Spotlight

Critical Thinking Using Systems Thinking & Dynamic Modeling
A booklet published by the CLE

This new booklet correlates critical thinking skills with the use of systems thinking and dynamic modeling. After creating a definition of critical thinking, it expands upon how to use the tools of systems thinking and dynamic modeling to improve this important trait in students. The why and the how of using systems thinking and dynamic modeling in education are the fundamental topics covered in this introductory text.

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10th Biennial Systems Thinking and Dynamic Modeling Conference Video

The CLE hosted our 10th biennial ST/DM conference at the Babson Center in Wellesley, MA from June 30 to July 2, 2012. The theme for the conference this year was Critical Thinking: Using Systems Thinking and System Dynamics to address the State Common Core Standards and STEM standards.

This video excerpt is pulled from an informal chat with system dynamics pioneers, including George Richardson, Peter Senge, and Dennis Meadows. This opportunity to discuss and interact with such pioneers is one of the unique opportunities provided by the CLE at their biennial conference.

 

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Lessons from THE LORAX
by Rob Quaden and Alan Ticotsky

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, is a classic children’s book that appeals to all ages. Told in a fanciful style, the story relates how an ambitious businessman named the Once-ler exploits all the resources of a small country. At the end of the story, the Once-ler regrets his actions, but is it too late?

Released in March of 2012, Studying The Lorax with Feedback Loops, students use connection circles and causal loops to understand and illustrate the themes of the story. By using these systems thinking tools, children can start to see the complexity of the interaction between the natural environment and economic development. Explore this lesson....

In the second lesson (April 2012), Lessons from The Lorax: Using Graphs to Study Change, students draw graphs to illustrate the changes that happen over the course of the story. This systems thinking tool makes the citizenship lessons from the story even more powerful by actively engaging readers.
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Characteristics of Complex Systems Project - Oscillating Systems
by Anne LaVigne and Jennifer Andersen in collaboration with the CLE

Sometimes it seems as though it's impossible to understand what's causing all of the "craziness" of life's ups and downs. Many situations in a variety of contexts display this up-and-down oscillatory behavior.

A new series of lessons from the CLE allows students and others to play (using online simulations) with different oscillating systems. Through asking "what if" questions as part of an exploration, they can discover that the structure of a system itself creates the resulting variations. Given this understanding, they can look beyond blame to see the deeper nature of what is causing particular behaviors to occur.

Six oscillation lessons (The Cause of the Problem is within the System) are available from the Characteristics of Complex Systems Project.

Explore the lessons and simulations...

 

Video The Water Bottle Project   Participants at Camp Snowball 2011 use a water bottle activity to learn the concepts of stocks and flows. More videos....	Blogs Loading...
Recent Newsletter Articles
Using Systems Tools to Improve Literacy by Alan Ticotsky   Welcome Fifth Graders Mairead Orpen teaches every 5th grader who attends Innovation Academy Charter School (IACS), a public charter school in Tyngsborough, MA. Mairead’s class is named “Critical Thinking and Reading,” or CTR for short. In the spring and fall of 2012, she developed a sequence of lessons and activities for her students that includes three important elements central to the vision that guides the school:  Element One Academic Goal—Improving Reading Skills Her goal is to help each student improve in the important skills of applied reading. Examples of applied reading include understanding math word problems, reading content area material, and analyzing text such as literature and periodicals. State standards and the Common Core Standards both emphasize the need for students to read complex texts, and to determine and understand the point of view presented by the author. Read more...   More articles at the CLE by Alan Ticotsky   Why System Dynamics? From Richard Turnock's blog   All systems everywhere have levels and flows. These are the only two concepts needed to understand why systems work the way they do (Forrester, 1996). We were taught in school to accumulate knowledge and skills in order to get a job. We define learning as the accumulation of knowledge. We test every child at every grade level to measure their accumulated knowledge. We teach people how to do things so they have a skill in order to get a job. Read more...	Dollars and Sense II: Our Interest in Interest, Managing Savings, and Debt   Lesson 1: Can Compound Interest Work for Me?   This lesson contains three “hands-on” and progressively challenging simulations designed to let students EXPLORE and EXPERIENCE the system of compounding interest, what Albert Einstein is alleged to have called “the most powerful force in the universe.” Read more in the newsletter....   Extend the lesson with the Dollars and Sense Simulation. Or other Dollars and Sense lessons at the CLE   CAM Project Summer Workshops   The Climate Education in an Age of Media (CAM) project at the University of Massachusetts Lowell invites you to attend two 3-day summer workshops for secondary and post-secondary science educators to combine student-created media production and climate science.   June 26-28 at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) Media Arts Studio   July 9-11 at the Media Center, University of Massachusetts, Lowell campus   Read more...
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