Depth and Complexity: The Icons, the Framework, and How to Actually Use Them

I’m Ian Byrd. I co-wrote the book on Depth and Complexity with Lisa Van Gemert, and I’ve spent 15 years building hundreds of Depth and Complexity video lessons at Byrdseed.TV — the largest library of D&C activities anywhere.

Thousands of teachers use the 11 Depth and Complexity icons. You’ll find posters on their walls and icons on their worksheets.

But here’s the problem: the icons are the least important part of Depth and Complexity!

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that the icons don’t improve thinking. Teacher’s questions do. Sounds like nonsense? Read on!

Now, if you just need the 11 icons, use the list below. If you want students to think harder, keep reading for the question stems and sequences that actually make the icons work.

On this page:

What Is Depth and Complexity?

Depth and Complexity is a thinking framework that uses 11 icons to help students examine any topic through specific lenses like patterns, ethics, perspectives, and change over time. Created by Sandra Kaplan, Bette Gould, and Sheila Madsen in the 1990s, the framework gives teachers a shared language for pushing student thinking beyond surface-level understanding across every grade and subject.

Depth means going deeper into one topic. The details, patterns, rules, and ethics within it. The Depth icons are: 🏛️ Big Idea, 🌻 Essential Details, 👄 Language of the Discipline, 🚦 Rules, 🌀 Patterns, ⚖️ Ethics, and ❓ Unanswered Questions. Complexity means connecting outward. Across disciplines, over time, from multiple perspectives. The Complexity icons are: ⏳ Change Over Time, 👓 Multiple Perspectives, 📚 Across Disciplines, and 📈 Trends.

The framework was funded by the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act and originally designed for gifted education, but the thinking tools work for any student ready to go beyond recall. Read more about D&C copyright here.

But the icons are just the starting point. The full Depth and Complexity framework includes four parts:

  1. 11 Icons of Depth and Complexity (what most teachers know)
  2. 5 Content Imperatives (not necessary, but powerful)
  3. Universal Concepts and Generalizations (my favorite, but almost nobody uses this)
  4. Disciplinarian Thinking (how experts in a field actually think — see Think Like a Psychologist and Think Like a Disciplinarian in ELA)

Most Depth and Complexity training stops at the icons.

What Are the 11 Icons of Depth and Complexity?

The 11 icons of Depth and Complexity are: 🏛️ Big Idea, 🌻 Essential Details, 👄 Language of the Discipline, 🚦 Rules, 🌀 Patterns, ⚖️ Ethics, ❓ Unanswered Questions, ⏳ Change Over Time, 👓 Multiple Perspectives, 📚 Across Disciplines, and 📈 Trends. Each icon is a thinking prompt that helps students examine content from a specific angle.

Here’s what each one means in plain English:

  1. 🏛️ Big Idea — The overarching concept. Not the topic. The idea underneath the topic.
  2. 🌻 Essential Details — The facts that actually matter. Not all of them. The essential ones.
  3. 👄 Language of the Discipline — The words experts use. Not vocabulary lists. The language that changes how you think about a subject.
  4. 🚦 Rules — The structure. Laws, hierarchies, norms. What happens when you break them.
  5. 🌀 Patterns — Repetitions you can predict. Unlike rules, patterns can break without consequence.
  6. ⚖️ Ethics — Dilemmas. Ambiguity. Problems with no clean answer.
  7. ⏳ Change Over Time — How something has evolved. Past, present, future.
  8. 👓 Multiple Perspectives — Different viewpoints on the same thing. Not just “how does Character X feel?”
  9. ❓ Unanswered Questions — What we don’t know. What we can’t know.
  10. 📚 Across Disciplines — Where this topic touches other subjects.
  11. 📈 Trends — What’s changing right now and why.

You don’t need all 11 at once. Pick 2-3 Depth and Complexity prompts per lesson. Go deep with those. The rest can wait.

Watch out for common misconceptions about 🏛️ Big Idea — it’s the most misunderstood icon. And be careful with 👄 Language of the Discipline — it’s easy to turn it into a vocabulary exercise, which misses the point entirely.

Want the digital versions? I use emoji instead of the traditional Depth and Complexity icon images. They work in Google Docs, Slides, Word, and anything else students type in. You can also make your own Depth and Complexity posters that emphasize thinking over decoration. And if you’re wondering about those redesigned “new” Depth and Complexity icons floating around — here’s what happened.

What Are Depth and Complexity Question Stems?

Depth and Complexity question stems are the actual questions you attach to each icon. Instead of “What are the rules?” a strong question stem is “Which rule would matter most if…?” The stem changes the thinking level, not just the topic. Whether you call them question stems, prompts, or Depth and Complexity questions, they all mean the same thing: the question a student sees.

Here’s the difference between a weak Depth and Complexity question stem and a strong one:

Icon Weak Stem Strong Stem
🚦 Rules “What are the rules of…?” “Which rule would matter most if…?”
🌀 Patterns “What patterns do you see?” “What would have to change to break this pattern?”
⚖️ Ethics “What is the ethical problem?” “Who benefits from this rule and who doesn’t?”
👄 Language “What vocabulary words are used?” “How does an expert’s language change the way you think about this?”
👓 Perspectives “What is another perspective?” “What would [specific person] say is wrong about this argument?”
❓ Unanswered Questions “What don’t we know?” “What is something about this topic that might be unknowable?”

These Depth and Complexity prompts (also called question stems) are what separate a thinking classroom from a labeling classroom. The icon tells you what to think about. The stem tells students how hard to think about it.

More Depth and Complexity question stems and examples: Building Question Sequences

Building a Question Sequence (the Byrdseed Question Ladder)

Single questions get single answers. Sequences build thinking. I call this approach the Byrdseed Question Ladder: start with a low-floor prompt and climb to something hard.

Here’s what a Depth and Complexity question ladder looks like:

  1. List as many 🚦 rules of earthquake safety as you can think of. (low floor — everyone can start)
  2. Pick three that you think are the most essential. (analysis)
  3. What ⚖️ problems prevent people from following each of these rules? (ethics + evaluation)
  4. How could we change the 👄 language of this rule to make it easier to follow correctly? (synthesis)

Each question feeds the next. You can’t do step 4 without doing step 3 first. That’s the power of sequencing Depth and Complexity prompts from low to high. I learned this by writing hundreds of Depth and Complexity video lessons at Byrdseed.TV over 15 years.

That question ladder is the single technique that improved my teaching the most.

What Are Depth and Complexity Frames?

A Depth and Complexity frame is a graphic organizer built around the icons. Instead of giving students a blank page, you give them a structure: 2-3 Depth and Complexity prompts arranged in a sequence, with space to write under each one.

Frames work because they make the question ladder visible. A student can see that question 1 leads to question 2, and question 2 leads to question 3. The frame IS the sequence.

The most common Depth and Complexity graphic organizer is a grid with icons across the top and topics down the side. But I’ve found that sequential frames (where each box builds on the last) produce better thinking than grids (where each box is independent).

I made this mistake early on. My first Depth and Complexity frames were just icon labels with blank spaces. The thinking was shallow because the structure didn’t build anywhere.

If you’re just getting started, here’s how to introduce Depth and Complexity frames to students. And here’s a concrete example: fixing my “Think Like a Statistician” frame shows what happens when you revise a frame that isn’t working. One more pitfall: the problem with Depth and Complexity handouts that look organized but produce shallow work.

Full guide to Depth and Complexity frames and graphic organizers: Depth and Complexity Graphic Organizers

The Biggest Mistake Teachers Make with Depth and Complexity

Sticking an icon next to a low-level question.

“What are the 🚦 rules of this math problem?” That’s recall. A student copies the answer from their textbook. The icon didn’t change anything. It just added a picture.

Depth and Complexity alone is not enough. You need Bloom’s Taxonomy first. The Depth and Complexity icons tell you what to think about. Bloom’s tells you how hard to think about it. Depth and Complexity is not a worksheet system, not a poster system, and not a replacement for good questioning.

A weak question: “List the 🌻 details of photosynthesis.”
A strong question: “Which 🌻 detail of photosynthesis would matter most if plants could only do it for 6 hours a day?”

Same icon. Completely different thinking.

Before you plan a Depth and Complexity lesson, ask yourself: “Could a student answer this by copying from their notes?” If yes, the icon isn’t helping. Raise the thinking first, then add the icon.

I wrote more about this mistake (and the other four I’ve made) here: My Biggest Mistakes with Depth and Complexity. For a deeper comparison: Depth and Complexity vs Bloom’s Taxonomy and how I think about Bloom’s Taxonomy on its own.

What Are Content Imperatives in Depth and Complexity?

Content Imperatives are a second set of five thinking tools in the Depth and Complexity framework: ⏺️ Origin, ⏬ Contribution, 🔄 Convergence, ⏸️ Parallel, and ↔️ Paradox. They focus on connections and causation rather than the single-lens thinking of the 11 icons. In 15 years of training teachers on Depth and Complexity, I’ve met maybe a handful who use Content Imperatives. Most don’t know they exist.

Icon Name What It Means
⏺️ Origin Where did this come from? What problems led to its creation?
⏬ Contribution What single factor had the biggest impact?
🔄 Convergence What multiple factors combined to cause this?
⏸️ Parallel What unexpected similarity exists between two unrelated things?
↔️ Paradox What contradiction lives inside this topic?

Content Imperatives push students to make connections the icons alone don’t reach. “Parallel” is especially powerful: comparing the American Revolution to a playground argument forces abstract thinking that no single Depth and Complexity icon produces.

Full guide: Differentiate Lessons with the Content Imperatives. And for a classroom example of Content Imperatives in action, see Content Imperatives and Conflict.

Depth and Complexity Examples Across Subjects

Depth and Complexity isn’t a language arts framework that you awkwardly bolt onto math. Every subject has its own version of each icon. Here are Depth and Complexity examples across the four core subjects.

Depth and Complexity in Math

🚦 Rules are operations and properties. 🌀 Patterns are sequences and functions. ⚖️ Ethics shows up in statistics and data interpretation.

A strong Depth and Complexity math question: “Which mathematical rule would cause the most damage if it stopped working?” That’s Rules + Ethics, and it forces students to rank and justify. Another: “What 🌀 pattern do you see in the multiplication table that breaks when you get to prime numbers?”

Depth and Complexity in Science

🏛️ Big Ideas are scientific laws and theories. ⏳ Change Over Time is evolution, erosion, climate. 👄 Language of the Discipline is the precise vocabulary that separates a 4th grader from a biologist.

Example Depth and Complexity science question: “How has the 👄 language scientists use to describe atoms changed over the last 100 years?” That’s Language of the Discipline + Change Over Time.

Depth and Complexity in Social Studies

⚖️ Ethics is everywhere. 👓 Multiple Perspectives is the entire discipline. 🌀 Patterns in history predict the future.

Example: “Find a 🌀 pattern across three different revolutions. Does the pattern hold for a fourth?”

Depth and Complexity in Language Arts

📈 Trends in an author’s choices. 🏛️ Big Ideas as themes. ❓ Unanswered Questions the author left on purpose.

Example: “What ❓ question does the author never answer, and why do you think they left it open?”

The key is that Depth and Complexity doesn’t replace your subject. It gives your subject better questions.

Want to see these in practice? Here are real Depth and Complexity worksheets and activities by subject:

How to Use Depth and Complexity Icons in the Classroom

Start with 2-3 Depth and Complexity icons, not 11

Pick the icons your students already understand intuitively. Ethics and Multiple Perspectives are usually the easiest entry points for Depth and Complexity. Add more over time. For ideas on introducing the Depth and Complexity icons to students, I have pre-made videos for each icon.

Write question stems, not icon labels

Students should see a question, not an icon with a blank space. The Depth and Complexity icons are for you, the planner. The student gets the question. I made this mistake early on and it didn’t work until I switched to writing actual question stems.

Use emoji instead of posters

Traditional Depth and Complexity icon images are hard to use digitally. Emoji Depth and Complexity icons work everywhere: Google Docs, Slides, Word, chat. Students can type them. I switched to emoji years ago and noticed something unexpected: students started using the icons in their own notes without being asked. When the tool is as easy as typing a character, students make it theirs.

Introduce with student interests first

Don’t open with “Today we’re learning about the Ethics icon.” Open with a dilemma they care about. Name the icon after they’ve already done the thinking. “What you just did? That’s Ethics.”

Let it be messy

I hand-draw icons when I teach. Students should feel like Depth and Complexity is a tool they sketch with a pencil, not a professionally designed thing they look at.

Depth and Complexity for Coordinators and Program Leaders

If you’re running a gifted program, Depth and Complexity implementation is one of the hardest things to get right. I’ve visited dozens of classrooms that say they use Depth and Complexity and seen the same thing: posters on the wall, icons on worksheets, and recall-level questions with pictures next to them.

Here’s the short version of what I tell coordinators:

  • Check readiness first. Can the teacher write good questions without icons? If not, Depth and Complexity won’t fix that.
  • Cover up the icons. Pull 5 assignments, cover the icons, read the questions. Are they good questions on their own?
  • Focus on sequences. Single questions = shallow thinking. Question ladders = real Depth and Complexity.
  • Know the four stages. In my experience, classrooms move through four stages with Depth and Complexity: Teacher assigns → Teacher names the tool → Students recognize the tools → Students use them unprompted. Most classrooms are stuck at stage 1.

Byrdseed.TV includes professional development videos on Depth and Complexity for your teachers, plus coordinator guides on implementation.

Depth and Complexity FAQ

What are the 11 Depth and Complexity icons?

The 11 Depth and Complexity icons are: Big Idea, Essential Details, Language of the Discipline, Rules, Patterns, Ethics, Change Over Time, Multiple Perspectives, Unanswered Questions, Across Disciplines, and Trends. Each icon is a thinking prompt that helps students examine content from a specific angle.

What are Depth and Complexity question stems?

Depth and Complexity question stems are the actual questions you attach to each icon. Instead of “What are the rules?”, a strong Depth and Complexity question stem is “Which rule would matter most if…?” The stem changes the thinking level, not just the topic.

What are good Depth and Complexity questions?

Good Depth and Complexity questions force students to justify, compare, and revise their thinking, not copy facts. The test: if a student can answer by looking at their notes, the question isn’t strong enough.

What are Depth and Complexity frames?

Depth and Complexity frames are graphic organizers built around the icons. They give students a visual structure for organizing their thinking around 2-3 icons in sequence, where each question builds on the previous one.

Who created the Depth and Complexity framework?

Dr. Sandra Kaplan, Bette Gould, and Sheila Madsen created Depth and Complexity in the mid-1990s at the University of Southern California, funded by the federal Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act.

What are Content Imperatives in Depth and Complexity?

Content Imperatives are a second set of 5 thinking tools in the Depth and Complexity framework: Origin, Contribution, Convergence, Parallel, and Paradox. They focus on connections and causation rather than the single-lens thinking of the 11 icons.

Is Depth and Complexity only for gifted students?

Depth and Complexity was created for gifted education, but the thinking tools work for any student ready to go beyond surface-level understanding. The framework works in grades 2 through 12.

How is Depth and Complexity different from Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Bloom’s Taxonomy tells you how hard students should think (remember, analyze, evaluate). Depth and Complexity tells you what to think about (patterns, ethics, perspectives). You need both. Depth and Complexity without Bloom’s produces icon-labeled recall questions that look sophisticated but aren’t.

How many Depth and Complexity icons should I use in one lesson?

Start with 2-3. Students can go deep with two or three Depth and Complexity prompts. They can’t go deep with eight. Pick the icons that will push the hardest thinking on this particular topic.

Depth and Complexity Resources

On this site:

Individual Depth and Complexity icon deep dives:

Keep Going with Depth and Complexity

More Depth and Complexity Resources

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