Share Squares

Time needed

20 minutes

Why do it?

Use this activity to help students meet each other and learn about their environmental backgrounds.

Materials

Preparation

  • Make one copy of the handout for each student in class.

Directions

  1. Pass out one handout for each student.
  2. Ask the students to pick one environmental experience they have had and use it to fill in the blank square on their handout. Ask them to sign their name under what they have written.
  3. Then ask students to walk around the room and introduce themselves to each other. As they introduce themselves, ask them to find people who have had one of the experiences listed on their sheet, who will then sign their name in that box. This process is best done among the entire group, rather than in smaller sub-groups.
  4. The first person to have a full sheet wins.
  5. When the group has returned to their seats, call out some of the more interesting categories on the sheet (or those most relevant to the class), and have everyone who has had that experience raise their hands. This will give a quick visual picture of the group’s background. Then ask students to volunteer some of the environmental experiences that they wrote into their blank boxes.

Adaptations

  • Change the experiences listed within the boxes to better reflect your students’ background, or to more closely match your course content.
  • Use the worksheet like a BINGO card. The first person to get signatures for four boxes in a row wins.