What will happen if we bury it?

Grade One students discovered that most rubbish is gotten rid of by dumping it and burying it. We decided to see what would happen to certain things when they are buried.

We buried:

• a glass bottle
• a piece of bread
• a brown paper bag
• a juice box
• an A4 sized paper
• a plastic bottle
• a plastic container
• an empty bag of chips
  

We will check our marked garden in two weeks to see what happens.

Here are some of our predictions:

'I think the chips box will still be litter.'-S'aqib

'I think someone will come and take it away.'-Amber

'I think it will be a nasty environment.'-Tahsin

Action in our Unit of Inquiry

Humans live with the consequences of their relationship with the environment.

While planning this unit, we have decided that most of the student understanding that will fall under this central idea will be able to be measured in student action. We are working on an assessment continuum which will help assess student action through the different stages of the unit. According to the PYP, action occurs in a three way cycle where students CHOOSE, ACT and REFLECT. Here are some of the reflections that students initiated this week:

'If you make signs around the pond telling people not to throw rubbish, maybe people will follow the signs.'-Aryana

'People could use these to make a new bottle'-Sumran

'If someone throws glass in the water, then the duck will get hurt. The blood will start coming, and their blood will be finished. He will die.'-Adrif

Literal learning web for our new unit

Central Idea:

Humans live with the consequences of their relationship with the environment.

How can you promote understanding of how humans are connected to their environment?

Grade One used a physical presentation of a mind map to show the connection.

Five students 'became' elements that are necessary for life on the planet such as clean water, clean soil, etc by wearing labels. Other student carried labels of living things such as trees, birds, plants, humans, etc. If the living things thought that they needed any of the elements, they would become connected with string. The living things also connected strings toward other things. For example, humans need plants to eat and breathe. The discussion continued as the 'elements' noted that they cannot survive without eachother. Clean soil cannot stay clean without clean water.

The learning experience continued, as the teacher remove one element, clean soil, from the web. Consequently, everything connected to the clean soil also died off. This eventually removed everyone from the web.

Students reflected about their role in the experience in their writing journal. We will use this as a starting point for inquiring into human's relationship with the environment.