Activity 2: Systems Thinking Vocabulary Applied

Cameron Weiner - Undergraduate - Middlebury College, weinercameron@gmail.com

Lisa Gilbert -Professor of Geosciences and Marine Science - Williams-Mystic, lgilbert@williams.edu

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Summary

This activity allows students to practice using systems thinking vocabulary by applying the terminology learned in Activity 1 to a school water supply system. An option to adapt this activity to the student's local water system is available.

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Context

Audience

This activity is intended for a middle school science course. Materials presented here are designed to be implemented in a remote learning environment, either as part of an entirely online or hybrid course. This activity is designed to pair with a water cycle unit but could be adapted to a variety of other middle school science units (see Teaching Notes section).

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Students need background information on systems thinking vocabulary.

How the activity is situated in the course

This activity is intended to be paired with and completed within a few days of completing Activity 1: Introduction to Systems Thinking Vocabulary. To complete the student's understanding of water supply and water usage, this activity can be paired with Activity 3: Systems Diagrams, which introduces students to building systems diagrams and discusses what happens on the other side of the water supply system: what happens to our waste water.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

  • Students will be able to apply systems vocabulary to a real-world system.
    Students will learn how water arrives in their classroom sink.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Other skills goals for this activity

Description and Teaching Materials

Materials:

Activity Description (total time: 25-35 min)

Part 1 - Introduction and Vocabulary Review (5 min)

The instructor screen shares the ST Vocabulary Applied Presentation powerpoint and introduces the topic 'Applying systems thinking vocabulary to our school water supply system.' The instructor then raises the questions, 'How does water get to our school?' and 'Where does it come from?', and introduces the goals of the activity.

  • Slide 1: Applying systems thinking vocabulary: our school water supply system
  • Slide 2: How does water get to our school? Where does it come from?
  • Slide 3: Activity Goals - Review systems thinking vocab., Describe the school water system with systems thinking vocabulary

The instructor briefly reviews systems thinking vocabulary with the class, soliciting student responses to the three questions regarding the simple sink system diagram: 'Name the system elements in this system,' 'Which elements are reservoirs?', 'Which elements are flows?', 'Events?', and 'Name and explain this relationship."

  • Slides 4-8: Systems thinking vocabulary review

Part 2 - ST Vocabulary Application to the School Water Supply System(20-25 min)

The instructor indicates that the class will move to the part of the activity where students will apply systems thinking vocabulary to the school water system and asks students to open the Student Handout Activity 2.

  • Slide 9: Activity Goals and Open Handout instructions

Next the instructor opens the Drinking Water webpage (linked on the powerpoint) from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection while continuing to screen share. The instructor asks students to use half of their screen for the screen share and half of their screen for the student handout. The instructor reads the short introduction to the "Drinking Water" webpage, then clicks on the 'How does water get to my faucet' tab of the page. A student volunteer reads this first tab aloud to the class. After the student reads the tab aloud, the instructor should provide ~15 seconds for the students to look at and add to the system elements already listed for that tab in Section A of the student handout.

Next, the instructor selects the 'Where does drinking water come from' tab. After a student reads the 'Where does drinking water come from' tab aloud, the instructor should briefly return to the powerpoint presentation (while still screen sharing) and use slide 9 to provide a visual diagram and explanation of surface and groundwater sources. The instructor should also note that people only use fresh water surface sources, not salt water from the ocean, to supply drinking water. After going over surface and ground water sources, the instructor can return to the webpage and ask students to read the remaining three tabs aloud (Water treatment, Don't take your water for granted, and How can you help). Again, after the student reads each tab, the instructor should provide the class with ~15 seconds to add any missing system elements to the lists provided in Section A of the handout.

  • Slide 10: Drinking Water web page link and student instructions
    • Student Handout Activity 2, Section A
  • Slide 11: Surface and Ground water diagram

Next, the instructor returns to the powerpoint presentation and explains the next stage of the activity. Students will be sent to breakout groups of 3-4 students. Students will have 5 minutes to 1) discuss any system elements they added to the lists 2) add new elements their group members mention to their own lists and 3) sort those lists into the appropriate vocabulary columns in section B on the student handout. After explaining the instructions, the instructor sends students into the 3-4 person breakout groups.

  • Slide 12: Breakout Group instructions

After 5 minutes, the students are called back to a whole-group zoom. Each group is asked to list 1-2 system elements along with the vocabulary category they the system element(s) fit into. The instructor types the student solicited elements in the Class System Element List linked on the powerpoint (the instructor will need to make a copy of this google doc or change the link to a copy beforehand in order to type into the table). The instructor should take this time to correct any student misconceptions and clarify any student questions about reservoirs, flows, and events. Students should edit their own lists in section B of the handout as the instructor provides feedback and creates the class list.

  • Slide 13: FInal step instructions and Class System Element List link

Optional local context: To provide students with local context, add a satellite image map with markers and labels/names of the various reservoirs or flows near your school (example on slide 12). After students list the elements of the school water system, return to the powerpoint and show the students where their own water reservoirs exist on the satellite image.

Optional End of Activity Assessment(5 min)

  • Kahoot with 6 questions assessing knowledge of systems thinking vocabulary.

Teaching Notes and Tips

Providing students with context about their local water system is a great way to engage students, but finding your water utilities provider, local reservoirs, and water treatment centers can be time consuming. Oftentimes, the fastest way to find out information about your local water supply system is to call your school's water utilities provider. Check out the EPA Map and GoogleEarth instructional Powerpoint for more information.

Instead of going to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Drinking Water web page, the instructor could create a document with the text from each of the web page tabs and insert the surface and ground water diagram into the document. This way students have access to all of the text and the diagram in one place.

An alternative simple system example is the water pollution system. Substitute these slides for slides 10 and 11 on the ST vocabulary applied powerpoint. Like the water supply system, there is ample opportunity to integrate local context in (news stories or examples of (locally polluted waterways). The water pollution example could also be applied to food chain examples in ecology units. The powerpoint and handout would need to be edited to adjust for this example. Many other course relevant systems could be inserted into this activity.


Assessment

Answer Key Student Handout Activity 2

Kahoot - 6 questions on systems thinking vocabulary

References and Resources

This systems thinking module is based on the undergraduate Systems Thinking module on InTeGrate, created by Lisa A. Gilbert, Deborah S. Gross & Karl J. Kreutz. This rates and quantities experiment relates to Unit 1: Introduction to Systems Thinking: What is a System.

How to use EPA Map and GoogleEarth instructional Powerpoint

Background information on the simple Drinking Watersystem from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Background information on a different simple system: Water Pollution video

Substitute slides for the alternative simple system: water pollution

Systems Thinking Vocabulary Glossary

Why teach systems thinking or the water supply chain in Middle School?

"Appendix G - Crosscutting Concepts." 2013. Next Generation Science Standards. https://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/Appendix%20G%20-%20Crosscutting%20Concepts%20FINAL%20edited%204.10.13.pdf

Ties to Sustainable Development Goals:

"Goal 6: Water and Sanitation." United Nations Sustainable Development. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/

Learn about why we should teach Systems Thinking in Earth Science:

Learn more about teaching systems thinking:

Learn more about systems thinking:

  • Meadows, Donella H., and Diana Wright. 2008. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. White River Junction, Vt: Chelsea Green Pub. https://wtf.tw/ref/meadows.pdf