Systems Thinking

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcom Gladwell

This 304-page book presents the "Tipping Point" theory, based on three main principles: ideas are contagious, little causes can have big effects, and change does not happen gradually but at one pivotal moment. The challenge is to find the right leverage point to set off a chain reaction of positive change.

The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems
Fritjof Capra 

In this 368-page book, Capra sets forth a scientific language to describe the interrelationships and interdependence of physiological, biological, physical, social, and cultural phenomena.

MindWalk
Bernt Capra 
 
In this 112-minute video, a U.S. politician, a poet, and a scientist discuss their philosophies of life while walking through an island off the coast of France.

Secret Worlds: The Universe Within 
Molecular Expressions 

This site shows how your perspective changes as you decrease distance from an object by powers of 10, starting from the Milky Way at 10 million light years away from the Earth and ending with subatomic particles.

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
Dr. Seuss 

This is a 64-page tale about the interconnected mess that all started with a snow day and a visit from the mischievous Cat in the Hat.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Laura Joffe Numeroff 

This 32-page story reveals the unintended consequences that happen after an energetic mouse is given a cookie.

Links to resources containing related Facing the Future lessons:

The Lorax
Dr. Seuss

This 73-page story is about the wise Lorax who warns the Once-ler not to cut down all the Truffula trees. The story models several systems thinking concepts, including interconnectedness, limits to success, and unintended consequences. 

Links to resources containing related Facing the Future lessons:

Seven Blind Mice
Ed Young 

In this 40-page book, seven blind mice investigate the strange "Something" by the pond, and one by one, they come back with a different theory. It's only when the seventh mouse goes out to explore the whole "Something" that the mice see the entire truth.

When a Butterfly Sneezes
Linda Booth Sweeney

This 128-page book is subtitled a "Guide for Helping Kids Explore Interconnections in Our World Through Favorite Stories." Each chapter focuses on a children's book, uncovering the systems principles inherent in the story, general points for discussion, illustrations of key concepts, and questions to spark conversation for both younger and older readers.