1. Outline, Systems Thinking
Why we should all teach systems thinking
Systems thinking and NGSS
How to introduce systems thinking with InTeGrate
Role of metacognition
Lisa Gilbert

2. Traditional thinking

3. Systems thinking Traditional thinking
model by Ellie Hadler (Williams-Mystic S17) using

4. Why use systems thinking?
To address complex environmental problems, we need to approach them holistically, not just one piece at a time.

5. Systems thinking and the NGSS
Crosscutting concepts
4. Systems and system models. Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation. Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
7. Stability and change. For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.
From Appendix G (NGSS, 2013)

7. Systems thinking takes time to develop
Vocabulary  Diagrams  Modeling  Application First week … middle … end of course

9. Poll 1: How do you rate your knowledge of systems diagrams right now?
I've never heard of systems diagrams.
I've heard of systems diagrams, but cannot elaborate.
I could explain a little about systems diagrams.
If given a systems diagram, I could explain it.
I could create a systems diagram and then explain it.
Lets Launch Poll #1
Enter selection on the poll.
(If you don’t see the poll, enter your selection in the chat box. )

10. Poll 1: How do you rate your knowledge of systems diagrams right now?
EER 2016 participants
Metacognition aids development of systems thinking!

11. Here is a simple system:
Water in bathtub
faucet
drain

12. The water in the bathtub is the reservoir
Water in bathtub
faucet
drain
We measure the amount in the reservoir
Water level in cm
Liters or Gallons

13. The faucet represents a flux
Water in bathtub
faucet
drain
We measure the rate of water flowing through the faucet
cm/second
Liters/second

14. The drain also represents a flux
Water in bathtub
faucet
drain
We measure the rate of water flowing through the drain
cm/second
Liters/second

15. Which type of feedback loop?
Water in hot water heater
Balancing (negative) feedback loops
hold a system to an equilibrium state and make it more stable.
Reinforcing (positive) feedback loops
tend to move a system away from equilibrium and make it more unstable.
Which type of feedback loop?
Water in bathtub
faucet
drain
purifier
Basement tank

16. Which type of feedback loop?
Water in hot water heater
Balancing (negative) feedback loops
hold a system to an equilibrium state and make it more stable.
Reinforcing (positive) feedback loops
tend to move a system away from equilibrium and make it more unstable.
Which type of feedback loop?
Water in bathtub
faucet
drain
purifier
Yes or No?
“This a reinforcing feedback loop.”
Basement tank

17. Which type of feedback loop?
Water in hot water heater
Balancing (negative) feedback loops
hold a system to an equilibrium state and make it more stable.
Reinforcing (positive) feedback loops
tend to move a system away from equilibrium and make it more unstable.
Which type of feedback loop?
Water in bathtub
faucet
drain
purifier
Yes or No?
“This a reinforcing feedback loop.”
Basement tank

18. Reinforcing feedback loops underlie many environmental problems
What are some examples?
Type your answer into the chat box 
Recall: Reinforcing feedback loops tend to make a system more unstable.

19. Recall our goals

20. Recall our goals
Now we’ll do this

21. Dry trees, plants in Canada
Length of summer
Heat in the atmosphere
Dry trees, plants in Canada
Smoke over Minnesota
Wildfire
Does the diagram fully represent the complexity of the system described by the speaker? If not, what reservoirs and fluxes should be added to the diagram?
Radiative heating
Feel free to type ideas into chat box while we listen
(0:38 until 2:20 Eric S. Kasischke begins speaking)

22. Dry trees, plants in Canada
Length of summer
Heat in the atmosphere
Dry trees, plants in Canada
Smoke over Canada
Wildfire
Wind
Radiative heating
Radiative heating
One option
Smoke over Minnesota
Albedo
Dirty/sooty ice
Deposition

23. Identify feedback loops
Length of summer
Heat in the atmosphere
Dry trees, plants
Identify feedback loops
Smoke over Canada
Wildfire
Wind +
Radiative heating
Radiative heating
melting +
Smoke over Minnesota
Albedo
Dirty/sooty ice
Deposition

24. Recall our goals

25. Poll 2: How do you rate your knowledge of systems diagrams right now?
I've never heard of systems diagrams.
I've heard of systems diagrams, but cannot elaborate.
I could explain a little about systems diagrams.
If given a systems diagram, I could explain it.
I could create a systems diagram and then explain it.
Lets Launch Poll #2
Enter selection on the poll.
(If you don’t see the poll, enter your selection in the chat box. )

26. Poll 2: How do you rate your knowledge of systems diagrams right now?
Metacognition aids development of systems thinking!

27. Summary, Systems Thinking
Why we should all teach systems thinking
cause and effect isn’t enough
NGSS
How to teach systems thinking
with InTeGrate’s Systems Thinking module
Role of metacognition
aids development of systems thinking