of games.
