LARP: Live Action Role Play

Participants are assigned characters and asked to represent biological processes to break up the more formal classroom environment in a fun, often humorous, and productive way. The key to a good classroom LARP is creating situations where students must make decisions by applying their biological knowledge. Role playing involves giving students rules to follow and goals to achieve; not simply following a script. For difficult concepts, especially molecular processes for which students have little context, a LARP can help students gain a frame of reference that is otherwise missing, and they can be used in classes ranging from middle school science to Advanced Placement Biology.