Cause and Effect: Diagramming Events and Processes

National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS): 

National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS): 

Create a Progressive Flowchart in Microsoft PowerPoint 

Create an Animated Flowchart in Microsoft PowerPoint 

Create an Interactive Flowchart in Microsoft PowerPoint 

Knowledge 

Skills 

Familiarity with word processing and copying and pasting of text and images.

Ability to find and save information and images from Encarta or the Internet.

Ability to select text boxes and images for formatting and resizing.

Comfort with saving files to a shared folder on a computer or network.

Preparing the project (2-3 class periods)

Creating the project (1-2 class periods)

Finalizing the project (1-2 class period)

Presenting and reflecting (2 class periods)

Create a project to use for demonstration, and then share the process with the class. Use the online help in PowerPoint to get information on flowchart tools and for ways to integrate and format AutoShapes.

It is also helpful to display student projects from prior years if they are available.

Align your project to your curriculum and state standards, and then create an assessment rubric for your project. (Visit the Rubistar Web site at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php for more information.)

Communicate with the school librarian in advance of the project so that materials can be prepared and reserved for your classroom.

In the week before the project, have students find flowcharts or diagrams in text or other media that help show sequential information.

A few days before the project, talk your subject over with students and assist them in developing questions. Review the locations of the images.

Help students set up their calendar by backtracking from the final due date. Set deadlines for each separate project element.

Send out a message to parents letting them know of the project expectations and the due dates.

Create a series of mini-lessons to address skills and knowledge needed to complete the project.

Allow time to meet with individual teams 2-3 times each week to assess progress and help in problem-solving. Make this an assessment time by checking off and scoring completed elements in the flowchart project.

Make sure that you plan for differentiation or modification as needed for your diverse group of learners.

Consider first saving projects as Web pages, and then uploading them to your classroom Web site to share with parents and community.

Create a flowchart that diagrams the relationship between producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers) in a food chain.

Create a flowchart that diagrams the cause and effect sequences from a favorite story.

Create a flowchart showing the lifecycle of a salmon.

Create a flowchart showing cause and effects of not doing your chores or homework.

Create a flowchart that diagrams the process of photosynthesis.

Create a flowchart that diagrams the causes and effects that influence character development in a novel.

Create a flowchart that diagrams the elements that led to the Civil War.

Create a flowchart that diagrams the causes and effects of substance abuse.

Create a flowchart that diagrams how usable energy is captured from sunlight by chloroplasts and is stored through the synthesis of sugar from carbon dioxide.

Create a flowchart that diagrams the origins and consequences of the differing greenhouse conditions on Earth, Mars, and Venus.

Create a flowchart that diagrams the rise of industrial economies and their link to imperialism and colonialism.

Create a flowchart that shows causes and effects of homeless populations.