| Studying The Lorax with Feedback Loops |
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Author(s):
Rob Quaden, & Alan Ticotsky |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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Students read "The Lorax," by Dr. Suess, and then develop a connection circle and causal loops to understand and illustrate the themes of the story.
Complex Systems Connection: Separate Cause and Effect, Short and Long Term Conflicts. Short-term focus on making money results in depletion of resource and environmental degradation over time and the collapse of the business. Actions and their detrimental consequences are separated by time. |
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| The Credit Card Model (D-4683) |
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Author(s):
Manas Ratha |
Subject:
System Dynamics |
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From SDEP. This paper describes a simple system of purchasing with a credit card. The reader is led through the steps of building a system dynamics model by building and simulating the model along with the paper. From Road Maps 9.
Complex Systems Connection: hort and Long Term Conflicts. Managing money, in personal finances or in running a business, often involves setting both short-term and long-term goals. Sometimes goals are in conflict between these timeframes, such as spending now versus saving/investing for future financial well-being. This credit card model shows how future quality of life is reduced by spending over one's means through the use of credit cards. |
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| The Story of Charles: Introducing Systems Thinking Tools to the Harris School |
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Author(s):
Robert Kalman |
Subject:
Implementation |
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A school principal discusses how using systems thinking tools may help schools to move in more productive, useful directions in response to difficulties. |
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| The Systems Thinking Playbook Exercise 20: Dog Biscuits and See Saws |
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Author(s):
Linda Booth Sweeney, & Dennis Meadows |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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A pair working together attempt to balance a see saw in which they can each see only one of the ends. CS connecton: Cause within System, Short and Long Term Conflicts. The exercise creates a conflict between a short-term goal to put as many objects on the see saw as possible and a long-term goal of keeping the system balanced. Also, the balancing nature of the system creates the behavior that's seen over time, which is a building block to more complex systems. Available from Chelsea Green Publishers. |
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More about the book at: http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_systems_thinking_playbook:hardcover%20with%20dvd
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| The Systems Thinking Playbook Exercise 8: Five Easy Pieces |
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Author(s):
Linda Booth Sweeney, & Dennis Meadows |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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Without talking, teams work toward a group goal which requires the success of all individuals.
Complex Systems Connection: Short and Long Term Conflicts. Participants work to have each member of a team complete a task. Individuals on the team may complete the task (short term), but that completion can actually get in the way of the team completing the task (long term). The experience can also illustrate interdependencies within team structures.
Available from Chelsea Green Publishers. |
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PDF
More about the book at: http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_systems_thinking_playbook:hardcover%20with%20dvd
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| The Systems Thinking Playbook Exercise 9: Community Maze |
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Author(s):
linda Booth Sweeney, & Dennis Meadows |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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Teams must navigate through an invisible maze without talking. Through the experience, they can consider how system structure and mental models affect results.
Complex Systems Connection: Short and Long Term Conflicts. Conflicts can arise between the short term (seeing the individual events) and long term (seeing the patterns) while solving the maze. Available from Chelsea Green Publishers |
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More about the book at: http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_systems_thinking_playbook:hardcover%20with%20dvd
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| The Tree Game for Primary Students (Grades K-3) |
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Author(s):
Anne LaVigne, & Lindsey Weaver |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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Students explore what happens to the number of trees in a forest over time as a forester plants and a lumberjack harvests a certain number of trees each year. While playing the game, the class tracks the number of trees over time. Students can see trends and discuss what’s happening to the forest and why, connecting it to real-world needs and desires for lumber and paper products. They can then run and discuss a second scenario that shows how that trend can be reversed.
Complex Systems Connection: Cause within System, Short and Long Term Conflicts. People sometimes decide to use natural resources to meet present goals (satisfy customers, increase profits) and ignore long-term consequences. In systems where renewable resources are used up, people often blame others. Decisions to use the resource faster than it can be replenished is the real cause, however. |
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 Zipped (Models & PDF)
Link to the simulation: http://www.clexchange.org/curriculum/shapeofchange/soc_6_treegame.asp
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| Tooling Game |
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Author(s):
John Sterman, & Will Glass Husain |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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From Catalina Foothills School District. STELLA II v. 3.0 model of John Sterman's "Tooling Game of Deadline Pressure." This model helps students analyze study habits; "tooling" is an MIT word for studying.
Complex Systems Connection: Cause within System, Short and Long Term Conflicts. Many people are familiar with the story of the grasshopper and the ant. This simulation allows students to experience the long-term pain of not keeping up with homework assignments! Students may think that teachers are out to "get them" with ever-increasing piles of assignments, but this simulation shows that their own study habits can be to blame for the end-of-the-semester crunch they run into. |
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Zipped (Models & PDF)
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| When a Butterfly Sneezes Story 11: The Lorax |
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Author(s):
Linda Booth Sweeney |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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The desire to have more and more drives the Once-ler to chop down more and more trees to create a product he sells. Eventually, the trees are gone.
Complex Systems Connection: Short and Long Term Conflicts. The short-term action of cutting down trees (taking a resource faster than it can regenerate) eventually leads (after a delay) to the disappearance of the forest. |
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| When a Butterfly Sneezes Story 2: The Old Lady Who Liked Cats |
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Author(s):
Linda Booth Sweeney |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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When a mayor decides to eliminate all the cats on an island, it creates a cascading set of negative effects.
Complex Systems Connection: Ineffective Action, Short and Long Term Conflicts. By removing the cats, the system is completely pushed out of balance, creating havoc on the system as a whole. Only by bringing back the cats do the issues resolve. |
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