Pros & Cons Organizer

Pros and Cons list (arthobbit, iStockphoto)

Pros and Cons list (arthobbit, iStockphoto)
How does this align with my curriculum?
PE
9
Science Grade 9 (revised 2018)
Decisions and Perspectives
PE
10
Science 421A (2019)
Decisions and Perspectives
PE
12
Chemistry 621A (draft 2021)
Decisions and Perspectives DP1
PE
11
Chemistry 521A (draft 2021)
Decisions and Perspectives DP1
This strategy helps students develop decision-making skills as they determine the pros and cons of an issue.
Why use it?
- To process and filter information from an article, oral presentation or video
- To help students learn to organize information that is related to an issue
- To provide a structure to help students analyse features and/or options related to an issue
- To help students think critically about an issue to help formulate personal opinions and decisions
Tips for success
- Prior to having students work on a Pros & Cons Organizer, you may wish to model the process with the class on an overhead or interactive white board.
- Introduce students to the Pros & Cons Organizer with a topic, issue or event they can relate to, such as the pros and cons of taking Driver’s Education.
How do I use it?
- Chose an article for students to read or a video to view that presents opposing, or positive (pros) and negative (cons) perspectives about an issue or topic.
- You may wish to have the students analyse the pros & cons of a topic from different perspectives or points of view depending on the topic, such as:
- Personal or class perspective
- Socioeconomic group perspective
- Regional, provincial, national or global perspectives
- Provide students with a Pros & Cons Organizer reproducible to complete.
- A Pros & Cons Organizer may be done as an individual activity, a pair and share activity or group activity.
Variations
- Once completed Pros & Cons Organizers can be used in different ways:
- Students pair up and share their organizer with a partner.
- Have a class discussion about the various pros and cons students have determined and summarize the students’ ideas.
Extensions
- Students could prepare a written or oral argument presenting their reasons for defending or supporting their position on a topic, issue, etc., based on their developed Pros & Cons Organizers (e.g., why they support or oppose the genetic engineering of food crops).
Using this Strategy
Pros & Cons Organizer [Google doc] [PDF]
- A Merry Molecular Christmas: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- A Taste of Heavy Metal: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Algae biofuel: can pond scum power the planet?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Are Wind Farms a Threat to Wildlife?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Can Chocolate Make Your Brain Work Better?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Canadian Invaders!: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Catalytic Converters: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Clay-Adams Brain: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Cows, Methane and Climate Change: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Dealing with Asteroids and Other Space Hazards: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Energy Efficiency at Home: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Eye vs. Camera: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Farmed Salmon vs. Wild Salmon: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Genome Editing: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Green Chemistry 101: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How Do Plants Use Chemical Signalling?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How Do Sleeping Bags Work?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How Do Wind Farms Affect Birds and Bats?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How Does a Lithium-Ion Battery Work?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How It Works: Hydroelectric Power: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Hydraulics 101: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Is Vaping Safer Than Smoking?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's... a Drone!: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Microbial Fuel Cells: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Phages vs. Antibiotics: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Physical & Chemical Changes in the Kitchen: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Pollinators are important: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Polystyrene: The Pros, the Cons, the Chemistry: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Reaching the Arctic: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Should We Eat Bugs?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Space Junk: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Tapping Underground Energy with Heat Pumps: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Testing Parachutes for Mars: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- The Benefits of Going Outside: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- The Dirt on Soil Conservation: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- The History and Uses of Hydrogen: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - and How You Can Help!: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Thermopower and the Body Heat-Powered Flashlight: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- What are the Pros and Cons of Ethanol Biofuel?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- What are the Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- What if You Could Charge Your Phone Using Radio Waves?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Who Created the Electronic Synthesizer?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
Create Your Own
Pros & Cons Organizer [Google doc] [PDF]
Ready to Use
- A Merry Molecular Christmas: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- A Taste of Heavy Metal: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Algae biofuel: can pond scum power the planet?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Are Wind Farms a Threat to Wildlife?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Can Chocolate Make Your Brain Work Better?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Canadian Invaders!: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Catalytic Converters: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Clay-Adams Brain: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Cows, Methane and Climate Change: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Dealing with Asteroids and Other Space Hazards: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Energy Efficiency at Home: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Eye vs. Camera: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Farmed Salmon vs. Wild Salmon: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Genome Editing: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Green Chemistry 101: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How Do Plants Use Chemical Signalling?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How Do Sleeping Bags Work?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How Do Wind Farms Affect Birds and Bats?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How Does a Lithium-Ion Battery Work?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- How It Works: Hydroelectric Power: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Hydraulics 101: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Is Vaping Safer Than Smoking?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's... a Drone!: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Microbial Fuel Cells: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Phages vs. Antibiotics: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Physical & Chemical Changes in the Kitchen: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Pollinators are important: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Polystyrene: The Pros, the Cons, the Chemistry: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Reaching the Arctic: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Should We Eat Bugs?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Space Junk: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Tapping Underground Energy with Heat Pumps: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Testing Parachutes for Mars: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- The Benefits of Going Outside: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- The Dirt on Soil Conservation: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- The History and Uses of Hydrogen: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - and How You Can Help!: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Thermopower and the Body Heat-Powered Flashlight: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- What are the Pros and Cons of Ethanol Biofuel?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- What are the Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- What if You Could Charge Your Phone Using Radio Waves?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
- Who Created the Electronic Synthesizer?: Pros & Cons Organizer Reproducible [Google Doc] [PDF]
References
Toronto District School Board. (2004). Instructional strategies for making connections in science (grades 9-12), (pp. 101). Toronto District School Board.
Liberty Learning Commons. (n.d.). Organizing ideas - Making judgements: Pros & cons. Waterloo Regional District School Board.
Worksheet Library. (n.d.). Decision tree graphic organizer worksheets.