What Is a Concept Ladder?

Concept ladders are used in education.

A concept ladder is a chart that's used to show an idea and its subtypes. It's often used in education but can be used in business or other areas as well. A concept ladder can be drawn as a ladder, stairs or resemble a spider's web.

Uses

Concepts ladders work well in education to teach children how things branch off from a single point. They're also useful in business to show the various departments, products or services offered.

Starting Point

A concept ladder starts with a simple point. If the concept ladder was on mammals, for example, that would be the starting point, and the top rung would contain the word "mammals."

Subtypes

The next step is to branch off into subtypes. For example, the second rung would list specific types of mammals: dogs, cats, etc.

Continuing

The next step down is to break down the subtypes. Under dogs, list the names of breeds of dogs; under cats, different cat breeds; and so on.

Ideas

Concept ladders are also used for ideas, thoughts and concepts. If the starting point is Hurricane Katrina, for example, the next steps down could be why it happened, a description of what happened and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.

References

• Knowledge Models

Resources

• Concept Ladder