Universal Concepts (Big Ideas)

UNIVERSAL CONCEPTS or the “BIG IDEAS” & Generalizations – a broad, inclusive statement which serves as a principle or rule

CHANGE

• Our daily lives are affected by change • Change can have a ripple effect OR change leads to change • Change can be helpful and harmful • Change can be natural or person-made • Change is inevitable • Change is constructive and destructive • Change leads to progress and regress • Change causes friction • Change can be planned or spontaneous • Change can occur in cycles • All change leads to some form of transformation but all transformations are not permanent • Some change is a result of passive actions or interactions • Some change is systematic

ORDER • Order organizes ideas and information

• Order serves a purpose• Order can be natural or imposed • Order and Chaos are Systems • Order can be fixed or fluid, static or changeable • There is order within Order • The order of things provides information • Order comes out of Chaos

STRUCTURE

• Structures are made of elements • Structures serve or perform a purpose • Structures follow function • The materials used to create them define structures • Structures reflect times • Structures are natural or person-made • Structures have parts that interrelate • Parts of structures support and are supported by other parts • Smaller structures may be combined to form larger structures • A structure is no stronger than its weakest component part

POWER • Power exerts different types of influences

• The use of power can have positive and/or negative consequences • Power can be harnessed or contained or it can be random and Chaotic • Power necessitates relinquishing or giving some thing up

• Power provides the opportunity for change or status quo. SYSTEMS

• Systems are everywhere • Systems are procedures • Systems have Order • Systems have parts that work together to perform a function • Systems interact

• There are systems within systems • Systems follow rules • The Structure of a system is dependent on its function • Systems work in Patterns • Some systems are dominant, other systems are subordinate • Systems are made of parts that work together • Systems are interdependent • Systems are natural or person-made • A cycle is a system in which things happen regularly within a given time period

RELATIONSHIPS

• Relationships are everywhere • Relationships can be helpful or harmful • Relationships can be positive or negative • Relationships can be natural or imposed • Relationships can be correlations (cause and effect) • Relationships can cause interdependence

• Relationships can cause the exchange of ideas and values • Relationships are purposeful

PATTERNS

• Patterns are everywhere • Patterns can be natural or person-made • Patterns have segments that are repeated • Patterns have symmetry • Patterns can predict • Patterns are subject to Change • Patterns can be cycles, correlations (cause and effect), or trends