Activity 3: Introduction to Systems Diagrams

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).

Students need background information on systems thinking vocabulary. Some background information on surface and groundwater is helpful, but there is space within this activity to provide the necessary background information.

This activity best follows activities 1 and 2, continuing the school water supply system theme and integrating systems thinking vocabulary. This activity can be paired with Activity 4: Multiple Sources in Systems Diagrams to provide students with time for reflection on the importance of assessing and viewing a system from a variety of angles and perspectives.

• Students will be able to identify missing elements of a systems diagram.
• Students will be able to edit and add elements to a systems diagram to make the diagram more comprehensive.

Materials:

• Zoom or other video conference platform (with breakout groups enabled)
• Activity 3 Google Folder:
  • Instructor Guide Activity 3
    • Make a single copy for Instructor use
  • Introduction to Systems Diagrams Powerpoint
    • Make a single copy for Instructor use
  • Student Handout Activity 3
    • Give students access to their own copies to fill out individually
  • Answer Key Student Handout Activity 3
    • Make a single copy for Instructor use
  • Rebuild a Systems Diagram Google Slides (give students editing access)
    • Make a single copy and give students editing access
    • If you have more than 30 students duplicate slide 34
  • Instructor Resource: EPA Map and GoogleEarth How-to instructional Powerpoint

Activity Description (40 min)

Part 1 - Systems Diagram Explanation (3 min)

The instructor screen shares the Introduction to Systems Diagrams Powerpoint.

Slide 1: The instructor introduces systems diagrams to the students by providing a definition. Here's what you might say to introduce systems diagrams:

"System diagrams are simple drawings or flow charts that show, instead of tell with sentences, how things move through a system. System diagrams can help us visualize and understand complex systems in a simple reservoir, flow, event format."

Slide 2: Provide an example of a systems diagram of a familiar system. Here's what you might say for slide 2: "Here's one example of the water supply system (that we talked about in activity 1)."

Slide 3: Introduces the systems diagram structure associated with the systems thinking vocabulary words: reservoir, flow, event, and same and opposite relationships. You might say this on slide 3:

"You'll see that the reservoirs like the surface water and the water treatment center are identified with boxes, the flows or events connect the reservoirs to other reservoirs with arrows, like the pipes and pumps, or the school's water demand. The relationship between the reservoirs is indicated with + or - signs. The school's water demand uses a + or a direct relationship because when we demand more water the amount of water being removed from the surface water reservoir goes down to accommodate our demand. We often use systems diagrams like this one to help us visualize and simplify what's happening in a complex system. What is the 'thing' that is moving through this system? 'Water!'"

Slide 4: Prompts students to open Student Handout Activity 3 and to answer Question 1 on the handout.

• Student Handout Activity 3: Question 1 - Identify the element (reservoir, flow, event, +/- relationship) represented by the systems diagram symbol (box, arrow, arrow with at +/- above).

Slides 5-6: Introduce the goals of the activity. 1) Assess an example systems diagram and 2) Edit and add to the systems diagram. Here's an example of how you might introduce the goals:

Slide 5: "So now that we have had a refresher of systems diagrams, we can go over the goals for this activity: First, we are going to assess the system diagram that I just showed you in the slide before. Can anyone explain what assess means? Basically we want to understand what is missing from and also what is already included in this diagram. And second, we will use those assessments to edit and add to that systems diagram to make our own improved diagrams. Like we discussed in our first systems thinking activity, systems make up the world around us, and oftentimes when issues appear in systems we have to have a complete understanding of that system in order to solve the problem. That's where assessing and improving systems diagrams can come in handy."

Slide 6: "To start, let's assess the water supply system diagram."

Part 2 - System Diagram Assessment (15 min)

Slide 7: Students are asked to assess missing elements of the systems diagram without providing any additional information. Students should write down the missing elements they think of on Question 2 of the Student Handout.

• What's missing? Write ideas on student handout Question 2
  • Student Handout Activity 3: Question 2 - Does this school water supply system diagram leave out any important elements of the water supply system?

Slide 8: After a minute or two of thought, the instructor prompts the students to assess the diagram based on background information provided by a surface and ground water diagram. The instructor explains the surface and groundwater diagram in greater or lesser detail depending on the student's prior knowledge. Students should understand that drinking water is sourced from surface and ground water and that surface water is accessed with dams and pipes while ground water is accessed with wells.

Slides 9-11: Optional Local Adaptation: The Instructor displays a satellite image, from google earth or google maps, of surface and ground water reservoirs from which the school's water utilities company sources their water. This will provide students with more context for their school water supply system and allow them to see the geographic relationship between reservoirs, wells, aquifers, water treatment centers and their school. Use the EPA Map and GoogleEarth instructional Powerpoint for information on how to find this local water system information.

• Slides 9-10: East Greenwich local school water supply example

Slide 11: Based on the surface and groundwater information and the optional local information, slide 11 prompts students to add to their list in Question 2 of the handout. The primary goal of this brainstorming is for students to realize that ground water is a reservoir that is missing from this diagram. Students may also notice other, more detailed reservoirs or flows are missing.

• Student Handout Activity 3: Question 2 - Does this school water supply system diagram leave out any important elements of the water supply system?

Use either slide 12 (generic) or 13 (local). The instructor should delete the slide that does not apply to their activity adaptation.

Slide 12 provides students with an example of an edited systems diagram with two additions: a ground water reservoir and a drain outflow to an unknown reservoir. Students can call out other additions they would have added.

Slide 13: Optional Local adaptation. A replica of slide 12, but with the names of the local East Greenwich reservoirs, wells, and treatment facilities. If the instructor chose to include local water supply information (slides 9-10), the instructor should use this slide as an example and insert the correct names for their own water supply system.

Slide 14: Then the instructor asks students to also draw on their own experiences in the school, their "pre-existing knowledge," to assess the system diagram. The instructor uses slide 14 to explain why using an additional source of information could make the diagram more comprehensive.

For example, the instructor might say: "To make comprehensive system diagrams we often have to use multiple different sources of information and perspectives. Using different sources and perspectives to build our system diagrams will help us see connections, reservoirs, or events that we might not have thought of before."

Slide 15 provides instructions for a think-pair-share activity in which students answer the question: "How do you or other people use water everyday at school?" Students take 2 minutes to answer question 3A individually.

• Student Handout: Question 3A - Brainstorm and make a list of four ways you use water at school every day. These can be direct, like when you use water yourself, or indirect, like when you use something that needed water to be grown, produced or transported.

Slide 15 Cont. The instructor then divides students into breakout groups of 2-4 students for two minutes to discuss their thoughts and add to their notes, answering Question 3B.

• Student Handout: Question 3B -  What other ideas did your partner come up with? Your class?

After students finish their breakout discussions, the instructor screen shares Slide 3 of the Recreating a Systems Diagram Google Slides. The entire class takes 3 minutes to discuss the additions they came up with in groups. As the students call out additions, the instructor creates a list of the student solicited additions on slide 3 of the Recreating a Systems Diagram Google slides. Again, the instructor should ask students to add to their question 3B list during the class discussion.

Part 3 - Edit and Add to a Systems Diagram (20 min)

Slide 16: The instructor indicates that the class will move onto the second goal for the activity: edit and add to the systems diagram.

Slide 17: The instructor asks students to open the Rebuild a Systems Diagram google slides in their google classroom folder.

The instructor stops screen sharing the powerpoint and starts screen sharing the Rebuild a Systems Diagram google slides. The instructor reviews the google slides slide 1, the systems diagram editing instructions:

• Edit the water supply systems diagram on your own google slide
  • Text boxes and arrows for additional flows, reservoirs and events are provided around the edge of the slide
    • Feel free to create more text boxes and arrows than are provided by copying and pasting existing text boxes and arrows
  • Include +/- for relationships

*These diagrams will be viewed by the class

The instructor shows students how to each claim a slide by typing their name into the "Your Name" text box. The instructor also shows the students how the slides are pre-fabricated with the school water supply diagram and how additional pre-made text boxes and arrows are located around each slide for students to click and drag or type into. The instructor then stops screen sharing and provides students with 10 minutes to rebuild the original school water supply systems diagram.

Students can also rebuild the systems diagrams by hand with a pencil and paper instead of using the google slides.

After 10 minutes, or when students seem to have their diagrams complete or nearly complete, the instructor screen shares the Introduction to Systems Diagrams powerpoint slide 19 and provides students with instructions on how to perform a gallery tour. During the gallery tour, students look at ~5 of their classmates's slides and think about edits or additions they would like to make to their own diagram (2 min). Students then return to their own slide and make any last changes or additions (2 min). Students are asked to begin the gallery tour.

If students draw their diagrams on paper, they can hold up their diagrams to their cameras for everyone to see. Students may need to explain their diagrams if they are hard to see over the computer cameras. After the lesson, students who drew their systems diagrams should upload photos of their diagrams to their Student Handout Activity 3.

Before teaching this lesson, the instructor should edit the powerpoint slides to remove or edit the local adaptation examples that do not apply to the instructor's school (slides 9, 10, 13). If the instructor plans on asking students to draw their systems diagrams instead of use the google slides, then the instructor should edit the instructions on slide 18.

Slides 19 and 20 of the Introduction to Systems Diagrams powerpoint provide an alternative system example that could be substituted for the school water supply system: wastewater. The rest of the powerpoint and handouts would need to be edited to adjust for these examples. Many other course relevant systems could also be inserted into this activity.

Answer Key Student Handout Activity 3

Review each student's Rebuild a Systems Diagram slide:

• Did the student add multiple missing elements to the systems diagram?
• Are the missing elements appropriately titled and boxed (reservoirs), drawn as arrows (flows/events), or labeled with +/-?
  • Student understanding of relationships (+/-) is not very important for this lesson, but the way students use the +/- relationships in their diagrams will help give the instructor insight into student confusions about those relationships

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 and Unit 2: picturing complexity.

How to use EPA Map and GoogleEarth instructional Powerpoint (link)

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:

• Lisa A. Gilbert, Deborah S. Gross & Karl J. Kreutz (2019): Developing undergraduate students' systems thinking skills with an InTeGrate module, Journal of Geoscience Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2018.1529469
• SERC's page on Complex Earth Systems: An explanation of the different types of systems thinking involved in Earth's systems

Learn more about teaching systems thinking:

• Q Design Pack Systems Thinking. Institute of Play. http://educators.brainpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IOP_QDesignPack_SystemsThinking_1.0.pdf
• Mambrey, Sophia, Justin Timm, Jana Julia Landskron, and Philipp Schmiemann. 2020. "The Impact of System Specifics on Systems Thinking." Journal of Research in Science Teaching, July, tea.21649. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21649

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