Use this game show format to review key learnings from “Puzzled by The Last of the Buffalo?” in a friendly, team-building competition.

This game review can be projected for small-group instruction. For a larger, more responsive, format paste this url in your browser https://bit.ly/McQStudios102

This is a team-based “Jeopardy game” teachers can use to review five areas of learning from “Puzzled by The Last of the Buffalo?” — Düsseldorf Academy, Keystone Species, Native Americans, Market Forces, and Conservation. This game would be prohibitively difficult if students haven’t studied the painting, but it could be a cinch if they have explored the puzzle’s galleries. After touring the galleries have students organize themselves into three teams and show what they know.

Teaching Strategies

1. Organize three teams. (For example, Team 1: Everyone whose last name starts with letters A–H, Team 2: I-P, Team 3: Q-Z. Or, organize teams by table or location in the room.)
2. Designate a team lead who will provide the “final answer.” Team members support the team lead by sharing answers.
3. On the screen, select the icon related to the team. Let the team select their category and amount. They have 30 seconds to answer. The trainer reads the “answer.” The team lead states the desired “question” from the multiple-choice options.
4. Move to the next team and repeat. Teams do not steal another team’s “answer.” Keep rotating through the teams.
5. When all categories are complete (or time runs out), select “The winner” button for a final score.

NOTE: This game will take 30 minutes or more to play, depending on group dynamics. If time is limited, focus on few specific categories or a select number of questions. Adapt as you see fit.

Related Resources

• Albert Bierstadt’s The Last of the Buffalo is in the National Gallery of Art’s collection. See their website for detailed information. Select the image to magnify.
• This interdisciplinary teacher’s resource offers a range of teaching moves and language for analyzing The Last of the Buffalo.
• This inquiry study uses The Last of the Buffalo as a springboard to explore wildlife conservation and the value of national parks.  
• This interactive puzzle explores Bierstadt’s life and the art and events that inspired him to paint The Last of the Buffalo. Special attention is given to the near extinction of the buffalo and its impact on Native American cultures.
• This sorting activity explores the distinct styles of art of four influential American artists from the mid 1800s — Albert Bierstadt, Eastman Johnson, Emanuel Leutze, and Worthington Whittredge.  
• This game-based art survey analyzes the art of Albert Bierstadt and eight other 19^th century landscape painters.