3.3 Constructing a concept map

There is no one right way to construct a concept map. However, there are some key steps and principles that need to be kept in mind. Read the following example before making your own concept map.

Identify the concepts or key terms

Focus on a few key concepts. Single words should be used to represent each concept, so for example, the chemistry of water might include ‘molecule(s)’, ‘water’, ‘electron(s)’, ‘charge’, ‘polar’, ‘atom(s)’, ‘bond(s)’, ‘oxygen’ and ‘hydrogen’.

Concepts can be represented by pictures. When working with children you might provide them with a list of concepts or generate them with children through a brainstorm activity.

Sort through the concepts

Write the concept words or draw pictures on small pieces of paper so they can be moved about. Sort through the concepts and leave out ones you do not know or do not think are related to the other words (Figure 7).

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Figure 7 Sorting concepts

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Nine discrete coloured text boxes each contain one word: water, atom(s), polar, charge, molecule(s), electron(s), bond(s), oxygen and hydrogen.

Figure 7 Sorting concepts

Forming the map

Put the remaining concept words on a sheet of paper. Arrange them in a way that makes sense to you, so that words that you see as closely connected are near each other (Figure 8).

Figure 8 Arranging concepts

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Seven boxes remain, each containing an individual word. They are arranged with ‘atom(s)’ in the centre and the other words placed around it. At the top is ‘water’ and moving clockwise, the boxes are ‘electron(s)’, ‘hydrogen’, ‘oxygen’, ‘bond(s)’, and ‘molecule(s)’.

Figure 8 Arranging concepts

Sticking down the terms 

When you are satisfied with the arrangement, stick them down or write the concepts on the sheet, surrounding each with a box to denote that it is a concept.

Linking the pairs 

Next, identify pairs of concepts that you see as being directly connected (Figure 9).

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Figure 9 Linking concepts

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The seven boxes are shown, each containing an individual word. They are arranged with ‘atom(s)’ in the centre and the other words placed around it. At the top is ‘water’ and moving clockwise, the boxes are ‘electron(s)’, ‘hydrogen’, ‘oxygen’, ‘bond(s)’, and ‘molecule(s)’. Around the outside an arcing line goes anticlockwise from ‘water’ to ‘oxygen’ and then on to ‘hydrogen’. A straight line goes down to the right from ‘water’ to ‘hydrogen’. Running next to the first arcing line, a line goes from ‘water’ to ‘molecule(s)’ and on to ‘bond(s)’, then ‘atom(s)’ and ‘electron(s)’. Finally a line goes directly from ‘bond(s)’ to ‘electron(s)’.

Figure 9 Linking concepts

Remember that in a concept map, only pairs of concepts are linked – each line is a separate, independent link and can be read forwards or backwards.

Adding the connecting phrases

Writing in the link words and adding arrows are crucial steps. Without these, concept maps are of little value (White and Gunstone, 1992).The arrow indicates the direction in which to read – which word is first in the ‘sentence’ (Figure 10).

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Figure 10 Adding details

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The seven boxes are shown as in Figure 9, each box containing an individual word, and various boxes linked by lines. They are arranged with ‘atom(s)’ in the centre and the other words placed around it. At the top is ‘water’ and moving clockwise, the boxes are ‘electron(s)’, ‘hydrogen’, ‘oxygen’, ‘bond(s)’, and ‘molecule(s)’. The following bracketed words describe the placement of arrows and the text written on them. Around the outside an arcing line goes anticlockwise from ‘water’ to ‘oxygen’ (‘molecules contain 1 atom of’) and then on to ‘hydrogen’ (‘is covalently bonded with’). A straight line goes down to the right from ‘water’ to ‘hydrogen’ (‘molecules contain 2 atoms of’). Running next to the first arcing line, a line goes from ‘water’ to ‘molecule(s)’ (‘is a’) and on to ‘bond(s)’ (‘held together by’), then ‘atom(s)’ (‘hold together’) and ‘electron(s)’ (‘have’). A line goes from ‘hydrogen’ to ‘electron(s)’ (‘has 1’), and finally, a line goes directly from ‘electron(s)’ to ‘bond(s)’ (‘are shared in covalent’).

Figure 10 Adding details

Final checks

Go back to any concept words that you did not include in the first step, and see if you can include them in your map.