Wordle

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Introduction
Wordle is a web app which allows the user to make "word clouds" based on words found in a block of text. This tool is excellent for students to use to find key words in a passage they are reading or to present the key ideas in an assessment task in a creative way.

Instructions
Click the link above to go to the wordle homepage. Click the create tab at the top

Next enter the text you wish to turn into a word cloud. Alternatively the URL of an RSS feed may be entered. Lastly, click the submit button to view your word cloud.

The word cloud below is based on a passage on climate change. An excellent use for wordle is as a way to start a class discussion or mind map based on the topics that come up relating to climate change. In this example, the words which come up are change, weather, past, climate, processes and conditions.

Syllabus Dotpoints
Stage 5
SC5-13ES explains how scientific knowledge about global patterns of geological activity and interactions involving global systems can be used to inform decisions related to contemporary issues
ES3 People use scientific knowledge to evaluate claims, explanations or predictions in relation to interactions involving the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.
c. evaluate scientific evidence of some current issues affecting society that are the result of human activity on global systems, eg the greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion, effect of climate change on sea levels, long-term effects of waste management and loss of biodiversity
d. discuss the reasons different groups in society may use or weight criteria differently to evaluate claims, explanations or predictions in making decisions about contemporary issues involving interactions of the Earth's spheres