What is Depth & Complexity?
Depth means digging DOWN into a topic, deeper than just the facts. Complexity means seeing how things CONNECT. Experts use special thinking tools to do both. Here are six of them!
🔒 Earn all 6 badges to unlock Think Like an Expert: use every tool on ONE topic and make a poster!
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💬 Depth & Complexity was created by Dr. Sandra Kaplan and Bette Gould for gifted learners. The pictures on this page are our own class versions of the thinking tools. You already know two more tools from this site: Patterns and Multiple Perspectives!
Big Idea
The most important idea that covers ALL the details, like an umbrella.
- What is this REALLY about?
- What idea covers all of these details?
- What's the lesson or the "so what?"
☂️ The Umbrella Game
Read the four details. Which umbrella is big enough to cover ALL of them, but not TOO big?
Details
The small parts, facts, and features that support the big idea.
- What do you notice?
- What are the parts, and what makes each one special?
- What evidence supports the idea?
👀 Detail Detective
You have 15 seconds to study the campsite. Then it disappears, and you'll answer 5 questions about the details. Get 4 or more right to earn the badge!
Rules
How things are organized. The stated AND unstated rules behind everything.
- What rule or pattern organizes this?
- What rules are stated? What rules are unstated (hidden)?
- What would happen if the rule changed?
🕵️ Crack the Secret Rule
Everything in the green box follows a secret rule. Everything in the red box breaks it. Figure out the rule, then prove it by sorting new things!
Trends
How things change over time, and what that tells us about the future.
- What is changing? Is it going up, down, staying the same, or repeating?
- What caused the trend?
- What will probably happen next?
📊 Trend Tracker
Watch the graph draw itself. Name the trend, then predict what comes next!
Ethics
Right and wrong, fair and unfair. The tough choices people have to make.
- What is the right thing to do? Why?
- Is it fair? Fair to WHOM?
- What are the pros and cons?
⚖️ Weigh It Out
For each reason, decide which side it supports (YES or NO) and how important it is to you. Watch the scale tip! Then make your decision. Finish 2 dilemmas to earn the badge.
Unanswered Questions
What we DON'T know yet. The questions experts are still trying to answer!
- What is still unknown about this?
- What do experts still argue about?
- What would you like to discover someday?
🔬 Known or Unknown?
Scientists have answered some of these questions. Others are still a mystery to EVERYONE. Sort them!
🫙 The Question Jar
Add at least 2 of your OWN unanswered questions to the jar. Maybe YOU will answer them someday!
Locked!
Earn all 6 badges to unlock this challenge.
Think Like an Expert
Use ALL six tools on ONE topic.