I’m a big fan of concept maps for learning owning the vocabulary needed to be scientifically literate. Unlike vocab lists which can be memorized and forgotten, creating and presenting in class gave Physical Science a sense of what they knew vs. what they owned.
Before we started they had a list of words they had to discuss and classify in their groups in terms of: know really well, kind-of, and not really.
After our discussion in class where they presented their whiteboard concept maps to the class in round-robin style. Each group was asked to present a word and the thread of understanding they had with other words. It isn’t easy to do that! We then discussed how spending time in school is best figuring out what you don’t know and what [tools, information, learning experiences] you need [from me] to learn it, vs. showing off what you *do* know.
