Bloom’s Taxonomy

Category / Explanation / Verbs / Examples
Knowledge / The basic element in Bloom's Taxonomy concerns the acquisition of knowledge , i.e., the ability to recognize and recall information. That does not mean that the data being learned is in and of itself low level. This includes knowledge of principles, generalizations, theories, structure, and methodology, as well as knowledge of facts and ways of dealing with facts. / Choose, Complete, Define, Describe
Identify, Indicate, List, Locate, Match
Name, Outline, Recall, Recognize
Select, State /
  1. Students will recall the letters in the English alphabet known as vowels.
  2. Students will list the organelles found in animal cell cytoplasm.
  3. Students will identify the major parts of speech in the sentence.
  4. students will name the positions of players on a soccer team.

Comprehension / Includes the ability to translate, explain, or interpret knowledge. At this stage, students are taking information conveyed to them by an authoritative figure, books, etc., and using that information in some tangible way. / Change, Classify, Convert, Defend
Describe, Estimate, Expand, Explain
Generalize, Infer, Interpret, Paraphrase, Predict, Recognize
Summarize, Translate /
  1. From a sentence, students will recognize the letters that are vowels.
  2. Students will describe the organelles found in animal cell cytoplasm.
  3. Students will recognize the major parts of speech in a sentence.
  4. Students will recognize the positions of players on a soccer team.

Application / Once learners understand information they should be able to apply it. This usually means applying the information, or skills, learned to new situations. The key to understanding this stage of Bloom’s is to realize that something new is happening in the action the student is taking. They are using knowledge learned and applying to a new or similar situation. / Apply, Compute, Demonstrate, Develop, Discover, Modify, Operate
Participate, Perform, Plan, Predict
Relate, Show /
  1. Students will use in a sentence a word that contains at least two vowels.
  2. Students will predict the organelles found a plant cell cytoplasm.
  3. Students will demonstrate in complete sentences the parts of speech.
  4. Students will relate how the positions of players on a soccer team depend upon each other.

Analysis / This includes objectives that ask learners to use the skills of analysis. That means taking something apart and examining how the parts work individually and together. / Analyze, Break down, Categorize
Classify, Compare, Contrast, Debate
Deduce, Diagram, Differentiate
Discriminate, Identify, Illustrate
Infer, Outline, Relate, Separate
Subdivide /
  1. From a list of words, students will differentiate those that contain vowels from those that do not.
  2. Using a microscope, students will identify organelles found in an animal cell cytoplasm.
  3. Students will analyze a paragraph for misuse of major part of speech.
Students will illustrate by drawing on the board the different positions of players on a soccer team.
Synthesis / This category is, in essence, the opposite of analysis. Instead of taking things apart, it is about putting tings together. It includes such skills as designing a plan, proposing a set of operations, and deriving a series of abstract relations. / Arrange, Categorize, Classify, Combine, Compile, Constitute, Create, Design, Develop, Devise, Document, Explain, Formulate, Generate, Modify, Organize, Originate, Plan, Produce, Rearrange, Reconstruct, Revise, Rewrite, Summarize, Synthesize, Tell, Transmit, Write /
  1. From a list of words, students will rearrange them into several lists according to the vowels contained in each.
  2. Students will devise a classification scheme for organelles found in animal cell and plant cell cytoplasm according to their functions.
  3. Students will write a paragraph that correctly uses each of the major parts of speech.
  4. Students will illustrate on the chalkboard an offensive plan that uses the different positions of players on a soccer team.

Evaluation / This is the highest, and most sophisticated, level of Bloom's Taxonomy. It especially involves judgment, opinions. The key to recognizing objectives of this category is that they call for opinions and value judgments. / Appraise, Argue, Assess, Compare, Conclude, Consider, Contrast, Criticize, Decide, Discriminate, Relate, Standardize, Support, Validate /
  1. Students will listen to and evaluate other students' identifications of vowels from sentences written on the board.
  2. While observing living cytoplasm under the microscope, students will justify an interpretation that certain structures are specific organelles of a plant or animal cell.
  3. Students will evaluate a paragraph written by another student for the proper use of major parts of speech.
  4. Students will interpret the reasons for an opposing team's offensive use of the different positions of players on a soccer team.

Adapted from information in Secondary School Teaching : A Guide to Methods and Resources : Planning for Competence (1999) and other books by Richard D. Kellough, Noreen G. Kellough.