I love a good station activity, especially a Heredity review station activity. If you are looking for an active Mendelian genetics review, then STATIONS is the way to go! In this blog post, I’ll share with you how I run these stations so you can create your own (or snag my pre-made ones).
But first, have you been looking for different ways to engage your Biology students? Then grab your FREE COPY of the ULTIMATE ENGAGEMENT GUIDE!
Why I Use Stations
When it comes to test review in biology class, swapping out the solo study grind for learning stations is a game-changer. Students hop from one station to the next, tackling review questions with their group, allowing for dialogues of the content. Station work lets students work to help each other understand and explain material in different ways. I find that students can work through difficult problems with each other and eventually figure them out…oftentimes without needed me.
Mendelian genetics (or the Inheritance unit) is FULL of punnett squares. I try to do a different type of inheritance each day while studying the unit, with lots of practice in between. They seem to be doing alright understanding the type of inheritance while we are on that topic, but as soon as another is introduced, they forget what we were just learning…YIKES! This can be frustrating, which is why I LOVE my heredity test review stations.
Mendelian Genetics Test Review Setup
I have the stations copied in color, laminated, and hang them around my room. I spread them out so that my students are not on top of one another tying to complete each stations. There are 10 station total, each one covering a different topic in the unit we have learned. The students are also provided an answer sheet to record their answers as they move from one station to the next.
How I Run My Heredity Review
Since there are 10 stations, I will break my students into groups for them. I like to have mixed abilities in groups, but I never put high with low abilities. Mainly because they each can become frustrated with one another. When I mix groups, I put high with high or medium, and low with low or medium. This helps stretch my students but not get annoyed. I evenly divide them into these 10 groups, usually 3-4 students depending on my class size.
I then assign a start station for each group and have them go there to complete that station first. I go back and forth with using a timer for each station and letting them move freely to each station. It really depends on the class dynamics that semester. If I have a rowdy group, then I definitely use a timer. My more low-key classes can get away with moving on their own as they complete the stations. Do what works best for your class.
After they have completed the stations I do one of two things. I either go over the answers in class the next day if I did the review 2 days prior to testing. Or, if the test is the next day, I’ll post the stations and answer key online for students to check their own work. Either way you do it, I let this serve as my students heredity study guide.
I cannot emphasize enough how much I love using stations for this unit review. When they can discuss the punnett squares and figure out where each other went wrong in a group, this can help them tremendously because it is a small, low-stakes setting.
Give them a shot and let me know how it goes!
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