Unit Three Sharing The Planet

Dear parents, here is a breakdown of this halfterms learning. If you have any questions or would
like to discuss any of the content please feel free to
contact us.Thank you for your continued support.
Kind Regards,
Miss. Sheri, Mr. Mike & Ms. Joanne

Central Idea:

Key Concepts:

Biodiversity relies on maintaining the

interdependent balance of organisms within
systems.

Causation, Connection, Responsibility.

Related Concepts:

An inquiry into:

Balance, Interdependence, Biodiversity.

Ways in which ecosystems,

biomes and environments are
interdependent (Connection)
How human interaction with the
environment can affect the
balance of systems
(Responsibility)
The consequences of imbalance
within ecosystems- (Causation)

Teacher Questions:

What do you think ecosystems, biomes and environments are?

How might ecosystems, biomes and environments be connected?

How do humans interact with environments?

What could be the impact of human interaction (positive/negative)?

What do you think are our responsibilities towards the environment?

What are the causes and effects of an imbalance within an ecosystem?

Summative Assessment
Students will reflect on their inquiry route
during this UOI and compile their learning into a
presentation to share as part of a Grade 3
Learning Exhibition. Students will present their
understanding of the Central Idea and the skills

Vocabulary
Biodiversity, biome, rely, balance,
imbalance, ecosystems,
interdependence, organism, maintain,
systems, connection, causation,
responsibility, actions, impact,

they have developed on their learning journey

to other students, staff and parents.

environment, relationship, co-operation,

curiosity, consequences, resources,

Transdisciplinary Skills
Social skills
Accepting responsibility: to understand their role (and that of the human race) in affecting
the balance of ecosystems (positive/negative). To show initiative and maturity to manage
themselves on a residential fieldtrip.
Cooperating: working effectively with others in a variety of group related tasks to achieve
a common outcome.
Research skills

Formulating Questions: to continue to develop questioning skills including I wonder, What if?
and open-ended questions that will drive their own inquiry.
Observing: Carrying out careful observations of the environments under study during field trip.
Planning: Creating a hypothesis and planning a scientific investigation. Developing plans for
delivering oral presentations.
Recording/Collecting/Organizing/Interpreting data: to consider, evaluate and interpret information
and results gathered from scientific investigation and field trip studies.
Presenting research findings: Clearly and confidently deliver a visual and oral presentation based
on independent research.

Thinking skills
Acquisition of knowledge: Gaining specific facts, ideas and vocabulary to support
understanding of rights and responsibilities.
Application: Using their skills acquired so far and applying them to support independent
research.
Analysis: Relate the outcomes of scientific inquiry and observational field work to
maintaining balance in ecosystems.
Communication skills
Listening: Listening to others during group tasks, appreciating the ideas of others and
responding to them.
Speaking: Express ideas with clarity and reason. Give an oral presentation to a large and
varied group of visitors.
Presentation: Communicate their understanding of our Central Idea using a variety of
visual media for an invited audience.
Self-management skills
Time management: Work effectively to deadlines for group tasks and to prepare their
work for a Learning Exhibition.
Organization: Structure an engaging presentation to share with others. Show
independence when caring for themselves during residential field trip.

Learner Profiles
Thinker: Solve scientific problems, suggest solutions, make predictions, create
hypothesis to test. Make appropriate and effective decisions to share with others.
Inquirer: Develop as inquirers, take responsibility for their learning and sharing their
ideas. To be confident when expressing their new ideas. To show they are inquisitive about
their planet, how it exists and survives through reliance. To conduct research and
observations with a group and independently.

GIS Standards
Language
Reading:
Students will be encouraged to read and recognize a wide variety of fiction (narrative,
poetry) and non-fiction resources both for pleasure and research purposes.
Learners show an understanding that text is used to convey meaning in different ways
and for different purposesthey are developing an awareness of context.
Applying a range of strategies helps to read and understand new texts. Recognize and use
the different parts of a book, for example, title page, contents, index.
Read texts at an appropriate level, independently, confidently and with good
understanding. Wonder about texts and ask questions to try to understand what the
author is saying to the reader.
Use a range of strategies to self-monitor and self-correct, for example, meaning, context,
rereading, reading on and cross-checking one cue source against another.
Determine the meaning of general- academic and domain specific words and phrases in a
text relevant to a grade 3 topics or subject area. Students will encounter many new
scientific terms through their environmental research project.
Writing:
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific
tasks, purposes and audiences.
With guidance and support from adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, and editing, including the use of technology to produce and publish
their writing.
Procedural Writing: Follow a required format to write science investigations that include
instructions (method).
Report Writing: Take notes, compile and explain their findings following a variety of
research projects, collate their knowledge to share with others.
Fiction: Explore a range of writing genres and features by completing Quick Writes using
visual stimulus.
Grammar: To continue to build on knowledge the conventions of standard English
including parts of speech, punctuation and sentence formation.
Listening and Speaking:
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; Pose and respond to specific
questions to clarify or follow-up information; Make comments and contribute to
discussions; Learn how to present a speech to an audience, including diction, clarity of
voice, body language and the use of prompt cards.

Math
Number: Continue to extend basic multiplication facts (and related division facts) to
include all the times tables up to 12. To understand how the place of a digit in a number
affects its value, and to read, write and order large numbers up to 1,000,000. Develop an
understanding of decimals as a part of a whole shape or number. To read and write
decimals using tenths and hundredths.

Geometry: Review line segments and recognize rays and lines. Model and draw
polygons, parallel and intersecting lines, rays and line segments. Use angles to record
rotational turns. Explore, recognize and name various triangles and quadrangles. Explore
and record the characteristics of regular polygons. Draw and measure angles as records of
rotation. Recognize and explore properties of symmetric shapes. Recognize and explore
the characteristics of regular 3D shapes. Name different types of pyramids and prisms
and discuss the properties of their bases.
Data Handling: Use data handling skills in real life contexts, on field trips and from
scientific investigations, and link to UOI work on environments. Collect, analyze, record
and interpret a range of data. Design a survey and systematically collect, organize and
display data in pictographs and bar graphs. Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar
graph to represent a data set with several categories. Generate data and show the data
by marking a line plot, where the horizontal scale is marked off in appropriate units. Use
their data to explain trends or to make informed decisions.
Problem solving: Solve two-step word problems using the four operations. Represent
these problems using number models with a letter standing for the unknown quantity.
Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation
strategies including rounding. Solve one- and two- step how many more and how many
less problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.
Science

Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to
identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well,
some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes
and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
Students will develop their observational skills by using their senses and selected observational
tools.
They will gather and record observed information in a number of ways, and they will reflect on
these findings to identify patterns or connections, make predictions, and test and refine their ideas
with increasing accuracy.
They will examine change over time, and will recognize that change may be affected by one or
more variables.
Students will consider ethical issues in science-related contexts and use their learning in science
to plan thoughtful and realistic action in order to improve their welfare and that of other living
things and the environment. (Protecting the environment for animal and plant survival)
Students will communicate their ideas or provide explanations using their own scientific
experience and that of others. (Presenting individual presentations and asking questions about
others presentations)

Social Studies

Describe how wants and needs have implications beyond the self.
Increase their awareness of how people influence, and are influenced by, the places in their
environment.
Students will explore the relationship between valuing the environment and protecting it.

Technology Integration

In Unit 3, students will inquire into learning the

ICT skills for audacity, which is an application,
which allows the manipulation, and editing of
sound.
Students will add these audio files to an existing
interactive story enhancing it by adding an audio
element.
Folders organization and appropriate file naming
skills will also have a part to play of this process.

Art
Learning Objectives: In Unit 3-The students
will be able to:
Identify environmental issues and solutions
Determine what makes a powerful
message and what information about the
environment is most important to share
with others
Communicate and share their messages
with classmates
Apply what they have learned by creating
artwork to convey messages in style of the
environmentalist artist, Peter Max.
Identify foreground, middle ground, and
background in art as well as drawing in
perspective
Discover what makes a successful
composition
Improve individual brainstorming skills
Activities/Projects/Connections:
Sharing the Planet UOI: ResponsibilityStudents will complete a work of art in the
style of environmentalist artist, Peter Max,
using bright colors with markers and
Sharpies. The artwork will represent
various roles and responsibilities of
humans in sharing the planet.

Music
Learning Objectives: In Unit 3- The students
will :
Sing and choreograph to various pieces of
music from many genres
Listen to music from around the world
Accompany the recorder on the xylophone
Compose recorder pieces with music
notation
Activities/Projects/Connections:
Play, read songs with B, A and G, such as,
Zippy Toad
Create a music listening journal about world
music
Sing multicultural pieces of music like
Sambalele
Connection to Sharing The Planet
Evaluating the structure of recorder pieces
to better learn a piece of music.
PE
Learning Objectives: In Unit 3 The students will be able to:
Learn a variety of athletic activities, such as sprints, push throw, tennis ball throw and
standing jump
Work with partners and in groups to help coach each other as they develop their
individual skills
Begin to use technology to help us learn and improve performance in sport
Use their communication and thinking skills to record and analyze data
Activities/Projects/Connections:
Students will work on circuit based activities to help them develop the skills required for
the different athletic events
Students will use peer assessment sheets to help evaluate others performances
Students will use video analysis to allow them to provide accurate feedback to students in
their class
Students will be encouraged to research the techniques covered in lessons to help them
further develop their skills.
Arabic
Islamic
See weebly posting for details.
See weebly posting for details.

Activities that you can do with your child at home

This Unit of Inquiry has many new, complex words that make up the Central Idea and the
Lines of Inquiry, encourage them to use the vocabulary (see Vocabulary above) to help
embed it in their daily usage.
Support their research into ecosystems, biomes and environments and ask them to
explain what they have found out.
Have some fun with Science; we are looking for the students to demonstrate simple
science experiments to their peers every week. It is commonly called Kitchen Sink
Science. Some useful websites are;
www.science-sparks.com
Do:
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Keep reading time relaxed, comfortable and pleasurable.
www.makeandtakes.com

Talk
to your child about experiences you remember where humans have had an effect on
Find a quiet place, with the television turned off.
their environment. The impact can be positive as well as negative. Help them to
understand
the
responsibility
we minutes.
have to protect environments around the world.
Establish a routine
in the
day and read for 1020
Reward reading
or understanding.
Continue
to progress
support
your child as they practice quick mental recall of the multiplication
tables.
They
should
learn
the tables
in order of ease; 2x, 10x, 5x, 3x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 9, 11,
Talk about books, covers, magazines, stories,
interesting websites being read, etc.
12x.
They
should
be able
skip
count.
Encourage
the usefirst
of sounding
out, or to
reading
around
to work out unfamiliar words.
Follow this by linking it to the times tables e.g. 1 x 4 = 4, 2 x 4 =8, 3 x 4 = 12 (in order)
Dont: a times table can be recited without too many errors call out random facts for your
When
child to answer.
Dont correct too often or too quickly.
Continue to incorporate all the times tables they know so far.

Make reading negative and pressured.

Let children deface or mistreat books.

Encourage your child to read as often as possible and then ask them questions about the
IgnoreSee
requests
to read
any some
written words.
text.
below
for
tips for reading at home.

Questions for exploring reading:

Style

What type of book is this? Have we read a book like this

before? What other story is it like? What do you think it
will be about? What is the title? What can you see on
the cover?

Setting

Where is the story set? When does the story take place?
Can you describe the setting of the story?

Where?

Character Who are the characters in this story? Who is the most
important character in the story? Who is telling the
Who?
story? Were there any characters that you didnt like?
Why does that character behave in that way?
Plot
What?

What do you think might happen next? What are the

main events in the story? What is the problem in the
story and how is it resolved? What was your
favourite/most exciting part of the story?

Theme

What is the main idea/theme/moral of the story?