At this point you should use the technique of concept mapping to analyze the important ideas and words that you hope students will understand in your mini-unit. Novak and Gowin (1984) have advocated the use of concept mapping as a tool for planning, and it is introduced here in the instructional planning process.
To develop a concept map, make a list of all the important concepts and terms that are related to the major concepts in your mini-unit. The following steps should help you devise your concept map.
Steps for Developing a Concept Map:
1. Select the main
concept from your list. 2. Add concepts to
your list if needed. 3. Write the
concepts on index cards. 4. Rank the concepts
from the most inclusive to the most specific. 5. Group the
concepts into clusters. Add more specific concepts (on
cards) if necessary. 6. Arrange the
concepts (cards) in a two-dimensional array. 7. Write the
concepts on a sheet of paper as they appear in the two
dimensional array. 8. Link the concepts
and label each link.
Software Tip: You might want to use a concept mapping tool, such as Inspiration to develop your concept maps. You can download a 30-day trial version of Inspiration. The concept map shown below was drawn using this software.
For example here is a list of concepts and terms for a mini-unit on the "food chain," listed in order from most inclusive to least inclusive.
The figure below shows an arrangement of these concepts and terms for the mini-unit on food chains. Note the hierarchical nature of the map. The more inclusive concepts are located at the top of the map (e.g. food chains, producers), followed by less inclusive concepts (bryophytes, tracheophytes) as you read down the map. Using this technique will help you analyze the nature of your mini-unit at this stage. Does your concept map show inclusive concepts? Are there too many abstract concepts? What concrete concepts could you add to help the students understand the abstract concepts?
There is a good chance that you are planning your mini-unit using a middle or high school science textbook. If you are working with a single chapter (mini-units typically represent only a part of a chapter, and on rare occasions a full chapter), make a list of the important concepts (no more than 10), and from this list create your concept map. You may discover that you will have to modify the map by adding concrete concepts that may have been "missing" from the textbook authors approach to the chapter, or you may have to de-emphasize and eliminate some concepts.