Engaging Students with Concept Mapping Activities

Above is a concept map about photosynthesis which is a good way to show what is being used and produced through photosynthesis. It is great for visual learners or those who like to see the flow of information. Overall using a concept map for a topic such a photosynthesis is useful for many so that what they are learning is organized and laid out in a clear format which is useful for both teachers and students.

How I can see concept mapping used in the science classroom is by taking what they may have learned at a younger age and lower level and making new connection and schemas through them. Our minds like to make connections and it makes it easier for the students to do so rather than create a whole new schema for the idea/concept we may be teaching. Concept mapping is important not only for the students but as a teacher creating these can help to decide in which order your unit should be taught to make the most sense for your students. It can also help to find flaws in your lesson due to this non-flowing format your lesson may have.

Some ideas I see myself using in class with regard to concept mapping is taking the information they know about proteins (it helps build muscle, it’s a bunch of little things put together, or proteins help your body function) and use that as a transition into how your body uses proteins specifically and where they come from. You can go through how DNA is involved with the process, how much protein is made in your body, and what are proteins really made from. This would be a great introduction to the unit on protein synthesis that I will do in my classroom.

A few more ideas I have for concept mapping would be to have students take a given topic such as ‘photosynthesis’ and make their own concept map of what they think it is alone, then share with a partner, then as a class create a collective map that encompasses what we need to know about photosynthesis and its function for plants. This could actually be a good way to assess how well the students learned the material (they could turn in their concept map for a grade) and also by discussion it with the class I can see what, as a whole, needs more work. Lastly I see concept mapping playing a role in how students can see the benefits of learning the material taught in a science classroom. Many students come in with the idea that science is stupid and useless but by connecting what we are learning to other outside resources and or activities through concept mapping the students gain an appreciation for the information given in the science classroom.