Reference:
You Could Look It Up
"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. When we enquire into any subject, the first thing we have to do is to know what books have treated of it. This leads us to look at catalogues, and at the backs of books in libraries."
— Samuel Johnson (James Boswell's Life of Johnson, April 18, 1775.)
— Samuel Johnson (James Boswell's Life of Johnson, April 18, 1775.)
Lexicography--"of words, writing."
For those fascinated by the meanings of words. Writing's early examples are over 5,000 years old.
Online Etymology Dictionary:
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Wordwizard: http://www.wordwizard.com/index.php |
Membean: Vocabulary Word Maps
http://membean.com/personal/wordmaps
Linguistics--"the science of languages."
for those fascinated by patterns of speech and language.
Making Sense of the Universe
Encyclopedic Knowledge--Enkuklios paideia, Greek for "a circle or cycle of learning." Gathering information serves to reveal where there are gaps in knowledge and where research might profitably proceed.
Sebayt: A Text to Dispel Ignorance About Everything that Exists, by Amenemopet, c. 1,100 BCE, Egypt. An early example of an effort to collect all knowledge.
Naturalis Historia (Natural History), by Pliny the Elder, c. 79 CE, Rome. "Nor do we doubt that there are many things that have escaped us also; for we are but human, and beset with duties, and we pursue this sort of interest in our spare moments."--Pliny the Elder
"Let us set our minds on that contemplation which does not merely make a sound in the ear but lights the interior eye."--Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, c. 543-585 CE, Rome.
Danishnama-yi ‘Ala’i (The Book of Knowledge for ‘Ala’ al-Dawla), by Abu ‘Ali al-Husayn ibn Sina, better known in Europe by the Latinized name “Avicenna,” c. 1030 CE, Hyrcania, modern Iran.
Digital Research Tools: Media Center,
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Real World Research Connections:
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The Natural World
Dichotomous Keys for Classifying Organisms
Greek dikhotomos (from dikho- ‘in two’ + temnein ‘to cut’)
A dichotomous key is a tool that allows the user to identify individual organisms in the natural world, such as trees, wildflowers, mammals, reptiles, rocks, and fish. Keys consist of a series of choices that lead the user to the correct name of a given item. Part of the challenge of creating and using dichotomous keys is careful observation of details.
Systems Thinking
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."--John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911.
A system is a set of interrelated elements that make a unified whole. Individual things—like plants, people, watersheds, or economies—are themselves systems and at the same time cannot be fully understood apart from the larger systems in which they exist. Systems thinking is an essential part of understanding ecological and cultural phenomena. A systems approach helps us understand the complexity of the world around us and encourages us to think in terms of relationships, connectedness, and context.
A system is a set of interrelated elements that make a unified whole. Individual things—like plants, people, watersheds, or economies—are themselves systems and at the same time cannot be fully understood apart from the larger systems in which they exist. Systems thinking is an essential part of understanding ecological and cultural phenomena. A systems approach helps us understand the complexity of the world around us and encourages us to think in terms of relationships, connectedness, and context.
Ideas and Reason: The Life of the Mind
Familiar ways of looking at the universe are not the only ways. Students who look closely as the universe, life around us, and our culture and civilization will need to borrow and combine ideas from several different theories of knowledge.
Strand Maps and Concept Webs
Strand Maps are an interactive tool for learners to explore links between general concepts and increasing complexity of specific concepts as they build upon one another as students continue their education.