Spotlight

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.
Explore this lesson...

 

Characteristics of Complex Systems Project - Oscillating Systems
by Anne LaVigne and Jennifer Andersen in collaboration with the CLE

Ever experience the ups and downs of life?

Sometimes it might even feel like it’s impossible to understand what’s causing all the “craziness.”  Many situations in a variety of contexts display this up-and-down oscillatory behavior.

This series of lessons allows students to play with some of these different systems.  Through asking “what if” questions as part of an exploration, they can discover that the structure of a system creates the resulting trends.  Given this understanding, they can look beyond blame to see the deeper nature of what’s 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...

 

10th Biennial Systems Thinking and Dynamic Modeling Conference - Registration is open!

The CLE is pleased to announce that we will be hosting 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 will be Critical Thinking: Using Systems Thinking and System Dynamics to address the State Common Core Standards and STEM standards.

Featured speakers include Peter Senge, George Richardson, and Dennis Meadows. Sessions will explore best practices for using Systems Thinking and System Dynamics in the classroom and in school systems. The conversations will include the synergy with Common Core Standards and the STEM process as well as the attitudes and beliefs of systems citizens gained through ST/SD study.

Register Now!

Learn more about the 2012 Conference.....

 

Camp Snowball: Building Our Capacity to Shape the Future

Camp Snowball (July 9-13, Tucson AZ) is a four-day, multi-faceted learning event that features practical systems thinking and sustainability education workshops for adults and students (entering grades 7-12) that link directly to Common Core Standards and STEM and can easily be applied in the classroom, the workplace, the community, or the home.

Some highlights include:

• A “train-the-trainer” program for those who will be supporting local capacity building in their school, district, or community.
• Activities and examples drawn from the environment and culture of the Sonoran desert.
• A summer camp program for young learners (entering grades 1-6) that incorporates systems thinking skill-building with fun, traditional camp activities.

Camp participants will become part of the ongoing Camp Snowball Learning Community that receives coaching, support, and access to resources long after the campfire glow has faded.

Visit the CampSnowball website for more information.

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
Studying THE LORAX with Feedback Loops 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. Despite the warnings of a character named the Lorax, all the truffula trees are cut down and made into fast-selling products called thneeds. At the end of the story, the Once-ler regrets his actions, but is it too late?   Several important themes are central to The Lorax. Citizenship lessons include the importance of environmental stewardship and the necessity for businesses to practice sustainable use of resources. While the characters are portrayed pretty broadly as black and white heroes or villains, in reality there needs to be room for both natural environments and economic development, creating more gray areas. The characters are driven by individual attributes, such as deciding how to behave honorably and regretting excessive greed and selfish behavior. By using systems thinking tools, the children can start to see shades of grey instead of black and white. The story presents teachers with an opportunity to bring these and other important concepts into the classroom. More...   Other articles at the CLE by Rob Quaden   Other articles at the CLE by Alan Ticotsky	Characteristics of Complex Systems Project Lesson 1A: Fun with Springs by Anne LaVigne and Jennifer Andersen in collaboration with the CLE   Overview Students explore a simple spring simulation to see how springs behave, given different characteristics. Students can change the springiness, the resistance, and the amount of push or pull.   Learning Goals Level A – Ages 5+ Represent and interpret data on a line graph. Compare/contrast how different types of springs behave. Describe how a push or pull of a spring affects its motion and position over time. Identify and describe other examples that oscillate in a similar fashion as a spring. More...
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