“It's like having a second teacher in my classroom.” ~ a teacher describing Byrdseed.TV
Students collect examples of systems with spread-out power and systems with focused power, then invent better names for the two categories.
See how a traffic jam and the English language run with no one in charge, then brainstorm systems with spread-out power.
Compare those to an orchestra’s conductor and a grocery store’s automatic doors, then brainstorm systems with focused power.
Give the two columns better names than “spread out” and “focused” and post the best ideas.
Students remove one part from a system and name what the system became.
Students pick a system, list its parts, remove one, and name what it turned into.
Students propose systems that fall apart if any part is removed, and the class agrees which ones hold up.
Students map a change’s positive and negative effects, then test whether that is always true.
Students map a change’s positive and negative effects.
Students test whether a change can be only positive or only negative.
Students try to draw a symbol for an idea that has no symbol.
The class names symbols that communicate an idea without words.
Students try to draw a symbol for maybe, a promise, and forgiveness.
The class says when a symbol works better than words, and when words work better.
Students infer invisible powers from visible effects, then brainstorm visible effects caused by invisible powers.
Use four visible clues to identify the invisible powers causing them.
Choose examples of invisible power and brainstorm their visible effects.
Sort examples of power into visible and invisible, then argue which kind is more powerful.
Brainstorm visible and invisible power in four scenes: the sun, a forest, a dam, and a storm.
Compare with the example answers, then add power from home, sports, movies, and video games.
Agree or disagree: invisible power is more powerful than visible power.
Students will test a big idea about systems against their own examples, then rewrite it.
Students brainstorm examples of systems with their class.
They test “systems need all of their parts in order to work” by sorting every example into two columns.
They name the two groups based on patterns they notice, then rewrite the big idea.
Brainstorm examples of power, group them into your own categories, and write a big idea about what power can be.
Brainstorm as many examples of power as you can.
Group your examples into small categories.
Label your groups, then write your big idea about power.
Students map where they have power, and where others have power over them.
Draw yourself in the middle of the frame, then fill in all four sections: where you have power and where others have power over you.
Hunt for the shift: what power has already moved to you, what is coming next, and whether people can lose power over time.
Students fill out a frame about themselves, then find their biggest and smallest powers.
Students fill the Details and Rules sections of the frame with small facts about themselves and things they always do.
Students add the words they say all the time, then sum themselves up with one Big Idea word.
Students hunt through their finished frame for their biggest and smallest examples of power.
Students fill a before-and-now frame about themselves.
Fill each section of the frame with pairs — what it used to be, what it is now — with Scrooge as the model.
Mark each change I for intentional or U for unintentional, then circle your biggest change.
Decide whether that change will stay the same, change course, or completely reverse, then explain your thinking.
Students treat themselves as a system and ask what would change without them.
Fill each section of the frame — details, patterns, language, and rules — with Charlotte as the model.
Draw arrows to show how the parts of your frame affect each other.
List three bigger systems you belong to, then explain how one would change if you weren’t part of it.
Students fill a frame about order and chaos in their lives.
Fill each section of the frame — roles, patterns, rules, and difficult decisions — with Willy Wonka as the model.
Underline the one thing in each section that brings the most order to your life.
Pick a big idea about order and chaos (or write your own) and explain how it’s true for you.
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?
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?
Students decide whether a card shuffle creates order or chaos.
Students watch the shuffle, then write: is it order or chaos?
Students hear two classmates’ answers, then list other orderly actions that make something random.
Students name this type of chaos and explain why we need it instead of pure chaos.
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?
Students decide whether a snowflake is order or chaos.
Students learn the six-sided rule, then write: is a snowflake order or chaos?
Students hear two classmates’ answers, then list other things that follow a strict rule but turn out different every time.
Students decide: is nature mostly chaos, or mostly order?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
Students place examples of change on a slow-to-fast continuum, then reconsider one from another perspective.
Students place examples of change on a class slow-to-fast continuum.
Students reconsider one change from another perspective and add a connected note.
In the moment, a chaotic event makes no sense. But later, that same event can feel like it was part of a larger story.
Sometimes outside forces turn order into chaos. But sometimes chaos comes from within.
Chaos can contain order. Order can contain chaos! Is chaos ever truly random?
Students will write a big idea explaining when order is better and when chaos is better.
Students will choose five related topics and write about when order is better and when chaos is better.
Then, they rank the five topics from most chaotic to most orderly.
Then they write a big idea, summing up their findings about when order or chaos is better.
Students will categorize examples of Order as “written” or “unwritten.”
Students brainstorm examples of order from all areas of life.
They categorize each example as “written” or “unwritten” order.
They pick an important unwritten school rule and formalize it, designing a poster to display.
We compare the power of traditions shared by millions with smaller traditions shared by perhaps just one family.
Autumn was once powerful because of the harvest. What gives Fall its power now?
Students name an idea that no symbol can carry and explain why it needs words.
Students list symbols that communicate an idea fast, without words.
Students pick a logo and find out what it was designed to mean.
Students name an idea that cannot become a symbol and explain why it needs words.
Weigh whether power sits with the one or the many — the queen bee or the hive — then judge three students’ answers by inventing your own award.
Students compare the power of the queen bee to that of the whole hive working together.
Students read three sample answers, then invent an award with real criteria and choose a winner.
Students explore the idea of indirect power – which can be both visible (a lighthouse) or invisible (magnetism).
Sure, a Blue Whale is huge. But does a tiny krill have more power?
Using these worksheets, students will prove statements about Power across content areas.
Students will group examples of power based on how fast, slow, loud, and quiet they are.
First, students will brainstorm fast and slow examples of power using four scenes.
Next, they will categorize those same examples as loud or quiet.
Finally, they will group examples into four categories and then add new ideas they think of.
Students will decide if invisible things can be more powerful than visible things.
Students will brainstorm visible and invisible power based on four scenes.
Next, they continue their brainstorm, this time bringing in any examples they can think of.
Finally, they agree or disagree with this statement: “Invisible power is more powerful than visible power.”
Students will categorize examples of “conflict”, create a big idea about conflict, and then support that big idea with new examples.
Students brainstorm examples of conflict in pairs, generating as many ideas as possible without stopping to explain them.
Next, individually or in small groups, students start to group those examples into 3 – 5 categories.
Now, students move their categories into a new graphic organizer and label the categories with 1 – 3 word labels.
Then, they create a big idea statement about the universal theme using at least some of their labels.
Finally, students can look for examples across different areas or subjects that support this new big idea they created.
Students will categorize examples of “change”, create a big idea about change, and then support that big idea with new examples.
Students brainstorm examples of change while sharing ideas with classmates to generate a wide variety of responses.
Next, individually or in small groups, students start to group those examples into 3 – 5 categories.
Now, students move their categories into a new graphic organizer and label the categories with 1 – 3 word labels.
Then, they create a big idea statement about the universal theme using at least some of their labels.
Students will categorize examples of systems, create a big idea about systems, and then support that big idea with new examples.
Students brainstorm examples of systems with classmates to generate a variety of ideas that show how parts work together.
Next, individually or in small groups, students start to group those examples into 3 – 5 categories.
Now, students move their categories into a new graphic organizer and label the categories with 1 – 3 word labels.
Then, they create a big idea statement about the universal theme using at least some of their labels.
Students will categorize examples of Power, create a big idea about power, and then support that big idea with new examples.
Students brainstorm and write down as many examples of power as they can, sharing ideas with classmates for inspiration.
Next, individually or in small groups, students start to group those examples into 3 – 5 categories.
Now, students move their categories into a new graphic organizer and label the categories with 1 – 3 word labels.
Then, they create a big idea statement about “power” using at least some of their labels.
Students will apply the statement, “Change leads to more change” to multiple topics.
First, students explore how one change can lead to many other changes by sharing examples and using a graphic organizer.
Students will consider which examples of order are natural and which are constructed.
First, students think of examples of order that is either natural or constructed by people.
Then, they consider three specific examples of order: addition, families, and the English language.
Finally, they create a spectrum and place their examples based on how natural and how constructed each example is.
Students will become familiar with the statement, “Problems Lead to New Rules, Which Lead to New Problems.”
First, students brainstorm examples of how solving one problem can create new problems and lead to more rules.
Students will become familiar with the generalization “Systems Are Made up of Other Systems.”
First, students will create graphic organizers to explore and identify systems made up of smaller systems in various contexts.
Students will become familiar with the statement, “Power can be unseen, but its effects are always visible.”
Students list examples of how invisible power has visible effects.
They note which effects are positive and which are negative.
Then they rank the invisible power based on how positive or negative the effects are.