In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, EMC² Learning is throwing a little extra love your way — and giving you FREE access to one of our most wildly fun new resources: …Or a Gorilla?
Inspired by a viral thought experiment that’s been the talk of social media, …Or a Gorilla? is a side-splitting debate challenge that dares students to answer one absurd but totally unforgettable question:
Could something from your current unit of study defeat a gorilla?
The Setup
With each new round, student teams tap into what they’ve learned to argue whether a person, process, concept, or force from their class content stands a fighting chance in a one-on-one (or one-on-many!) battle against a gorilla. The result? A hilarious, high-energy activity that rewards both creativity and deep content mastery.
What You’ll Need
?A pre-loaded slideshow with content-based “challenger” matchups (just make as many copies of slide #4 as you’d like!)
? Optional: whiteboards, sticky notes, or a shared Google Doc for teams to plan their arguments
?Optional: banana-themed reward tokens for fun scoring ?
How It Works (Easy as 1-2-3)
STEP 1: PREPARE
Start by presenting the slideshow and asking student volunteers to read each slide aloud. This builds excitement and gives you a moment to answer any questions. Divide your class into teams of 4–6 players each. At the start of every round, introduce a new “challenger” drawn from your current unit of study (you can write each challenger’s name right on the space we’ve provided for you on slide #4!). Teams must lean on everything they’ve learned to decide whether their topic might actually stand a chance in a head-to-head with a raging gorilla.
STEP 2: ATTACK
Teams have limited time to strategize. They’ll craft arguments for or against their challenger’s odds of survival, using evidence and creativity. Anything goes — can multiple challengers team up? Could time periods, tools, or tactics tip the scales?
STEP 3: DEFEND
Teams take turns presenting their case. Will their concept conquer the gorilla… or get gorilla’d? Judges (that’s you — or feel free to enlist peer feedback!) award Banana Bonus Points to the most creative, compelling, or downright hilarious responses. Then, rinse and repeat with a new challenger.
Content-Specific Example Prompts
Elementary Science:
“Could photosynthesis defeat a gorilla?”
What if it lulls the gorilla to sleep in a field of sunflowers?Middle School History:
“Could the Boston Tea Party defeat a gorilla?”
Maybe not with tea alone — but what if Paul Revere had backup from the Sons of Liberty?High School English:
“Could Macbeth defeat a gorilla?”
Depends: Are we talking Act I Macbeth… or full-on dagger-hallucinating Macbeth?Math:
“Could the Pythagorean Theorem defeat a gorilla?”
Maybe not solo, but could it design a gorilla trap with perfect right angles?Biology:
“Could 10 mitochondria defeat a gorilla in a Petri dish?”
Sure, it’s the powerhouse of the cell… but does that power scale up?
Pro Tips for Scoring
Encourage students to push their thinking beyond the obvious. (Nope — just giving your challenger a lightsaber isn’t enough!) The best arguments will blend creativity with content-specific logic. Suggest things like:
Multiply the number of challengers you’re bringing to the battle (ex. 10 George Washingtons vs. 1)
Course-inspired modifiers (perhaps a science unit sees our gorilla battling underwater? on a volcano?)
Wildcard tactics inspired by real knowledge (add additional people, places, or ideas from your content!)
Feeling competitive? Award Banana Bonus Points in tiers for each round (first place earns the most, second place gets a bit less, etc.).
Extensions & Ideas
Have teams design a slide deck for their battle plan, using memes, GIFs, or clever diagrams.
Set up a class tournament bracket of challengers.
Wrap up with written reflections about the strongest arguments of the day.
Grab Your FREE Resource
Ready to bring the chaos to your classroom? Click below to access the full …Or a Gorilla? resource for FREE — our gift to you for Teacher Appreciation Week. Because let’s face it: Teaching is already wild enough. Let’s make it fun.
The activities featured in this blog post are just a handful of the 900+ resources available and on their way to arrive shortly in the EMC² Learning library. This entire library is available to all members with an active Engagement Engineer or Engagement Engineer PLUS account, and is included with your annual site membership. We hope you’ll consider joining us as an Engagement Engineer to unlock a full year of site access. For complete details including our exclusive limited time offer for annual site membership, click here.