Biology bingo opens on 6 cards of 4 × 4 drawn from 96 terms. Cells, genetics, ecology, and evolution and classification each have a list of 24, one pick away.
Read the full guide
Read the definition, not the term
In Call the game, each term comes with a one-line definition. For allele it reads: One version of a gene, out of the two or more that exist. Read the definition alone and give students a moment to find the term. To check a win, have the student give the meaning of each covered term.
Match the game to the unit
Mid-unit, pick that unit's list: a card then holds 16 of its 24 terms. With 25 cards, a first line usually takes 5 to 9 calls from one list and 16 to 32 from all 96.
The genetics list holds the pairs students mix up: genotype and phenotype, homozygous and heterozygous, transcription and translation.
Questions and answers
How do you play biology bingo?
Each student gets a different card of terms. You read a definition, and anyone with the matching term covers it. Four in a row, across, down or diagonal, wins on a 4 × 4 card.
Which biology terms are on the cards?
96, in four lists of 24: cells (ribosome, vacuole, osmosis), genetics (allele, codon, karyotype), ecology (biome, niche, trophic level), and evolution and classification (taxon, phylum, genetic drift).
Where do the definitions come from?
Each is written in plain words for this page and checked against the genetics glossary of the US National Human Genome Research Institute or Wikipedia, chiefly its Glossary of biology. The list under the cards gives every term with its definition.
All 96 terms
Cells 24
cellThe basic unit of structure and function in every living thing.
cell cycleThe ordered series of events in which the genetic material is copied and one cell becomes two.
cell membraneThe thin, semipermeable layer that surrounds the cytoplasm.
cell wallA tough, often rigid layer just outside the membrane in plants, fungi and most prokaryotes.
centrioleA cylinder made mostly of the protein tubulin, found in most eukaryotes.
chloroplastThe organelle in plants and algae where photosynthesis takes place.
cytoplasmAll the material inside the membrane except the nucleus.
cytoskeletonA network of protein filaments that runs through the cytoplasm.
endoplasmic reticulumA eukaryote's linked network of flat sacs and tubes, each enclosed by a membrane.
enzymeA protein that works as a catalyst: it makes a chemical reaction in a living thing go faster.
eukaryoteAn organism that keeps its DNA in a nucleus with a membrane of its own.
flagellumA lash-like tail that sticks out from some bacteria and some eukaryotes.
Golgi apparatusThe organelle that packs proteins into vesicles before they are sent to where they are needed.
lysosomeA membrane-bound organelle whose enzymes break down proteins, lipids and other large molecules.
mitochondriaOrganelles with a double membrane that make ATP, a source of chemical energy used all over the cell.
mitosisThe division of the nucleus in which copied chromosomes are separated into two new nuclei.
nucleolusThe region inside the nucleus where ribosomes are produced and assembled.
nucleusThe membrane-bound organelle that holds the chromosomes.
organelleA specialized part inside a cell that has a job of its own.
osmosisThe movement of a solvent such as water across a semipermeable membrane toward the side with more solute.
prokaryoteAn organism with no true nucleus.
ribosomeThe structure of RNA and protein where proteins are built.
vacuoleA membrane-bound sac found in every plant and fungal cell and in some animal cells.
vesicleA small bubble of fluid with a lipid bilayer around it.
Genetics 24
alleleOne version of a gene, out of the two or more that exist.
carrierAn individual who can pass on a mutation linked to a disease and may show no sign of it.
chromosomeA threadlike structure of protein and one long DNA molecule.
codonA run of three nucleotides that stands for one amino acid.
DNAThe molecule that carries the genetic information of an organism, built of two strands wound around each other.
dominantDescribes a trait that shows when only one copy of its allele is inherited.
double helixThe twisted-ladder shape of a DNA molecule.
gameteA reproductive cell, such as an egg or a sperm.
geneA segment of DNA with the information to make an RNA or a protein; the basic unit of inheritance.
genomeAll of a cell's DNA instructions, taken together.
genotypeThe collection of genes an individual carries.
heterozygousHaving inherited a different allele from each parent.
homozygousHaving inherited the same allele from each parent.
karyotypeAn individual's complete set of chromosomes, or a picture of them arranged in order.
meiosisThe kind of cell division that forms egg and sperm cells, each with half the chromosome number.
mutationA change to the sequence of an organism's DNA.
nucleotideThe building block of DNA and RNA: a sugar, a phosphate group and a base.
pedigreeA family-tree diagram that shows how a trait is inherited through several generations.
phenotypeThe traits of an individual that can be observed: height, eye color or blood type, for example.
recessiveDescribes an allele whose effect is masked when a dominant one is present.
RNAA molecule much like DNA, but with a single strand.
traitOne particular characteristic of a living thing.
transcriptionThe process that copies a gene's sequence into RNA.
translationTurning the sequence of a messenger RNA into a chain of amino acids.
Ecology 24
autotrophAn organism that builds complex organic compounds from simple substances, usually with energy from sunlight.
biodiversityHow varied and how variable life on Earth is.
biomassOrganic matter from organisms that are alive or were alive not long ago.
biomeA very large ecological area of the Earth, often defined by its climate, with plants and animals adapted to it.
decomposerAn organism, such as a bacterium or a fungus, that breaks down dead or decaying organisms.
ecological pyramidA diagram of the biomass or productivity at each trophic level.
ecologyThe branch of science that studies how organisms interact with their environment.
ecosystemA community of living things together with the non-living parts of their environment, working as a system.
endangered speciesA species that is very likely to die out in the near future.
food chainA single line of who eats whom, often from a producer up to a top predator or a decomposer.
habitatThe area whose resources let a particular species survive and reproduce.
heterotrophAn organism that has to take its nutrition from other organisms because it cannot make food itself.
hostA living organism that gives shelter and food to another organism living in or on it.
introduced speciesA species living outside its native range that got there through human activity.
nicheAn organism's role in its environment: the way it gets food and shelter, survives and reproduces.
nitrogen fixationThe process that turns nitrogen gas from the air into ammonia, typically carried out by microorganisms.
photosynthesisThe process by which plants, algae and some bacteria turn sunlight into chemical energy stored in sugars.
pollinationCarrying pollen from a plant's male part to a female part, most often the work of animals or wind.
populationAll the organisms of one species that live in the same area and can interbreed.
predationAn interaction in which one organism kills and eats another.
successionThe more or less orderly change in the makeup of an ecological community over time.
symbiosisTwo different organisms living in a close relationship that lasts a long time.
trophic levelThe position an organism holds in a food chain.
zooplanktonPlankton that feed on other organisms instead of making food from sunlight; most are microscopic.
Evolution and classification 24
adaptationA trait with a function, kept and shaped by natural selection, that fits an organism to its environment.
archaeaOne of the three domains of life; the other two are Bacteria and Eukaryota.
artificial selectionHumans choosing which animals or plants will reproduce, to control the traits of the offspring.
bacteriaMicroscopic, single-celled prokaryotes; with Archaea and Eukaryota, one of the three domains of life.
binomial nomenclatureThe formal system that gives each species a name of two parts in Latin form.
convergent evolutionSpecies from separate lineages each developing similar characteristics on their own.
evolutionChange, from generation to generation, in the characteristics that populations inherit.
extinctionThe end of a kind of organism, with the death of its last individual.
fitnessAn individual's genetic contribution to the next generation, usually counted in surviving offspring.
founder effectThe loss of genetic variation when a few individuals from a larger population start a new one.
gene poolAll of the genes, or genetic information, in a population.
genetic driftRandom change, from one generation to the next, in how common a version of a gene is in a population.
genetic variationDifferences between the genomes of members of a species.
invertebrateAn animal that has no backbone.
macroevolutionEvolutionary change on the scale of whole species or larger groups.
microevolutionChange in allele frequencies within a population over time.
natural selectionThe process in which organisms better suited to their environment tend to survive and reproduce.
paleontologyThe science that reads the fossil record to learn the history of life on Earth.
parallel evolutionRelated species with a shared ancestor each developing a similar trait.
phylumThe rank of classification that sits between kingdom and class.
speciationPopulations evolving until they have become separate species.
speciesThe narrowest main rank in the classification of living things, and its basic unit.
systematicsThe scientific study of biodiversity: naming new species and arranging them into classification schemes.
taxonOne or more populations of organisms grouped together and treated as a single unit of classification.