Playlist: Unit 1
Depth and Complexity Frame Intro: Power
Where does your power come from? Students map the power in their own lives, the power they hold and the power others hold over them. Then they discover that power never sits still. It shifts over time, and much of what belongs to others now will move to them.
Depth and Complexity Frame Intro: Change
Scrooge went from “Merry Christmas!” to “Bah! Humbug!” and never noticed it happening. Students watch Scrooge’s frame fill with before-and-now pairs, then map their own changes: what they say, what they repeat, what they follow, and what matters most to them.
Depth and Complexity Frame Intro: Systems
Students see how they are a system, built around details, patterns, words, and rules. They’ll notice how one part affects the others.
Depth and Complexity Frame Intro: Order
Willy Wonka’s factory looks like madness, but underneath it all is a careful plan. Students watch Wonka fill out a frame about himself, then fill out their own: their roles, their patterns, their rules, and their hardest decisions.
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: The Snowflake
A snowflake always has six sides, yet no two have ever matched. Is a snowflake order, or chaos?
Order to Chaos: Dominoes or Dam?
Sometimes outside forces turn order into chaos. But sometimes chaos comes from within.
Order and Chaos Hide Inside Each Other
Chaos can contain order. Order can contain chaos! Is chaos ever truly random?
Chaos Can Be Positive or Negative
Sometimes we want order, but sometimes we need chaos!
Introducing Order and Chaos
Introduce Order by exploring “written” vs “unwritten” rules.
Order, Chaos, and the Holiday Season
Let’s write a holiday song about order and chaos!
Not Like The Others: US National Parks
Four US national parks. One doesn’t belong. But which one? That depends on your argument.
Introducing Universal Theme of Change
Everything changes. But how does it change? Students brainstorm dozens of examples and boil them down to one big idea.
Introducing Universal Theme of Systems
So what could you do with a Universal Theme of Systems? Well, here’s an introduction that will get your students’ brains sweating.
Introducing Universal Theme of Power
So what could you do with a Universal Theme of Power? Well, here’s an introduction that will get your students’ brains sweating.
Not Like The Others: Stars
How is each of these stars not like the others?
Order Can Be Natural or Constructed
When is order natural and when is it designed by people?
Depth and Complexity – An Introduction for Teachers
For TeachersDepth and Complexity is the most powerful framework most teachers have never heard of. Here’s what it actually is — and isn’t.
Fractals: Koch Snowflake
You could keep zooming in on this snowflake forever!
Depth and Complexity: ❓ Unanswered Questions
This underutilized tool focuses students on what we don’t yet know and even what we can’t know.
Depth and Complexity: ⚖️ Ethics
Want to add drama to any topic? Use the Ethics prompt!
Depth and Complexity: 🏛️ Big Idea
Let’s get students thinking big and focusing on more abstract ideas.
Depth and Complexity: 📚 Across Disciplines
No topic is an island! With the 📚 Across Disciplines prompt, students note connections within and across multiple fields.
Depth and Complexity: 👓 Multiple Perspectives
Every topic looks different depending on who’s looking. This prompt teaches students to see through someone else’s eyes.
Depth and Complexity: 🌻 Details
Get kids focusing on the small, but essential, details of a topic.