Creating mind maps

Translator

Hi mates!

Today I'm going to talk about mind maps. As you know, mind maps are used to organize information and concepts logically so that we can assimilate and memorize them easier. Personally, I've always created simple mind maps, a kind of draft to put in order and relate ideas and concepts before studying.

I usually teach my pupils how to make mind maps in order to study and review long topics at home. However, lately, I've realized that I wasn't taking full advantage of all its possibilities, therefore I've begun to use this resource in my classes.
There are many websites that allow us to make amazing, colorful and fun mind maps so that we can introduce new subject content, give an overall picture of a topic or reinforce concepts and ideas by making connections.

Last week, I needed an engaging way to explain a Natural Science project to my students, who are fifth graders. I had to bear in mind different variables such as objectives,groups, timing, materials or the different stages of the project, so I needed to convey a lot of information in a motivating and interesting way in order to involve my students from the beginning. The mind map was really helpful to convey all this information since it provided students with an overview of the project and specific information of each item, which was also supported with pictures or videos to reinforce comprehension, and best of all, it helped me to get children involved and motivated.

I used a tool called creately because it enables you to create up to five free mind maps, after that you would have to pay for it, as usual there are special fees for teachers.

First of all, you must create an account and then you have access to the website which is neat, clear and well-organized, basic information and tutorials are available and easily located. You can make not only mind maps but also infographics, Venn diagrams or interactive sitemaps. The tool certainly offers a variety of resources such as collaborating and sharing mind maps, using your computer or  mobile, uploading pictures and videos and hundreds of templates and examples. When you start creating a mind map, it appears an upright toolbar on the left of the screen with all the elements needed like shapes, connectors, arrows and cartoons organized by topics, for instance educational objects.However there is a drawback: the tool is really slow so when you're working some simple actions like changing the font type can take ages. Anyway, the outcome is really amazing so I recommend it. In a sense, it is a zen tool because not only do you learn to make mind maps but also to cultivate patience.

My mind map was intended to explain a project about ecosystems, by which children must apply the knowledge that they already have in order to make an ecosystem model with all its components. They also had to do some research and go in depth with some aspects such as the geographical location, possible problems found in their ecosystem or some animal feed in order to make the food chain.Finally, students must do an oral presentation to explain their project in detail. It is not a very complex project since my students are not used to working in groups so I thought that it could be a good approach.

There are other interesting tools to create mind maps:

Collaborative mindmapping
-Coggle: https://coggle.it/
-Mindmeister: https://www.mindmeister.com/

Single mindmapping
-Mind42: https://mind42.com/mindmaps
-SpiderScribe: https://www.spiderscribe.net/
-Bubble.us: https://bubbl.us/


Below the mind map that you can find here, you will find a tab with some links to my Pearltree with a lot of resources like worksheets, videos and websites related to ecosystems and two rubrics, one for the teacher and another one for students) in order to evaluate the project.The pictures you'll find in the mind map were taken by me. Here is the outcome, I hope you enjoy it.