Muscle Bingo

Introduction

Learning the name, location and function of the muscles in the human body is one of the most demanding sections in any anatomy and physiology class. This review game will help students in identifying the names, locations and functions of the muscles in the human body.

Concepts

• Anatomical direction
• Muscle structure and function

Materials

Prelab Preparation

1. Before beginning the activity, consider laminating the muscle bingo choice sheet or place them into sheet protectors. This will greatly increase their durability and longevity.
2. Permanently mark any items that were not covered in class with an “X” on the choice sheets. These names may be given to students as free spaces.

Procedure

1. Give each student a bingo card and approximately 25 bingo chips. Small containers such as paper cups may be helpful for distributing and holding the bingo chips.
2. Give the names of any items not covered in class and have the students place bingo chips on any of these muscles as free spaces.
3. Remind students that they should place a bingo chip on any squares that name the muscle being described as it is called.
4. Remind students that “bingo” should be called if they have five squares in a row covered, whether vertically, horizontally or diagonally.
5. Remind students to leave their bingo chips in place once a bingo is called until the win has been verified by the teacher.
6. Call out the description, location and function of a muscle. Mark the item with a light pencil mark on paper or with a transparency marking pen if the choice sheet has been laminated or is contained within a sheet protector.
7. Continue to call out different muscle descriptions, locations, and functions until a win has been confirmed. Erase the pencil marks or use a damp paper towel to erase the transparency pen marks from the choice sheet between rounds.
8. The winner of each round may get points or a small prize as you deem appropriate.
9. Consider finishing with a “cover-all” round, where the winner is the first to cover the entire card.

Student Worksheet PDF

10838_Teacher1.pdf

10838_Teacher2.pdf

Lab Hints

• Enough materials are provided in this kit for 30 students. This review activity can reasonably be completed in one 50-minute class period.
• In order to check for understanding, encourage students to raise their hand if they can identify the muscle, even if the muscle name does not appear on their bingo card.
• Point to or move the appropriate muscle as the clue is read.
• Use student volunteers for calling out the component descriptions and common names. Saying the words aloud helps to reinforce the terms.
• The muscle bingo choice sheet can also be used as an impromptu quiz. Instead of using the bingo cards, simply call out 10 names and have students write out the description, location, and function.
• This game works extremely well as an engaging and fun review of the muscles. However, the game can also be played as an introductory learning tool for familiarizing students with the terms used when describing muscles. In this case, you may consider calling out the description, location, function, and the name of muscle. Seeing and hearing the description and the name together can help students in the learning process.

References

Hole, J. W. Human Anatomy and Physiology, 5th edition; Wm. C. Brown Publishers: Dubuque, IA; 1990.