WHAT IF?: MAKING DECISION
TREES
WHAT IF?: MAKING DECISION
TREES
Preparation: Download What If Builder Software
GO
Summary: The What If Builder is a tool for making decision trees. Students begin to project changes to their neighborhood by developing stories for the What If Builder.
Classroom Management: You can either use a projector and work with the whole class, or put the What If Builder on a set of computers and have teams work on different stories. The teams can take different strands of the same story. They should write their stories on paper prior to using the tool.
Steps:
1. Read as a class through a story contained in the What If Builder.
2. Explain that now it is their turn to make up a story.
3. Ask the class to consider the following changes in their neighborhood:
What if the number of people living in it doubled?
What if the climate became 5 degrees hotter?
What if you used up its most important resource?
(Make up another What If.)
4. List key ideas associated with the topic.
You can use the Tree Outline to organize thoughts. Place one idea on each of the big branches.
5. Enter into the What If Builder.
Extension: Have the students write another story on a topic of their own choice. or do the following story about a pond: What Shall We Do With The Land Around the Pond?
a. leave natural
if choose a. leave natural: new issue: pond becomes part of park for tourists. Choices: allow swimming all around pond, allow swimming only in designated area, no swimming [fill in consequences of each
b. build houses
if choose b. build houses: new issue: fertilizer runoff. Choices: let lawns
go to edge of pond, leave natural buffer between lawns and pond, construct
wall between lawns and pond [fill in consequences of each]c. build factory
If choose c. build factory: [Well, you get the idea...!]
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