Science words for Alias — physics, chemistry, biology

Physics, chemistry, biology and everything on a lab bench. For a group that liked science class.

A set about how the world works and how people check it: test tubes and microscopes, atoms and cells, laws and experiments. No scientists' surnames and no formulas — only words you can explain on your fingers.

Who this set is for

It is for a group where somebody misses the chemistry room. Everyone knows a magnet and a microscope, but catalyst or osmosis need someone who did not sleep through the lessons.

Who this set is for

A group with students, teachers and people who watch popular-science videos instead of series. The easy level — magnifier, bulb, rainbow — is fine for children too. The medium one — reaction, voltage, chromosome — is the most fun at a mixed table. The hard one — entropy, titration, meiosis — asks for at least one person from a science faculty. A good choice for a department evening or after a visit to a science museum.

Magnet

Works: “the thing on the fridge that holds the shopping list.” A household object instead of physics. Does not work: “a body that creates a field” — the group will say planet, current, antenna.

Catalyst

Works: “a substance you add so the reaction goes faster while it is not used up itself; there is one in a car's exhaust pipe.” Does not work: “a reaction accelerator” — accelerator and reaction come to mind on their own, and without them the definition is empty.

Osmosis

Works: “why a cucumber in salty water shrivels: the water goes through the wall to where it is saltier.” Does not work: “the passage of a solvent through a membrane” — the textbook word for word, and the group is silent.

Where groups go wrong

The first trap is textbook definitions: “a physical quantity that characterises…” — the group hears words and sees no picture. Come in through the household: the fridge, the kettle, a battery. The second is surnames and formulas: “the one with the apple”, “e equals m c squared”. Some will remember, some will not, and the word is still unsaid. The third is explaining one term through another: ion through charge, charge through electron. If the group does not know the first, it will not know the second. Say where it happens in real life.

Explain physics through the kitchen: "why the lid on the pot jumps" is steam and pressure.
Chemistry goes through what you can see: the colour changed, it foamed up, something settled at the bottom.
Biology goes through your own body: "what hurts when you overeat" is closer to the word than "a digestive organ".

Easy

Familiar words that land on the first clue. For warming up, for kids and for mixed groups.

science, scientist, laboratory, experiment, test, tube, flask, microscope, magnifier, magnet, battery, bulb, wire, current, spark, fire, water, ice, steam, boiling, thermometer, degree, heat, cold, weight, scales, ruler, clock, second, number, formula, problem, answer, book, notebook, blackboard, chalk, teacher, pupil, class, lesson, question, invention, discovery, robot, rocket, planet, star, sun, moon, earth, air, oxygen, gas, liquid, metal, iron, gold, glass, stone, sand, salt, sugar, acid, soap, bubble, foam, drop, wave, sound, light, shadow, rainbow, colour, mirror, lens, goggles, cell, germ, virus, bacteria, plant, animal, insect, bone, heart, brain, blood, tooth, eye, ear, growth, food, vitamin, pill, doctor, coat, gloves, force, motion

Medium

Takes a few sentences and some imagination. The default setting for an ordinary evening.

physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, geology, mathematics, geometry, algebra, theorem, hypothesis, theory, law, proof, conclusion, observation, measurement, error, sample, reagent, solution, sediment, reaction, catalyst, filter, stand, burner, alcohol, ether, iodine, chlorine, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, helium, lithium, sodium, copper, silver, mercury, lead, uranium, element, table, isotope, ion, electron, proton, neutron, nucleus, charge, voltage, resistance, conductor, insulator, circuit, contact, switch, coil, capacitor, resistor, diode, transistor, chip, generator, engine, turbine, lever, pulley, pendulum, spring, friction, pressure, vacuum, density, volume, mass, inertia, momentum, gravity, acceleration, frequency, wavelength, amplitude, spectrum, laser, x-ray, ultrasound, radiation, gene, chromosome, heredity, mutation, evolution, species, membrane, enzyme, hormone, protein, molecule, energy

Hard

Rare or abstract words. More failed rounds, and more laughing at them.

entropy, enthalpy, thermodynamics, quantum, quark, boson, fermion, lepton, hadron, superposition, entanglement, tunnelling, diffraction, interference, polarisation, refraction, dispersion, resonance, coherence, fluorescence, luminescence, phosphorescence, radioactivity, nuclide, valence, covalent, electrolysis, electrolyte, oxidation, reduction, polymer, monomer, isomer, catalysis, titration, chromatography, spectroscopy, crystallisation, sublimation, distillation, extraction, adsorption, osmosis, diffusion, colloid, suspension, emulsion, fermentation, hydrolysis, synthesis, analysis, substrate, indicator, litmus, genome, nucleotide, peptide, ribosome, mitochondrion, cytoplasm, chloroplast, mitosis, meiosis, gamete, zygote, cloning, transgenic, antigen, antibody, pathogen, symbiosis, parasitism, mutagen, carcinogen, homeostasis, metabolism, adaptation, taxonomy, phylogeny, ontogeny, embryology, histology, cytology, virology, epidemiology, placebo, randomisation, correlation, regression, variance, median, statistics, probability, paradox, axiom, integral, derivative, logarithm, superconductivity, plasma