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Alabama ELA Standard: 5.LF.10

Respond directly to specific information shared by others in classroom discussion, using facts to support the ideas being discussed.

Systems’ Power Can Be Spread Out or Focused

Systems’ Power Can Be Spread Out or Focused

A traffic jam has no one in charge. An orchestra follows one conductor. Students hunt for both kinds of systems, sort their examples into two columns, and then take on the naming job themselves: what should these two kinds of systems really be called?

Change can be positive and negative

Change can be positive and negative

A beaver’s dam is a nice home and a terrible flood. Students pick a change and note how it can be both positive and negative.

Order and Chaos: Recipe or Instinct?

Order and Chaos: Recipe or Instinct?

Two cooks make the same dinner. One follows the recipe to the exact gram. The other just throws things in by feel. Whose food turns out better — the ordered cook or the chaotic cook?

Order and Chaos: The Perfect Heartbeat

Order and Chaos: The Perfect Heartbeat

A heartbeat sounds steady, but a perfectly regular one is a warning sign — healthy hearts speed up and slow down a little. Is a healthy heart ordered or chaotic?

Order and Chaos: The Shuffle

Order and Chaos: The Shuffle

Shuffling follows exact steps to make cards random. Are you creating chaos, or doing something very orderly?

Order and Chaos: No Traffic Lights

Order and Chaos: No Traffic Lights

One town runs its intersections with signals. Another has no lights at all — drivers just work it out. Which town’s traffic is more orderly?

Order and Chaos: The Snowflake

Order and Chaos: The Snowflake

A snowflake always has six sides, yet no two have ever matched. Is a snowflake order, or chaos?

Systems: Grandpa’s Axe

Systems: Grandpa’s Axe

Grandpa’s axe broke, so he put on a new head. Years later the handle cracked, so he replaced that too. Now no original piece is left. Is it still the same axe, or a new one?

Systems: The Thermostat

Systems: The Thermostat

A thermostat fights to keep a room the same — open a window and it just cranks the heat to undo you. In a system that pushes back like that, can you ever really change just one thing?

Systems: Watch vs. Forest

Systems: Watch vs. Forest

A watch stops dead if one tiny gear breaks. A forest can lose a whole species and barely notice. Which is the better-built system — the one where every part matters, or the one where no part is essential?

Systems: The Traffic Jam

Systems: The Traffic Jam

Picture a jam where no one crashed and no one even stopped on purpose — everyone crawls for an hour, then it clears for no reason. Did anyone actually cause this traffic jam?

Systems: Pull One Thread

Systems: Pull One Thread

A sweater is really one long thread looped a thousand times. Pull the right loose end and the whole thing unravels in seconds. So is a system like that strong or fragile?

Change: The Caterpillar’s Bargain

Change: The Caterpillar’s Bargain

To become a butterfly, a caterpillar doesn’t just sprout wings — inside the cocoon it dissolves into liquid first, almost nothing left, then rebuilds. Would you trade everything you are now to become something far greater?

Change: The Sealed Jar

Change: The Sealed Jar

You love a flower so much you seal it in a jar to keep it exactly as it is, forever. A month later it’s brown and crumbling. Did sealing it stop the change, or just hide it?

Change: The Tree’s Scar

Change: The Tree’s Scar

A nail got hammered into a young tree. The tree didn’t push it out — it grew around it, sealing the nail inside a knot of new wood. Was that change the tree healing, or the tree getting damaged?

Change: One Domino

Change: One Domino

You nudge one domino. It tips the next, which tips two more, which tip four, until a thousand have fallen. Did you cause one change, or a thousand?

Change: Canyon vs. Earthquake

Change: Canyon vs. Earthquake

It took a river six million years to carve the Grand Canyon. An earthquake can drop a cliff into the sea in ten seconds. Which one changed the land more — the slow river or the fast quake?

Notice, Wonder: Fountain

Notice, Wonder: Fountain

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Dazzle

Notice, Wonder: Dazzle

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Burton Island

Notice, Wonder: Burton Island

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Tenzing

Notice, Wonder: Tenzing

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Brooklyn

Notice, Wonder: Brooklyn

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

New Uses For A Cardboard Tube

New Uses For A Cardboard Tube

So, what can a cardboard tube be used for other than holding wrapping paper?

Student Introductions With Depth, Complexity, and Frames: Level Two

Student Introductions With Depth, Complexity, and Frames: Level Two

Once students know the prompts of Depth and Complexity, let’s take them much higher up Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Notice, Wonder: Sombrero

Notice, Wonder: Sombrero

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

New Uses For A Chair

New Uses For A Chair

So, what can a chair be used for other than, you know, sitting in?

Notice, Wonder: Silver Torch

Notice, Wonder: Silver Torch

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Barringer

Notice, Wonder: Barringer

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Rosetta

Notice, Wonder: Rosetta

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Phrases to Join a Discussion

Phrases to Join a Discussion

Want your classroom discussions to go a bit more smoothly? Train students to use a few simple phrases and it’ll make all the difference in the world.

Notice, Wonder: Critter

Notice, Wonder: Critter

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: A House

Notice, Wonder: A House

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: SLS Test

Notice, Wonder: SLS Test

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Butterball

Notice, Wonder: Butterball

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Ramses

Notice, Wonder: Ramses

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Craters

Notice, Wonder: Craters

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Bloom

Notice, Wonder: Bloom

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Skylight

Notice, Wonder: Skylight

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Krzywy Las

Notice, Wonder: Krzywy Las

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Scales

Notice, Wonder: Scales

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Vortices

Notice, Wonder: Vortices

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Swirls

Notice, Wonder: Swirls

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Witch’s Fingers

Notice, Wonder: Witch’s Fingers

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Green Circles

Notice, Wonder: Green Circles

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: An Orange Thing

Notice, Wonder: An Orange Thing

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Kuiseb

Notice, Wonder: Kuiseb

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: A Long Line

Notice, Wonder: A Long Line

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Blood Falls

Notice, Wonder: Blood Falls

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Change Leads to More Change

Change Leads to More Change

Can you think of a time in your life when “Change lead to more change?”

How Renewable Is That Resource?

How Renewable Is That Resource?

Which resource is more renewable? And which is easier to find?

Notice, Wonder: Forest

Notice, Wonder: Forest

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Akron

Notice, Wonder: Akron

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Electronics

Notice, Wonder: Electronics

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Turbine

Notice, Wonder: Turbine

Your students will be surprised by the size of this turbine… and by what’s hanging from it!

Notice, Wonder: Z-Machine

Notice, Wonder: Z-Machine

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Climber

Notice, Wonder: Climber

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: A River

Notice, Wonder: A River

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: The Cliff

Notice, Wonder: The Cliff

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Michael

Notice, Wonder: Michael

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Etna

Notice, Wonder: Etna

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Plateau

Notice, Wonder: Plateau

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: A Ship

Notice, Wonder: A Ship

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

The Thinking Hats

The Thinking Hats

So… do your students moan when forced to work in a group? Part of the problem is that lack the structure to work well with peers. Edward de Bono’s Thinking Hats are a perfect tool to help with this problem.

Depth and Complexity: 🌻 Details

Depth and Complexity: 🌻 Details

Get kids focusing on the small, but essential, details of a topic.

Creating A Classroom Motto

Creating A Classroom Motto

Starting with specific examples of fantastic classroom behavior, your class will end up with one sentence summing up their expectations. It’s a classroom motto!

Intellectual Intensity

Intellectual Intensity

Do you know someone who becomes a bit overexcited by ideas?