Using the Iceberg Diagram for Eating Issue for Dinner
Family Tree of Emotion Code
February 23, 2019
Clean Your Room Computationally
March 5, 2019Use the icerberg diagram with your children to involve them family time for dinner.
Why don't you try icebergh diagram to let your children explore his/her eating habits and time? This activity help your child to understand different interrelated factors of his/her eating habits and time. Your children will be able to understand connectedness of eating habits.
How long?
40 minutes
What you need
- You and your child
- Dinner time
- A piece of paper
- Marker, pen or pencil
What age is it for?
4-10 year olds
How to Play
You'll be sketching an iceberg diagram and use sticky notes to write down factors, draw pattern recognition graph and feedback loop. Afterward, allow your child to identify the problem and come up with the possible solutions. Tell your children: We're going to have dinner as a family. In order to solve this problem, we need to brainstorm together as a team. We'll do it like systems thinkers -- visually!
Step 1: Identify the problem
You and your child should sit down and talk through: What is the main reasons little ones don't eat for dinner?
One strategy: ask your child to close his/her eyes and imagine the days he/she had the type of food and the time at school, playground, etc.
Listen to your child tell his/her day explaining breakfast, lunch, and linner step by step verbally -- and you start to take some notes what he/she is telling.
Step 2: Drawing the icebergh diagram
It's a problem-centered approach time! You can have a back and forth conversations to learn different what kind of food they ate and what time.
Ask open-ended questions that allow them to articulate their food story. You don't need to use these formal questions, but just ask a lot of 'what' and 'how' questions.
Ask them a question that triggers a picture from the morning time to dinner time. – “Do you remember what you have eaten today?
.Step 3: Pattern recogniton and feedback loop
After a clear understanding of the problem and factors, have your child draw pattern recognition graph and feedback loop for themselves based on their meals and drinks. Make sure to scaffold your child if she/he has any help.
Step 4: Time to test it following day
Tomorrow! Now it's time to start the experiment.
Ask your child to think about it the process what happened today. Besides, ask them to identify factors and fix the problems based on feedback loop.
Bekir M.
Doctorate in Education
Originally from Turkey, then Pittsburgh, now California
I got my doctorate in educating kids how to code, and how to think computationally so they can thrive in STEM. I have been researching how Offline Activities -- where kids aren't in front of a screen, but are playing in the real world -- can help kids get core concepts of coding.
Learning Outcome
In this activity, your child will be able to identify the main reasons systematically why he/she doesn't want to eat dinner with family members. This iceberg metaphor is well-known to understand the key factors of the issue. Based on the factors, family members are able to define the problem and come up with a possible solution.