PYP Unit Planner: G
rade 4 Sharing the planet
Central Idea:
The sustainability of natural environments is of global concern for the preservation of
living things.
An inquiry into:●
what natural environm
ents are●
why natural environm
ents need to be sustained●
issues that hinder sustainability●
how natural environm
ents can be sustained
Key concepts - C
ausation, perspective, responsibility
Skills - thinking - research
Learner Profile Attributes - principled, reflective, caring
Attitudes - appreciation, com
mitm
ent
Big Ideas: (enduring understandings as a result of the learning) ●
that there are different perspectives ●
there are responsible actions that can and are being taken by individuals and groups
● that I am
able to take positive action to contribute towards sustainability
Summ
ative Task Success Criteria -
Group task presenting learning about one B
iome
●identify a biom
e based sustainability issue/s of global concern●
discuss cause and effect of the issue/s●
describe various perspective/actions on the issue●
present possible solutions/actionsForm
at possibilitiesiM
ovie or oral presentation taking on roles of presenter, scientist, environmentalist, local
comm
unity mem
ber, organisation/NG
O w
orker
Tuning In & Finding O
ut: Jan9-13,16-20, CN
Y, Feb1-3W
hat...●
What are the natural environm
ents/biomes?
●W
hat does sustainability mean?
●W
hat are the concerns? ●
Who are the people/organisations w
orking to preserve environm
ents?
Sorting Out &
Going Further Feb 6-10, 13-17, 20-
24How
and why...
●H
ow are biom
es changing/being affected?●
Why are non-sustainable practices
continuing?●
What are som
e cause and effect situations?●
Which biom
e/issues am I/m
y group most
interested in going further with?
●W
hich NG
O supports m
y issue/s?
Reflecting &
Taking Action: Feb 27 - 29, M
ar 5-9So w
hat? ●
How
does a non-sustainable future concern m
e? ●
What can I do?
Key learning experiences●
Speaker: K
ayshap Choksi C
onservation International N
GO
●D
VD
s showing biom
es of the world - note
taking●
Identify and research generally the biomes
and issues●
Identify related NG
Os w
orking to preserve the environm
ent and the living things within it.
Key learning experiences●
Select 1 of 6 B
iomes to “go further” w
ith in groups of 4
●R
esearch issues within the biom
e●
Research N
GO
s involved in the issue - select one for your group to represent.
●M
eet with other B
iome groups to share
information and form
comm
on actions.
Key learning experiences●
Preparation of presentations w
ith Biom
e/NG
O
groups in HB
rooms - iM
ovie or oral presentations (sum
mative)
●P
resent your Biom
e comm
ittee Declaration at
Earth S
umm
it 2012 (grade-wide task)
●From
the 2 Biom
e focus comm
ittee meetings
a list of the 3 top issues facing the Biom
e globally w
ill be agreed upon by all 6 groups and presented at the final assem
bly.
MU
N elem
ents/connections12 yr old silences the U
N E
arth Sum
mit
http
://
ww
w
. youtube
. com
/ watch
? v = uZsD
liXzyAY
This is an example of a student w
ho speaks about her
MU
N elem
ents/connections●
Focus groups/comm
ittees - 4 HB
students per biom
e/issue meet w
ith 6 classes x 2 sets●
CO
MM
ITTEE MEETIN
G W
ed 22nd Feb
MU
N elem
ents/connections●
CO
MM
ITTEE MEETIN
G W
ed 29th Feb period 2 R
dg●
Present group presentations in focus group
group’s concerns to the UN
.http
://
ww
w
. dailymotion
. com
/ video
/ xl
7 ims
_ it - s - your
-
general
- assembly
_ new
s
Link to a video show
ing some clips of w
orld leaders speaking at the U
N
period 2 Rdg
rooms
●P
resenting focus group “Declarations” at an
Earth S
umm
it 2012 assembly
Event Logistics - considerations●
Classes to be divided: 2 sets of six classes -biom
e-based●
Speaker: Mr C
hoksi from C
onservation International to be scheduled during Tuning In●
Com
mittee M
eeting One W
ed 22nd Feb period 2 Rdg
●C
omm
ittee Meeting Tw
o Wed 29th Feb period 2 R
dg ●
EAR
TH SU
MM
IT Friday 9th March (P
4) presenting the Declaration scrolls
●A
rt Liaison with Jen (24 m
asks in parade format)
●M
usic Liaison with M
ikki (Transition Music, O
pening and Closing S
ong)●
IT Liaison (Screen and P
rojection if need be)●
Photos for slideshow
- Kirsty A
tkins - to be taken during comm
ittee room m
eetings
Transdiciplinary connections
IB Planner G
rade OFS
Class/ grade: 4
Age group: 9-11years
School: O
verseas Family S
chool S
chool code: 7030Title: S
haring the planet Teacher(s): Grade 4 Teachers
Date Jan9 - M
arch 9 2012 Proposed duration: 8 w
eeks ( 36 Days)
1. What is our purpose?
To inquire into the following:
Transdisciplinary Theme:
An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources w
ith other people and with other living things; com
munities and the
relationships within and betw
een them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.
Central Idea:
The sustainability of natural environments is of global concern for the preservation of living things
Sum
mative assessm
ent task(s):W
hat are the possible ways of assessing students' understanding of the central idea? W
hat evidence, including student-initiated actions, will w
e look for?see overview
above
2. What do w
e want to learn?
What are the key concepts (form
, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized w
ithin this inquiry?C
ausation, perspective, responsibilityR
elated concepts:sustainability, interdependence, conservation, w
eatlh, consumption, distribution, ecology, ecosystem
s, habitat, energyW
hat lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
see overview above
What teacher questions/ provocations w
ill drive these inquiries?see overview
above
3. How
might w
e know w
hat we have learned?
This column should be used in conjunction w
ith “How
best might w
e learn?”W
hat are the possible ways of assessing students' prior know
ledge and skills? What evidence w
ill we look for?
Identifying biomes -
Rainforest, (M
arlene/Ryan, M
oira)A
rctic tundra, (Kirsten, Paul K
)D
eciduous/Temperate, (Paul A
. Matt Y.)
Ocean-coral, (Trevor, Jyoti)
Deserts -desertification, ( A
nthony, Dale)
Grasslands/savannah ( M
att W, M
ilica)
1.Teacher led classification of w
hat a biome is and w
hat is sustainability. Direct students to related reading resources, video clips, songs, w
ebsites. Prior
knowledge w
as limited so em
phasis spent on tuning in phase.2.
Teachers identify NG
Os / organisations involved w
ithin their biome as a starting point for students - see list of 25+ N
GO
s on the server.
What are the possible w
ays of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence w
ill we look for?
4. How
best might w
e learn?W
hat are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions?
●C
hildren to create trioramas to depict the plants, anim
als and landscape of that biome.
●C
ause and effect on Graphic organisers- G
roup work
●S
tudents’ joint creation of storyboards for classroom display.
●W
eb quests, group work, investigating biom
es, making posters
●Topic sentence starters got students thinking about biom
es and points to focus on
What opportunities w
ill occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the developm
ent of the attributes of the learner profile?
5. What resources need to be gathered?
What people, places, audio-visual m
aterials, related literature, music, art, com
puter software, etc w
ill be available?K
ey websites for each biom
e
Savanna ( Matt W
, Milica)
http
://
ww
w
. blueplanetbiomes
. org
/ grasslands
. htm
http
://
ww
w
. enchantedlearning
. com
/ biomes
/ savanna
/ s avanna
. shtm
l
http
://
ww
w
. blueplanetbiomes
. org
/ savanna
. htm
Action group links N
GO
shttp
://
wholevillage
. um
n
. edu
/ index
. shtml
http
://
ww
f
. panda
. org
/ what
_ w
e
_ do
/ where
_ w
e
_ work
/ m
i
om
bo
_ woodlands
/
http
://
ww
w
. worldw
ildlife
. org
/ what
/ w
herewew
ork
/ nami
bia
/ index
. html
http
://
ww
w
. nature
. org
/ ourinitiatives
/ regions
/ africa
/ whe
rewew
ork
/ northern
- kenya
- rangelands
. xml
http
://
ww
w
. nature
. org
/ ourinitiatives
/ regions
/ africa
/ inde
x . htm
Tropical Rainforest, (M
arlene/Ryan, M
oira)http
://
ww
w
. enchantedlearning
. com
/ subjects
/ rai
nforest
/
http
://
ww
w
. newton
. k 12.
ks
. us
/ tech
/ fourth
_ grade
_ internet
_ activities
1.
htm
# Science
NG
Os:
http
://
ww
w
. rainforest
- alliance
. org
/ kids
http
://
ww
w
. rainforestconcern
. org
/
http
://
ww
w
. greenpeace
. org
/ international
/ news
/
kids
- for
- forests
Arctic tundra, (K
irsten, Paul K)
Websites: see A
rctic Tundra websites docum
ent in Arctic
Tundra Info folder for websites and brief description.
http
://
ww
w
. nwf
. org
/ Wildlife
/ W
ild
- Places
/ A
rctic
. aspx
(great general info and listing of threats)http
://
academickids
. com
/ encyclopedia
/ index
. php
/ Tundra
(W
ikipedia website w
/general info)http
://
environment
. nationalgeographic
. com
/ environment
/ hab
itats
/ tundra
- profile
/ (general info from N
ational Geographic)
http
://
environment
. nationalgeographic
. com
/ environment
/ hab
itats
/ tundra
- map
/ (tundra m
ap)http
://
environment
. nationalgeographic
. com
/ environment
/ hab
itats
/ tundra
- threats
/ (Nation. G
eog.)
NG
Os:
Arctic Frontiers http
://
ww
w
. arcticfrontiers
. com
/ A
laska Coalition http
://
ww
w
. alaskacoalition
. org
/ A
laska Wilderness League http
://
ww
w
. alaskawild
. org
/
Temperate/D
eciduous Forest, (Paul A. M
att Y.)W
ebsite with good kid friendly inform
ation about the biom
e, animals, clim
ate and plantshttp
://
ww
w
. blueplanetbiomes
. org
/ deciduous
_ forest
. ht
mK
id friendly information and lots about the anim
als foundhttp
://
ww
w
. enchantedlearning
. com
/ biomes
/ tem
pdecid
Ocean-C
oral, (Trevor, Jyoti)
Biom
ehttp
://
ww
w
. thewildclassroom
. com
/ biomes
/ coral
reef
. htm
l
http
://
animals
. nationalgeographic
. com
/ animals
/
invertebrates
/ coral
/ http
://
ww
w
. coralcoe
. org
. au
/ edures
/ primaryscho
Deserts( A
nthony, Dale)
website for your biom
e
http
://
inchinapinch
. com
/ hab
_ pgs
/ terres
/ desert
/ desert
. htm
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/peopl
e-places-kids/china-desert-kids.html
/ tempdecid
. shtm
l
B
asic information about the biom
ehttp
://
ww
w
. kidcyber
. com
. au
/ topics
/ biomeforest
. htm
W
ebsite with good kid friendly inform
ation about the biom
e, animals, clim
ate, plants and the human
impact.
http
://
kids
. nceas
. ucsb
. edu
/ biomes
/ tem
perateforest
. ht
m
lA
merican N
GO
website w
ith basic facts about all biom
es including the temperate deciduous forest
http
://
ww
w
. defenders
. org
/ wildlife
_ and
_ habitat
/ habitat
/ forest
. php
A
one stop shop for all information on this biom
ehttp
://
inchinapinch
. com
/ hab
_ pgs
/ terres
/ d _ forest
/ td _ fo rest
. htm
A
great slide show for this biom
ehttp
://
ww
w
. slideshare
. net
/ fozzie
/ temperate
-
deciduous
- forest
- presentation
ol
. html
http
://
kids
. nceas
. ucsb
. edu
/ biomes
/ coralreef
. ht
m
lhttp
://
ww
w
. teachnet
- lab
. org
/ ps
101/
bglasgold
/ lesson
7 coralreef
. htm
NG
Os / organisations
http
://
ww
w
. coral
. org
/ http
://
reefrelief
. org
/ http
://
globalcoral
. org
/ http
://
ww
w
. icran
. org
/ http
://
ww
w
. reefcheck
. org
/ http
://
ww
w
. gbrmpa
. gov
. au
/
http
://
ww
w
. desertmuseum
. org
/ kids
/ oz
/ long
- fact
- sheets
/
Kids page for S
onoran desert
http
://
ww
w
. youtube
. com
/ watch
? v = t 0 zIQ
jzmnT
8
NG
Os
http
://
saharaforestproject
. com
/ The production of key resources, such as clean w
ater, clean energy and a sustainable production of food represents som
e of our time’s greatest challenges.
http
://
ww
w
. worldw
ildlife
. org
/ what
/ w
herewew
ork
/ chihuahuan
desert
/ index
. html
WW
F's vision: For the people of the Chihuahuan D
esert to conserve the region’s biodiversity by recognizing, respecting and appropriately using their natural heritage.
General resources - A
ll Biom
es
http
://
ww
w
. youtube
. com
/ watch
? v =0
A 5 eeE
93
uEA
R
ap song about Biom
es and their general characteristics - a bit of fun
1. http://ww
w.blueplanetbiom
es.org/world_biom
es.htm2. http://w
ww
.mbgnet.net/
3. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experim
ents/Biom
e/4. http
://
ww
w
. enchantedlearning
. com
/ biomes
/
5. Here:http
://
ww
w
. youtube
. com
/ watch
? v = tJ -_17
N
bGb
4&
feature
= related
above w
ith note taking worksheet located on the server.
6. http
://
inchinapinch
. com
/ index
. htm
Very child friendly website on a range of biom
es
Website for the book 50 sim
ple things kids can do to save the earthhttp
://
ww
w
.50
simplekids
. com
/ G
lobal Dim
ension - searchable online resources -always enter “free” in the search info
http
://
ww
w
. globaldimension
. org
. uk
/ resources
/ browse
/
David Taylor has supported the unit by preparing a set of bookm
arks and a ppt of the process as it stood at Mtg O
nehttp
://
ww
w
. diigo
. com
/ user
/ david
_ taylor
/ G 4?
type
= all
+ bookmarked links to environm
ental NG
Os
https
://
docs
. com
/ present
/ edit
? id =0
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