A teacher sent this one in:
Students will identify the essential details of a famous structure using an online encyclopedia and create a model.
It’s a great starting point! But we stop at a low level of thinking (“identify”) and move directly to the product (create a model). I’d want to focus on getting the level of thinking up to, at least, Analyze.
The Update
Let’s break this out into multiple parts, each of which will hit a different version of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Since I know I want to get to Analyze, I’ll need students to compare and contrast multiple structures. With that in mind, we’ll start by gathering multiple famous structures.
- List famous structures from around the world. Include at least one fascinating fact per structure.
- Group structures together based on any patterns that you notice. Create a table showing the categories
- Pick a structure that best exemplifies one of the categories. Explain why this structure exemplifies the category.
- Design a _new_ structure that would fit in with one of the categories. Draw a blueprint. Then make a model
Step 2 is our Analyze step. Notice that students create the criteria for their categories. It is not Analyze if we give them the groups, like “Categorize the structures based on which continent they are on.” No, no. That would take the thinking back down to Remember/Understand. To Analyze, students have to develop the reason for their groupings. We should expect different students to group the structures in different ways.
Then, at Step 3, we have an Evaluate-level task. They are, again, coming up with their own reason for how to judge the structures. Again, I’d expect a variety of answers from students.
Notice how much more thinking about structures students will do here? Plus, we’re not just re-creating an existing structure. Students will be designing a structure within certain constraints.
For Byrdseed.TV Members
- I have a student version of this task in video format.
- And there’s a version more suited to leading professional development.