8 Elements of Depth

Language of the Discipline

1. terminology
2. nomenclature
3. lexicon
4. tools of the discipline
5. combinations and patterns of terms
6. jargon, idiom
7. signs and symbols
8. figures of speech
9. eponyms and neologisms of the discipline

Task Starters?

1. What words are specific to the work in this discipline?
2. What tools are used by the experts in this discipline?
3. What are the origins of new terms in this discipline?

Related Thinking Skills

1. identify/list/define the terms
2. prioritize (the most important terms)
3. Identify relationships (among the terms)
4. categorize the terms or tools
5. judge with criteria (the specificity of the terms)
6. distinguish appropriateness of usage of the terminology
7. determine relevance

Sample List:

1. matter, energy, heat, motion, forces
2. scale, structure
3. heredity
4. interdependence
5. space, time, relativity
6. atoms, molecules, elements, particles, quarks
7. theories, laws, principles
8. gravitation, electromagnetism
9. diversity

Details

1. clues
2. facts
3. features
4. data
5. ideas
6. traits
7. items
8. parts
9. particulars
10. specifics
11. elements
12. factors
13. attributes

Task Starters

1. what details define ________________?
2. which details are more important than others and what is your evidence of this?
3. what distinguishes this from other things?
4. what are its attributes?
5. what features characterize this?

Related Thinking Skills

1. describe (the details)
2. prioritize (the most important details)
3. note ambiguity (among the details)
4. categorize/classify (the details)
5. identify relationships (among the details)
6. determine relevance
7. sequence the details
8. select details to determine bias or absence of bias

Sample List

1. features
2. characteristics
3. time
4. atoms/molecules
5. time
6. atoms/molecules
7. cells
8. parts

Patterns

1. predictive
2. able to be replicated
3. cycles
4. motifs
5. repetitive
6. made up details
7. person-made and natural designs
8. recurring elements

Task Starters

1. describe the patterns you find.
2. how do you evaluate a pattern’s importance to what you are studying?
3. how does one pattern compare to another?
4. identify the primary patterns and the secondary patterns.
5. how are patterns and details related?

Related Thinking Skills

1. describe (the patterns)
2. define cause and effect
3. prioritize (the most important patterns)
4. categorize/classify (patterns)
5. identify relationships (among the patterns)
6. determine relevance
7. sequence (the pattern parts)
8. judge with criteria (the importance of a pattern)

Sample List

1. dna
2. periodic table
3. biological symmetries
4. pattern of past/present/future
5. molecules
6. crystals
7. solar system, universe

Trends

1. general directions
2. tendencies
3. current styles
4. drifts
5. influences
6. changes over time

Task Starters

1. Describe the trends.
2. Identify the causes and results of a trend.
3. How do you evaluate a trend’s importance to what you are studying?
4. How are trends related to patterns?
5. How (and when) does a fad become a trend?

Related Thinking Skills

1. Describe
2. Compare and contrast
3. Identify relationships (among trends)
4. Categorize/classify (trends)
5. prioritize (the most important rules)
6. Determine relevance
7. Judge with criteria (the importance of a trend)
8. Prove with evidence (the influence of a trend)

Sample List:

1. Research trends
2. Financial support
3. Environmental trends
4. Space exploration
5. Genome project and its implications
6. Health trends

Unanswered Questions

1. a puzzle
2. a conundrum
3. unsolved
4. an unknown
5. something unexplained
6. a dilemma
7. doubtful or uncertain

Task Starters

1. describe the unknown details or stimuli for the event.
2. identify the origins of an unanswered question.
3. how do you evaluate and unanswered question’s importance?
4. how do you determine if, in fact, a question is unanswered?
5. which areas of science or human behavior can you connect with unanswered questions?

Related Thinking Skills

1. describe/state (an unanswered question)
2. note ambiguity
3. distinguish fact from fiction and opinion
4. formulate questions
5. problem solving
6. identify missing information
7. test assumptions
8. prove with evidence (the importance or validity of an unanswered question)

Sample List

1. experimentation
2. ethical implications
3. the future
4. solutions to current problems (greenhouse gases, uses of cloning, etc. )
5. unintended consequences

Rules

1. standards
2. related to structure
3. authoritative directions for conduct or procedure
4. usual courses of action or behavior
5. statements of truth (all or most of the time)
6. methods
7. organizational elements

Task Starters

1. describe the rules.
2. identify the implicit and explicit rules.
3. how do you evaluate rules’ efficiency and validity?
4. how are rules related to patterns and details?
5. compare structural rules and procedural rules.

Related Thinking Skills

1. describe (the rules)
2. identify relationships (among rules)
3. categorize/classify (rules)
4. prioritize (the most important rules)
5. differentiate fact from opinion and fact from fantasy and conjecture
6. determine relevance
7. judge with criteria (the importance of a set of rules)

Sample List

1. scientific method
2. measurement
3. data collection
4. data interpretation
5. systems
6. chemical reactions

Ethics

1. controversies
2. dilemmas
3. biases
4. prejudices
5. decision-making
6. principles of “right” behavior
7. a set or theory of moral values
8. philosophies, metaphysics
9. professional rules or standards
10. value-laden ideas

Task Starters

1. describe the ethical issues you find.
2. how did or does an ethical issue affect the information you are studying?
3. why are there different ethical issues in different times and places?
4. what are some universal ethics values?
5. how do ethics get developed?
6. how does a culture teach or transmit its ethics?

Related Thinking Skills

1. determine bias
2. prioritize (the most important ethical issues)
3. identify relationships (among the ethical issues)
4. determine relevance
5. judge with criteria (the ethical issues)
6. distinguish fact from opinion or fantasy
7. test assumptions

Sample List

1. experimental bias
2. concilience
3. dna issues: cloning, stem cells, etc.
4. disagreements among experts
5. “good” vs “bad” research

Big Ideas

1. generalizations
2. related to many instances
3. developed from many facts
4. overarching
5. related to global or universal themes
6. principles, laws, theories

Task Starters

1. list the evidence needed to support a big idea.
2. how do you evaluate a big idea’s importance to what you are studying?
3. how does working with big ideas help you learn new knowledge?
4. how are patterns, trends, and rules related to big ideas?

Related Thinking Skills

1. describe (the big idea)
2. infer a big idea from supporting evidence’information
3. categorize/classify big ideas
4. identify relationships (among big ideas)
5. determine relevance
6. judge with criteria (the importance of a big idea)

Sample list

1. laws, theories, principles
2. energy
3. gravity
4. waves
5. light
6. change
7. scale & structure

3 Levels of Complexity

Overtime

1. looking at past, present, future
2. applying something historic to present knowledge
3. predicting something based on present knowledge
4. applying from the past to the present
5. noting change

Task Starters

1. Describe the past, present, and possible future related to this issue or topic.
2. Identify a time that this issue or topic was different.
3. How does knowing things over time affect what we learn?
4. How is history being made everyday? How does this help us predict the future?

Related Thinking Skills

1. Describe the topic over time.
2. Judge with criteria.
3. Identify relationships of a topic and different time periods.
4. Determine relevance of knowing this topic over time.
5. Differentiate fact from opinion (over time).

Sample List:

1. time as related to scientific rules
2. formulas, e.g., s=d/t
3. effects of time on living & nonliving things
4. scientific innovation
5. climate, meteorology
6. geology
7. change

Different Perspective

1. different points of view
2. ways of seeing and reporting things
3. often dependent on time & place
4. different slants
5. affected by roles and responsibilities

Task Starters

1. describe the multiple perspectives on an issue or topic.
2. identify a different point of view and explain it.
3. how does point of view affect what we learn?
4. what perspective do experts have?
5. when is your perspective different from others? why?

Related Thinking Skills

1. describe (the most important perspective)
2. identify relationships (among perspectives)
3. determine relevance of various points of view
4. judge with criteria (the various points of view)

Sample List:

1. perspectives of different experts
2. points of view on problems & issues
3. applications of “new” science
4. environmental perspectives
5. ethical issues

Interdisciplinary Relationships

1. multidisciplinary
2. interdisciplinary
3. connections among disciplines
4. touching on many subjects at once

Task Starters

1. describe a topic’s place in more than one discipline or subject area.
2. sort information you are studying into several disciplines.
3. how is “across discipline” related to “multiple perspectives”
4. how do experts in a discipline learn from experts in other disciplines?
5. what is concilience (and who is E.O. Wilson)?

Related Thinking Skills

1. describe the topic in terms of different disciplines
2. prioritize various subject areas’ importance to the topic
3. identify relationships (among information from different disciplines)
4. judge with criteria (the various points of view)
5. compare & contrast info (from various disciplines)

Sample List

1. origins of laws, principles, theories
2. communicating research findings
3. quantities, measurements and tools of the disciplines
4. intersection of discipline; geobotany, biophysics, ecogeography, geochemistry, etc.