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

. google

. com

/ present

/ edit

? id =0

AVK

Di

1 P

xIJ

9 hZGM

4 cG

M

0 eDR

fNjlm

dng

1 ND

U

5 cQ

& hl

= en

_ US