Chunking Memory Strategy in Middle School Science

What is the Chunking Memory Strategy?

Chunking content is a strategy that is used to help students retain information and store it in their long term memory. This is used to reduce cognitive load, which is the amount of information that a person can process at a time.

So, what is chunking? Chunking is where you take bits of information and chunk them into sections and/or categories to make them easy to remember.

One of the most common examples of chunking is telephone numbers. Phone numbers are broken up into three sections to make it easier to remember. For example, instead of 8295231531, we write numbers like 829-532-1531. Extra points for when the same number is chunked together such as 493-532-1111.

Chunking Memory Examples in Science Lessons

Categories and Lists

This is easier to do when there is a way that the information is organized but can also be useful in things that have no sequence, rhyme, or reason, such as a phone number with no pattern.

Luckily, science is full of patterns, so it easy to chunk information, which makes it easier to commit to memory.

Think about the plant and animal cells, many organelles can be chunked into ONLY plant cells or ONLY animal cells, and that is easier to remember. You can create a list of organelles that are located in plant cells, organelles that are located in animal cells, and a list that are located in both.

You can create a list, or use can even organize it in a visual Venn Diagram.

Chunking Processes

Chunking is also a great strategy for processes. Take solving a Punnett Square for example. There is a process to solving a Punnett Square, but just showing students how to do it all at once can be overwhelming, but if you break down the process in steps, students can see it as chunks, thereby decreasing cognitive load.

How to Solve a Punnett Square

1. determine the genotypes of the parent organisms and write down the “cross”
2. draw a 2 x 2 square
3. “split” the genotypes, and place one on the top of the square and the other on the left of the square
4. boxes will inherit the letter from their row and column
5. interpret the Punnett square – each square is worth 25%

There are some other examples of ways to decrease cognitive load that can be paired with this strategy to make it extra awesome! For example, introducing these steps one at a time, and also attaching pictures and examples to each step.

Chunking using Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices are great for memorizing things. One of the most common mnemonic devices in science is used to remember the visible light spectrum: ROY G BIV.

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Indigo

Violet

Other examples is King Philip came over for good soup to remember kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.

For more examples of how to reduce cognitive load and helping your students to retain information, check out the 7 Steps to Help Your Students Retain Information Like a Rockstar!