Lessons Involving Connection Circles

The lessons listed below can be found at the following link:
The Shape of Change

Lesson Title	Subject	Grade
Do You Want Fries With That?	Cross-Curricular	5-8
Perseverance Unit	Multiple	K-3
Arizona Statehood	Social Studies	4
Keystone Species in an Ecosystem	Cross-Curricular	5-8

Information and Sample Connection Circles

How to work with connection circles: Draw a large circle (leaving room for writing elements around the outside of the circle) Choose elements of the story that satisfy all of these criteria: They are important to the changes in the story. They are nouns or noun phrases. They increase or decrease in the story. Write your elements around the circle. Include no more than 5 to 10. Find elements that cause an other element to increase or decrease. Draw an arrow from the cause to the effect. The causal connection must be direct. Look for feedback loops. Adapted from The Shape of Change. Quaden, Rob & Ticotsky, Alan. 2005

Below is a step by step sample of a connection circle from The Shape Change book based on the article Eyes on the Fries: America Needs a More Nutritious French Fry. Current Science, March 1, 2002 by Rene Ebersole.

Choose elements from the system and write them around the circle.

Find elements that cause another element to increase or decrease.  Draw an arrow from the cause to the effect.

Look for and identify feedback loops.

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