Across Disciplines

***The Elements of Depth & Complexity are, to put it simply, a framing tool for creating critical writing prompts. Each Element is paired with an Icon. Drawing and/or memorizing the Icon is secondary to the actual USE of the Element to create better questions. When students learn what each Element means, they can start creating prompts for themselves, saving the teacher a lot of time.

This Element has students explore the connections within, between, and across subject areas or topics. The comparisons across subjects can range from the obvious to extremely abstract. Students may also apply what they learned to another subject. The last three Elements: Change Over Time, Across Disciplines, and Multiple Perspectives, are fantastic for use in conjunction with the other 8 Elements.

Prompts may include:

  • Jobs in this field or related to this topic
  • Other subjects that are involved in this topic - a hierarchy of scientists, explorers, theorists, etc… who helped establish these facts?
  • What other topics or subjects have in common with this topic - even metaphorically.
  • What qualifies someone to speak on this topic? How is that fair?
  • How to use this information in another situation - can be very abstract
  • Use literary devices to expand this idea (metaphor, etc)
  • What is the math behind this rhetorical device/rhyme scheme/pattern of writing
  • How could you put this concept to music?
  • Creation of a type of a web that shows this topic’s connections to other topics/subjects, etc.

Social Studies

  1. Research and describe this topic’s place in more than one discipline or subject area.
  2. In your dream job, where might this information be valuable? Come up with a specific scenario using the language of the job you want.
  3. Which culture was the first to use this concept or think this way? How did it help their society?
  4. On staff paper, write the melody and lyrics to a song that explains this concept. Record it.
  5. Create an original work of visual or performance art that uses this concept in unique ways.
  6. How did science and technology contribute to this conflict? What are the moral implications?
  7. In what ways did ______________ (society, religion, government, etc.) prohibit mathematical or scientific discoveries from being made?

English

  1. Research and describe this topic’s place in more than one discipline or subject area.
  2. Create a list of at least 10 potential future jobs you may be interested in, and organize them by which ones are more likely to use the information you learned in class.
  3. Think of a current event. Create a poem in this genre about this event.
  4. Which culture was the first to write this way? How did it help their society?
  5. On staff paper, write the melody and lyrics to a song that explains this concept. Record it.
  6. Create an original work of visual or performance art that uses this concept in unique ways.

Math

  1. Research and describe this topic’s place in more than one discipline or subject area.
  2. In your dream job, where might this information be valuable? Come up with a specific scenario using the language of the job you want.
  3. Which culture was the first to use this concept or think this way? How did it help their society?
  4. On staff paper, write the melody and lyrics to a song that explains this concept. Record it.
  5. Create an original work of visual or performance art that uses this concept in unique ways.
  6. Think of a current event. What can knowledge of this math concept contribute to this event?
  7. How has our understanding of this concept led to scientific discovery?
  8. In what ways did society, religion, and/or politics prohibit this discovery from being made sooner?
  9. Which mathematician or culture was the first to think this way? How did it help their society?
  10. Compare how scientists in two different fields of study might view or use this math concept.
  11. Write a short story about a court case that uses this math concept to prove someone innocent.

Science

  1. Research and describe this topic’s place in more than one discipline or subject area.
  2. In your dream job, where might this information be valuable? Come up with a specific scenario using the language of the job you want.
  3. Which culture was the first to use this concept or think this way? How did it help their society?
  4. On staff paper, write the melody and lyrics to a song that explains this concept. Record it.
  5. Create an original work of visual or performance art that uses this concept in unique ways.
  6. What math was used to prove this concept, and/or what did we have to understand mathematically before we could make this scientific discovery?
  7. In what ways did society, religion, and/or politics prohibit this discovery from being made sooner?