• Are derived from or are aligned with core content standards.
• Are framed as full sentence generalizations in response to the stem: "Students will understand that..."
• Are not obvious or true by definition (i.e., factual knowledge).They need to be "uncovered" (rather than merely stated) in order for students to come to understand them.
• Are transferable across time and subject areas.

Examples of Enduring Understandings

Students will understand that...

• Numbers are abstract concepts that enable us to represent concrete quantities, sequences, and rates.
• Democratic governments struggle to balance the rights of individuals with the common good.
• The form in which authors write shapes how they address their audience and their purpose(s).
• Scientists use observation and statistical anaylsis to uncover and analyze patterns in nature.
• As technologies change, our views of nature and our world shift and redefine themselves.

From Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe