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Working to develop Systems Citizens in K-12 Education
Spotlight Dollars and Sense II: Our Interest in Interest, Managing Savings, and Debt
Dollars and Sense II challenges students to use systems thinking and mathematical tools to develop a realistic and personal understanding of the dynamics of compound interest. Eight simulations and lessons explore the complex world of savings, spending, credit cards, and compound interest. The materials include Instructor Guides and Student Worksheets.
Using Systems Tools to Improve Literacy It's been said that once you
learn about systems thinking, you read
the newspaper differently: you identify
the behaviors that are changing,
feedback loops become more evident,
and the sources of conflicts become
clearer. By focusing on three key elements, Mairead Orpen uses system tools to improve literacy in her 5th grade classroom. This article highlights the general method and elements that she uses to reach her students at Innovation Academy Charter School in Tyngsborough, MA. Explore how Mairead uses a reading lesson to teach and encourage understanding in this article.
2014 System Thinking Dynamic Modeling Conference Save the date for the 12th Biennial System Thinking Dynamic Modeling Conference! This exciting and intimate conference will once again be hosted at the Babson Conference Center at Babson College in Wellesley Massachusetts and will run from June 29th to July 1st. Previous speakers and presenters include noted educators and system dynamisists George Richardson, Jay Forrester, Peter Senge, Dennis Meadows, Linda Booth-Sweeney, and others. Be sure to register with the Creative Learning Exchange to stay connected and receive updates about this conference.
Characteristics of Complex Systems Project
The intuitively obvious "solutions" to social problems are apt to fall into one of several traps set by the character of complex systems. Led by a partnership between MIT Professor Emeritus Jay W. Forrester and the Creative Learning Exchange, the goal of the project is to create online curriculum materials that will illustrate the characteristics of complex systems. Explore the 19 online simulations that allow students to learn and understand more about "The cause of the problem is within the system". Or learn more about the Characteristics of Complex Systems.
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Getting Started: Learn System DynamicsIntroduction to System Dynamics Instructional Materials for Modeling CLE ProductsCritical Thinking Using Systems Thinking & Dynamic Modeling Booklet Healthy Chickens, Healthy Pastures Playkit ...that School in Tucson book and DVD Tracing Connections: Voices of Systems Thinkers book Register with CLESign up to receive email updates and newsletters
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BOTGs are designed to represent our thinking. Some graphs display ‘hard’ variables, things that can be quantified. For example, scores on quizzes, number of homework assignments turned in, or recorded time running a mile. Other BOTGs represent ‘soft’ variables, such as confidence, satisfaction, enjoyment, and so on. All BOTG graphs allow our ‘mental models’ to take a visual form so we can share them, or analyze them ourselves. Almost all BOTGs, whether displaying hard or soft variables, are more insightful for their general shape and trend than the actual data points. Are we moving in the right direction?
Lesson 3 from Dollars and Sense II: Our Interest in Interest, Managing Savings, and Debt contains two computer “hands-on” simulations designed to introduce students to the basics of how credit card interest charges work. Relatively high interest charges (e.g., 12% – 25% annual rates, with higher rates for first-time student users) are assessed monthly on unpaid balances and credit card companies encourage minimum or partial payments. In this lesson students will experience how the costs of credit card borrowing can quickly escalate, sometimes beyond their control! The simulations offer two simple yet “real world” situations.
Camp Snowball 2013 will be held on the beautiful campus of Wake Forest University. Registration rates include all meals beginning with dinner on Monday, July 22 through dinner on Friday, July 26. College housing at WFU and transportation are additional. 
