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Hexagonal thinking is a highly interactive and student-centered approach that can deepen middle school learners’ understanding of human body systems and related scientific concepts. By arranging and rearranging labeled hexagons, students make and debate meaningful connections between different human body systems, their major organs and parts and biological concepts. This hands-on, puzzle-like method engages learners in active discussion, prompting them to justify their thinking using evidence from texts or prior knowledge. Because each hexagon can connect to up to six others, students must carefully consider multiple perspectives, ultimately forming an interlocking web of ideas that reveals how human body system concepts link to one another and to the broader world of science.

During this process, each student plays a role - some more focused on carefully placing the hexagons, some on offering logical reasoning, and others on questioning or challenging connections. This inclusive dynamic ensures that various learning styles are supported, while the visible, tactile nature of the activity keeps students more focused and motivated than traditional note-taking. By the end, students not only produce a visual representation of how key ideas overlap and reinforce each other, but they also gain deeper insights into why scientific knowledge - like the arrangement of human body systems and organs - is fundamentally interconnected.

WHY / WHEN TO USE:

• Ensure good revision through an amazing collaborative tool
• Make sure students are learning scientific language and terms
• Check engagement with this as a formative assessment
• Improve their ability to make and explain relevant connections on this topic
• Can help provide a way to focus learning throughout a whole unit
• Useful for substitute (sub) teaching

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

• 5 page digital & editable Google Slides version including 1 page introduction
• 3 page print PDF version including 1 page introduction