Nature and Human Learning in Lower Secondary School: Using the Food Chain Game

Abstract

The food chain game is a teaching material that was practiced by Imura (2002). In this game, students are divided into three groups of producers, prey, and predators to foster the students’ understanding of population change over time. The food chain game and my study thereof was introduced into my lower secondary school science class on an experimental basis. This study aims to discern what kind of change happens in students’ views and in their method of scientific thinking, and to assess the pedagogical effectiveness of the game from the changes in their views and thinking. The results of this study revealed that the food chain game was effective to enhance students’ motivation and to foster active learning. They could acquire the perspective that predator and prey co-vibration, but could not acquire the temporal perspective that population fluctuations on the part of predators are necessarily delayed. It was further suggested that students who played the food chain game could make more detailed description than students who attended the regular lesson on that topic.