Concept Maps Dr K Rommel Esham Curr 316 What is a concept map A knowledge representation tool that students can use as they construct knowledge and understanding A way to help you see what students are trying to think about A drawing of an idea A tool to help students visualize when you expect them to develop their own ideas and explanations A tool that can help students determine the ways in which many different ideas relate to one another What do concept maps do They add a visual dimension to written text They provide a way for students to organize their thoughts 1 Can I use them for anything else You can use them to plan a lesson You can use them to plan projects that are integrated across the curriculum You can use them for assessment Where do I begin Start with a list of words that result from brainstorming all the concepts related to the topic FLOATING Fresh water Oil Salt water Butter Cork Potato slice Grape Egg 2 Then what Order the concepts from the most inclusive superordinate to the most specific subordinate Work from top to bottom placing more general topics at the top and more specific topics below Like this What now Link the superordinate concept with the subordinate concepts by using arrows Link concepts using cross links rays to show how ideas in different parts of the map relate 3 like this Then Add linking words Add short phrases such as relates to is based on and is made of to explain how the ideas are connected What does a completed concept map look like 4