🎓 Biology as Poetry Terms Challenge

Study, Quiz, and Play Your Way to Vocabulary Mastery

by Professor Stephen T. Abedon Steve Abedon, Ph.D., has taught well over 100 individual courses over his 30+ years as a college professor. He has over 150 publications and is ranked in the top 1 or 2 percent among researchers of all disciplines worldwide. His research focuses on bacteriophage biology and phage therapy.

biologyaspoetry.org | phage.org | phage-therapy.org | abedon.phage.org | google scholar

What is this? An interactive vocabulary study and quiz tool for biology and other subjects. Choose a term set in the Terms tab, then study with flashcards, multiple choice, typing, or clicking; play the matching game; take a graded test; or play the vocabulary game board. Build your own term sets in the Build tab — no coding required.

🔒 Privacy: everything runs entirely within your browser. No data of any kind is sent to any server.

For an eclectic collection of additional term lists, see Mostly Not Biology in the Terms tab.

Additional Terms · termschallenge.biologyaspoetry.org (or tc.biologyaspoetry.org) · Abedon's Books

How can I improve this page? contact: termschallenge@biologyaspoetry.org

Study Mode

📄 Glossary

All terms and definitions listed alphabetically. Good for first read-through.

🃏 Flashcards

Definition on front, flip to reveal the term. Self-rate as you go.

🔘 Multiple Choice

Pick the correct term from 4 options. Click from word bank also works.

⌨️ Type the Term

Type your answer. For non-Latin alphabets, type the name (e.g. "sigma") — the actual symbol is also accepted.

👆 Click to Enter

Word bank above — click a term to answer. Type-in also works.

🎯 Match

Go to the Matching Game — click pairs to match terms with definitions.

Options

Show definition → reveal term (uncheck to reverse) Show word bank (not available in Glossary) Auto-advance on correct answer Loop — continue until you choose to stop

Draw Order

Through Deck

Each term once per pass

Random Draw

Pure random, with replacement

Smart Draw

Missed terms reappear more often

📚 Combine Term Sets ▸

Using: Chapter 1 · Change in Terms tab ↗

Session timer: minutes

Build the medical term that matches the definition below. Click the correct part in each column. Double-click a chip to reveal it.

Definition

tap = Know It · double-tap = Show It

Term

Definition

Term Bank — click to answer

Definition

click a term above, or type below…

📊 Session Complete

Matching Game

Match each term to its definition. Click a card to select it, then click its partner to make a match. Matched pairs disappear. Clear the board as fast as you can!

Number of pairs

3–25 pairs per round

Draw mode

Random (no repeats until deck cycles) Pure random (with replacement) Smart Draw — harder pairs return more often

Layout

Definitions top, terms bottom Terms top, definitions bottom Mixed (all shuffled together)

Side-by-side Stacked (single column)

Terms source: Chapter 1 · Change in Terms tab ↗

🎯 Round Complete!

🏁 Vocabulary Race

Race to answer all questions correctly as fast as you can. In class: first to finish raises both hands for a bonus point! 🙌

Players

YOUR NAME

🚀

Track Length

Question Type

Wrong Answer

⏱ 0:00

🚀

🏁

Game Mode

🧑 Solo

One player. Type answers, immediate feedback, accuracy tracked.

👥 Multiplayer

2–6 players, honor system. Active player awards points honestly.

🎤 Hosted

Project on screen. Host reads clues aloud, teams buzz in verbally. Click a team name to award points, then ✓ Done to advance.

Players

Up to 6 players

Points

Prefix

Base value

Suffix

Clues worth: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50

Bonus Cell

Include one Bonus cell at a random position

Answer Timer

Enable per-clue countdown timer

Answer Format

"What is:" format: prepend "What is:" to answer field

Applies to Solo mode only. Fuzzy matching still handles the prefix automatically.

Game Board Categories

Number of categories: Default is random selection

Make sure you've selected terms in the 📚 Terms tab first.

Biology as Poetry Terms Challenge —

🎮

No game in progress

Choose your terms in the Terms tab, set options in Customize, then press Game below.

Type "what is ___" or just the term. Not case-sensitive.

Getting Started

Begin in the 📚 Terms tab and choose your term source. Everything else — study, games, tests, races — flows from that selection. Use the tabs across the top or the action buttons at the bottom of the page to switch modes.

📚 Term Sources

🔬 Non-Majors Biology — 15 chapters of core biology vocabulary. Choose a single chapter or an Exam Set (three chapters combined). A loaded chapter's title and term count appear below the grid.

🔬 Common Binomials — Scientific names of ~216 organisms across all kingdoms. Filter by group (Great Apes, Primates, Domestic Animals, Marine Mammals, Birds, Lower Vertebrates, Invertebrates, Model Organisms, Plants, Fungi, Protists, Bacteria) or by 🗺️ Iconic Wildlife with a continent selector (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Australia/Oceania). The continent is auto-detected from your browser timezone. Additional filter: All organisms · Disease-causing only · Non-pathogenic only. Binomials appear in italics; common names in blue.

Ελ Greek Alphabet — All 24 letters in six modes: Name→Symbol · Symbol→All Cases · Uppercase→Name · Lowercase→Name · All Directions · Scientific Uses. Letter names link to Wikipedia. A clickable Greek character palette appears in flashcard and click-to-enter modes.

Rx Medical Terms — Greek & Latin Word Parts — Affixes (prefixes and suffixes), Roots, and Combining Forms, each filterable by type, origin (Greek/Latin), and frequency (Common/Less Common/All). Notation: prefixes end in - (e.g. hyper-), suffixes begin with - (e.g. -itis), roots end in - (e.g. cardi-), combining forms show the linking vowel with /o (e.g. cardi/o → cardiology).

Rx Medical Terms — Anatomical Vocabulary — ~62 terms covering positions, directions, planes, body regions, body cavities, relative position, and movement. Filter by subcategory.

📂 Custom File — Drop a JSON file onto the import zone or browse for one. The file replaces any chapter whose number matches, or loads as a standalone set. See the Build tab for the file format.

A View Glossary button appears under every term collection for quick reference before studying.

🃏 Study Modes

📄 Glossary — All terms listed alphabetically with definitions. Download as .txt or .csv. Biology terms shown in blue; binomials in italic blue with common names in blue; Greek letter names link to Wikipedia; affixes sorted ignoring leading hyphens.

🃏 Flashcards — Definition shown first by default (toggle with Definition First checkbox). Click a word bank chip or tap the card to flip. Correct answers auto-advance with a ✓ flash. Wrong answers stay visible — click the correct chip to confirm.

🔘 Multiple Choice — Pick from 4 options. Distractors drawn from the same term set, making them genuinely challenging.

⌨️ Type the Term — Type your answer; fuzzy matching forgives minor typos. For Greek, type the letter name (e.g. "sigma") or the actual symbol. Accents not required (e.g. "Galapagos" accepted for "Galápagos").

👆 Click to Enter — Word bank of all terms shown above the question; click to answer without typing.

🎯 Match — Navigates to the Match tab.

🔨 Term Builder — Medical word parts only. A compound medical term's definition is shown; choose the correct prefix, root, and suffix from columns of 5. Double-click any chip to reveal its partner in orange. Scored with a running timer.

Draw Order

Through Deck — Each term once per pass, then reshuffled.

Random Draw — Pure random with replacement.

Smart Draw — Missed terms get 2.5× weight; correct terms drop toward 0.4×. The algorithm focuses on your weak spots automatically.

🎯 Matching Game

A grid of term cards (purple) and definition cards (white). Click one card then its partner to match. Correct pairs fade green; wrong pairs shake red. Timer runs per round.

Double-click any card to reveal its partner in orange — counts as a mistake in Smart Draw.

Binomials in Match: All organisms in the selected group are eligible (including Homo sapiens). Binomials appear italic on term cards; common names in blue on definition cards.

Draw modes: Random no-repeat (default) · Pure random · Smart Draw.

Layout: Mixed · Split (terms top, definitions bottom, or reversed) · Side-by-side or Stacked. Mobile defaults to 4 pairs, split, stacked.

🏁 Vocabulary Race

A timed race along a progress track. Answer correctly to move your token forward — wrong answers step you back one space (by default). First to the finish line wins.

🧑 Solo — Race the clock. Default track: 15 questions. When you finish, raise both hands in celebration! In a classroom, the first student to finish can earn a bonus point.

👥 Two Players — Same device, alternating turns. Each player has their own color-coded lane. Customize names and emoji tokens (tap the token to cycle through 12 options).

Options: Track length (10 · 15 · 20) · Question type (Multiple Choice or Type the Term) · Wrong answer penalty (No penalty or −1 step back). Defaults are bold.

Session summary shown at the end: terms source, questions asked, mode, penalty, track length, time, and accuracy — so instructors can spot-check results.

⚙ Options button during or after a race returns to setup without changing your term selection.

⚙️ Customize & 🎮 Game Board

Configure in the Customize tab, then click ▶ Start Game at the bottom (or the 🎮 Game action button).

🧑 Solo — Click any cell, read the clue, type your answer. Fuzzy matching. Optional "What is:" format.

👥 Multiplayer — 2–6 players take turns on the honor system. Turn rotates after each clue.

🎤 Hosted — Project on screen. Host reads clues, teams buzz in verbally. Host clicks a team name to award points.

Categories: Biology chapters organize by topic. Medical terms organize by body system. Binomials organize by taxonomic group or continent. Use the category selector in Customize to choose specific columns, or let the app pick randomly.

Bonus cell, answer timer, and countdown music all configurable in Customize. Timer uses Web Audio API — no sound files needed.

Session auto-saves to browser storage — if you refresh accidentally, a Resume prompt appears.

📝 Test

Five approaches: No Word Bank · Rapid Feedback · Click to Enter · End-Only Feedback · Multiple Choice. Set question count, bonus %, MC distractors, shuffle, and an optional time limit. Only attempted questions are graded.

After a Study or Test session: 📌 Review Missed focuses on weak spots; ⬇ Missed .txt or ⬇ Missed .csv downloads missed terms for targeted practice or import into a spreadsheet.

🔧 Build Tab

Create custom term sets without writing code. Type directly, paste plain text, upload CSV, or drop a JSON file. Assign categories (game board column headers) in the editor table. Download as Chapter JSON, then load via Terms → Custom File. Use Merge to combine multiple chapter JSONs into one exam file.

Custom JSON Format

{ "title": "My Chapter 3 Terms", "chapter": 3, "categories": [ { "name": "Proteins", "clues": [ { "q": "Subunits that combine to make polypeptides.", "a": "Amino acids", "pts": 100 }, { "q": "Linear chains of amino acids.", "a": "Polypeptide", "pts": 200 } ] } ] }

The "chapter" field is optional. If present, the file replaces that chapter's built-in terms throughout the app.

Tips

The app is entirely self-contained — no server, no login, no internet required after loading.
Project the Game Board fullscreen — it scales to fill any screen size.
Exam Sets span three chapters — ideal for comprehensive review before exams.
Smart Draw works across Study, Match, and Game Board — weak spots surface automatically.
Accents are never required when typing answers — "Galapagos", "alpha", and "cardi" all work.
⬇ Missed .csv downloads missed terms as a spreadsheet. ⬇ Missed .txt can be re-imported via the Build tab → Custom File for targeted follow-up practice, or shared with an instructor.
Downloaded glossaries (.txt or .csv) can likewise be re-imported as Custom Files for focused subset study.
The Race session summary is designed for classroom accountability — terms source, question count, mode, penalty, track length, time, and accuracy are all logged so instructors can verify honest play.
For the Greek alphabet, the clickable palette in flashcard and click modes lets you enter symbols without a special keyboard.
In flashcards: tap once or click ✓ Know It to advance without flipping — counts as correct for Smart Draw. Click 👁 Show It or double-tap to flip the card and reveal the answer.
In all study modes, a ← Back button lets you return to the previous card.
For Medical Word Parts with All Origins selected, check Append (Greek) or (Latin) in Options to see the origin language alongside each term — useful when studying etymology patterns.

Test Approach

🚫 No Word Bank

Type the term from memory. Most challenging — matches real exam conditions.

⚡ Rapid Feedback

Word bank visible. Correct answers dim as you use them.

👆 Click to Enter

Word bank visible. Click a term to fill your answer — typing also works.

📋 End-Only Feedback

Word bank visible, no feedback until you submit everything.

🔘 Multiple Choice

4 options per question, no word bank. Set distractor count below.

Number of questions

Leave blank to use all terms

Bonus: no-bank scoring (optional %)

Only applies with No Word Bank

Shuffle question order Auto-advance on correct answer

Time limit: minutes — auto-submits when time's up

Terms source: Chapter 1 · Change in Terms tab ↗

Term Bank

Definition

← Change test settings

📝 Test Complete

Build a Term Set

Create or edit terms and definitions without writing any code, then download a JSON file to load in the Terms tab. Type directly, paste plain text, or drag and drop a file. To build a multi-chapter exam set, build each chapter separately, then use the Merge section below to combine them into one file.

✍️ How to Write a Good Definition (click to expand)

Write definitions to be concise, accurate, and suitable for a high-quality quiz, while staying generally useful.

Concise & simple. Keep it as short as possible for quick reading.
Structure. Use noun phrases rather than full sentences — “Method of…” not “It is a method of…”.
Precision. Distinguish the term from similar concepts (e.g., “Ink-based writing instrument” for pen).
Accuracy. Be specific, but not so narrow that it becomes misleading.
Non-circular. Do not use the term itself or its root in the definition.
Context-dependent. Adjust the level of detail to the subject — a technical term in a general context needs more background than in a specialized one.

Pro tip: write each definition as though it were a quality quiz or exam question, while at the same time keeping it useful generally.

The non-circular rule matters most in this app: in Type the Term and Race modes, a definition that contains its own term hands players the answer.

Share this guide: https://termschallenge.biologyaspoetry.org/#guide Short form: tc.biologyaspoetry.org/#guide — the link opens this app and jumps straight here.

Import

📄

Drop a .txt, .csv, or .json file here to import

Or use the options below

Plain text — paste below. One term per line. Separate the term from its definition using any of these delimiters: TAB : — |
To assign a Category (the column header on the game board), start a line with #Category Name before the terms in that group.
Example:
#Enzymes
Catalyst: A substance that speeds up a reaction without being consumed
Active site — The part of an enzyme that binds the substrate
#Energy
ATP The primary energy currency of cells

Appends to any rows already in the editor below

CSV or spreadsheet file. Two or three columns: Term, Definition or Term, Definition, Category.
The first row may be a header — it will be detected and skipped automatically.
In Excel or Google Sheets: File → Download → Comma Separated Values (.csv), then upload here. Tab-separated (.tsv) files also work.

Upload CSV file

Load existing JSON to edit it here, then re-download with changes. You can also pull in whatever is currently active in the Terms tab.

Load JSON to edit

Term Editor

Category = the column header shown on the game board. Leave blank to group all terms under "General". Terms in the same category appear in the same column.

Term	Definition	Category (game board column)

JSON Preview (click to show)

Download Chapter JSON

Title (used as filename)

Chapter number (optional)

Chapter number slots this file into that position when loaded in the Terms tab. Leave blank for a standalone custom set. Any positive number works.

Load the downloaded file in the Terms tab to use it.

Merge Multiple Chapters into One Exam File

Upload two or more chapter JSON files. They will be combined into a single multi-chapter JSON that the Terms tab recognises as separate chapters — so each chapter can still be selected individually, and all can be used together as an exam set. Download the merged file and load it in the Terms tab.

+ Add chapter JSON files

No files loaded yet — add chapter JSON files above.

The merged file preserves each chapter separately inside one file.

Interface Mode

Simplified mode shows only the three core tabs (Terms, Study, Test) and hides advanced tabs behind a ⋯ More button. Full mode shows all tabs at once.