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Free Printable Double Bubble Map

A blank double bubble map for comparing two things: shared bubbles in the middle for how they are alike, and bubbles on each outer side for how they are different.

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Type to fill them in, or leave blank to print an empty template to write on by hand.

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Or download: Blank · Filled-in example

Use it withScience PrintablesLabeled science diagrams and worksheets with plenty of pairs to compare.
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About the double bubble map

A double bubble map is for comparing and contrasting. The two topics go in the large circles. The bubbles in the middle connect to both and hold what they have in common; the bubbles on the outside connect to only one topic and hold what makes it different.

It does the same job as a Venn diagram but gives every similarity and difference its own bubble, which keeps students to one idea at a time. The filled-in example compares frogs and toads.

Frequently Asked Questions

They answer the same question. A Venn diagram puts similarities in an overlap; a double bubble map puts each one in its own bubble linked to both topics, which is easier to write in and to read back.
The middle bubbles become a paragraph about how the two things are alike, and each side becomes a paragraph about how one is different. Matching outside bubbles in pairs (smooth skin and bumpy skin) makes the contrast clear.
No. Thinking Maps is a registered trademark of Thinking Maps, Inc., which sells the official program and teacher training. These are free blank templates in the same eight shapes, under the names teachers use for them.