Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
UNIT PLAN
Inquiry Model : Integrating Socially Model
Rationale:
According to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2013), students need to “develop a capacity to respond to
challenges, now and in the future, in innovative, informed, personal and collective ways.” This unit aims to develop the skills needed to achieve this
goal in an active and informed way. The Geography strand of the HaSS curriculum focuses on key questions surrounding environment and place, and
implies a stewardship role (Reynolds, 2014). This allows students to explore their own personal geographies, which Catling (as cited in Reynolds,
2014) states should be harnessed so students can become more involved in their local geographies. This also allows students to explore issues of
sustainability in their personal worlds (Reynolds, 2014). Geography is a crucial learning area to engage students in the maintenance and sustainable
development of the environment, which are both points of focus this unit (Reynolds, 2014). Recognised key techniques for teaching Geography that are
implemented throughout this unit are the use of photographs and ICT, and considering our impact on the planet (Reynolds, 2014). This unit follows an
inquiry approach to learning, which is regarded as effective pedagogy to deliver the HaSS curriculum, and is particularly useful for considering complex,
big picture issues such as sustainability (Reynolds, 2014).
Inquiry learning occurs when students construct their own knowledge, and assimilate this knowledge into their pre-existing understandings about the
world (Reynolds, 2014). The particular model of inquiry used in this unit is the Integrated Inquiry model (Murdoch, 2010). This model of inquiry allows
students to engage in a sequence of phases rather than a myriad of activities with little connectedness (Murdoch & Wilson, 2012). Students are
engaged in meaningful and active investigations that have personal significance to them, which Murdoch (2010) connects with deeper thinking. Inquiry
learning also lends itself to best practice for teaching the Science curriculum, which has been integrated as the second learning area for this unit
(Skamp, 2015). Integrating curriculum areas connects various concepts, skills, perspectives and values to develop a rich learning experience
(Reynolds, 2014). In order for an integrated curriculum to be effective, there must be clear conceptual links, and the integrity of the learning areas must
be maintained (Nayler, 2014). To ensure the conceptual links and integrity of the learning areas are maintained throughout the unit, the backwards by
design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2011) method was used to plan this unit.
The backwards by design method emphasises planning as being the precursor to successful teaching (Wiggins & McTighe, 2011). This process
involves first identifying the desired understandings and results, then developing lessons and specific learning activities within the specific context,
which allows for integration of short and long-term goals, more appropriate assessments, and purposeful teaching (Wiggins & McTighe, 2011). In this
unit plan, the desired outcome was for students to conduct an inquiry on waste, shaped by their interests, questions or queries. To achieve this, the
EDSS341 Unit Plan Sem 2 2018
tuning in activities were designed to engage students’ attitudes and beliefs about waste and the environment. The finding out phase of the inquiry then
provides students with learning experiences about what waste is, what the issues surrounding waste are, including how certain materials affect the
management of waste. Students are supported to reflect and revisit questions and beliefs throughout the unit, and are scaffolded through the inquiry
process. This led students on a process of building enough knowledge, understanding and skills in order to complete the final inquiry task on their own.
Year Level: 4
Term: 3
Duration: 14 hours
The content provides opportunities for students to develop humanities and social sciences understanding through key concepts including significance;
continuity and change; cause and effect; place and space; interconnections; roles, rights and responsibilities; and perspectives and action. These
concepts may provide a focus for inquiries and be investigated across sub-strands or within a particular sub-strand context.
The content at this year level is organised into two strands: knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and skills. The knowledge and understanding
strand draws from three sub-strands: history, geography and civics and citizenship. These strands (knowledge and understanding, and inquiry and
skills) are interrelated and have been developed to be taught in an integrated way, which may include integrating with content from the sub-strands and
from other learning areas, and in ways that are appropriate to specific local contexts. The order and detail in which they are taught are programming
decisions.
Year Level Achievement Standard
Humanities and Social Sciences:
By the end of Year 4, students recognise the significance of events in bringing about change and the importance of the environment. They explain how
and why life changed in the past and identify aspects of the past that have remained the same. They describe the experiences of an individual or group
in the past. They describe and compare the diverse characteristics of different places at local to national scales. Students identify the interconnections
between components of the environment and between people and the environment. They identify structures that support their local community and
recognise the importance of laws in society. They describe factors that shape a person’s identity and sense of belonging. They identify different views
on how to respond to an issue or challenge.
Students develop questions to investigate. They locate and collect information and data from different sources, including observations to answer these
questions. When examining information, they distinguish between facts and opinions and detect points of view. They interpret data and information to
identify and describe distributions and simple patterns and draw conclusions. They share their points of view, respecting the views of others. Students
sequence information about events and the lives of individuals in chronological order with reference to key dates. They sort, record and represent data
in different formats, including large-scale maps using basic cartographic conventions. They reflect on their learning to propose action in response to an
issue or challenge, and identify the possible effects of their proposed action. Students present ideas, findings and conclusions using discipline-specific
terms in a range of communication forms.
Links to other learning areas:
Science
In Year 4, students:
● Broaden their understanding of classification and form and function through an exploration of the properties of natural and processed materials.
To successfully teach this unit, an understanding of the difference between, and the use of, natural and processed materials. It is important to have a
general understanding of common natural and processed materials so that the teacher can apply this to scenarios that are relevant to the students. For
example, if looking at what natural and processed materials are seen in the classroom, the teacher will be able to identify any misconceptions or
answer questions confidently. For the purpose of this unit it is also important to have an understanding of Aboriginal cultural practices and perspectives
on using natural materials.
Another key area of background knowledge that is required is waste management and the recycling process, specifically what happens to the rubbish
we throw away.
This leads into another important area of understanding which is the properties of materials, specifically plastic, and how those properties affect the use
and disposal of products. The Australian Academy of Science [AAS] (2012, p.8) describes materials as the substances from which objects are made of,
such as paper, glass or plastic. The properties of an object will depend on what materials are used to make it (AAS, 2012). Different materials will have
different properties, which serves different purposes. For example, an umbrella (object) made from plastic (material) is waterproof (property). The
properties of materials, as well as cost and availability, are taken into account when making something for a specific purpose (AAS, 2012). Properties
are used to describe and classify materials (AAS, 2012). Some of the types of properties that will be looked at in this unit include hardness, strength,
elasticity and absorbency.
Students have prior experience in identifying observable properties of materials and possible uses that suit these materials. They also understand that
people use science in their daily lives, and have explored how this understanding is used in managing and caring for the environment.
Learning Objectives:
EDSS341 Unit Plan Sem 2 2018
Throughout the unit, students will be learning through and about inquiry learning. They will be exploring the impacts of waste on the environment and
how humans influence waste pollution. They will explore the importance of the environment and the choices that can be made and implemented to live
more sustainably.
Students will construct their own inquiry investigation where they will need to locate and collect data and information that will then be used to write their
response. The students will then choose a form of communication that this will be presented in.
By the end of the unit, students will have well developed inquiry skills and be able to explain and present their product and information that they have
collected. Students will also be able to effectively reflect on the process in which they undertook and identify new ideas and what they have learnt and
further developed throughout the inquiry process.
Learning Intentions:
By the end of this unit you will have a clear understanding on how to effectively complete an inquiry investigation. You will be exploring the impacts that
waste has on the environment, what influences we have on the environment and looking at different ways that we can live more sustainably.
Lastly, you will also be designing your own inquiry investigation around this topic and creating an item that displays your research and gathered
information.
Strands of HASS to be integrated:
Geography
Record, sort and represent data and the location of places and their
SCIENCE:
characteristics in different formats, including simple graphs, tables and
maps, using discipline-appropriate conventions (ACHASSI075) Chemical Sciences
Natural and processed materials have a range of physical properties that
Analysing can influence their use (ACSSU074)
Interpret data and information displayed in different formats, to identify and
describe distributions and simple patterns (ACHASSI078) Science as a Human Endeavour: Use and influence of science
Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of their actions
Evaluating and reflecting
(ACSHE062)
Reflect on learning to propose actions in response to an issue or challenge
and consider possible effects of proposed actions (ACHASSI081)
SCIENCE:
Processing and analysing data and information
Use a range of methods including tables and simple column graphs to
represent data and to identify patterns and trends (ACSIS068)
OI. 5 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ ways of live are uniquely expressed through ways of being, knowing, thinking
Aboriginal and Torres Strait and doing.
Islander histories and
cultures Students explore how Aboriginal Australians used natural resources and how this affected waste management.
Literacy: Students navigate, read and view different types of texts, listen to spoken instructions to undertake learning area tasks,
Literacy and compose and edit texts. They use pair, group and class discussions about learning area topics to explore and represent
ideas and relationships. Students plan, rehearse and deliver presentations and use appropriate visual and multimodal elements.
Numeracy
Students use knowledge of sentence structures and growing subject-specific vocabulary to describe, report and make
ICT Capability connections between ideas and events.
Numeracy: Students collect, record and display data as tables, diagrams, and graphs.
Critical and Creative Thinking
ICT Capability: Students locate, retrieve and generate information from a range of digital sources. They use ICT to generate
Personal and Social ideas and plan solutions and independently operate a range of devices, software, functions and commands.
Capability Critical and Creative Thinking: Students pose questions to expand their knowledge about the world, and identify main ideas
and select and clarify information from a range of sources. They collect, compare and categorise facts and opinions found in a
Ethical Understanding
range of sources. Students reflect on the processes use to come to conclusions, and transfer and apply information in one
Intercultural Understanding setting to enrich another. They draw on prior knowledge and use evidence when choosing a course of action or drawing a
conclusion.
Personal and Social Capability: Students identify factors and strategies that assist their learning, and consider, select and
adopt a range of strategies for working independently.
Intercultural Understanding: Students identify and describe variability within and across cultural groups. They explore and
compare cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices.
● A shoe made from plastic fibres such as a polyester or nylon environment (Cover ● Plastic food
sports shoe, or a plastic sandal Puzzle) packaging or
● Plastic packaging from food or bubble wrap ● Values and beliefs bubble wrap
● Deflated plastic pool toy regarding the ● Deflated
At the end of the week, brainstorm with students about what the environment (Four plastic pool toy
objects have in common, trying to elicit any common properties of the Corners and Picture
materials. Priorities) Y-Chart for each
day of the week
Setting the Cover Puzzle: Prior knowledge and
scene Adapted from Murdoch (1998) misconceptions will be
Using large copies of the images found in Appendix 2, cover the evident in students’ Enlarged copies of
Activating prior image with pieces of card using blu-tack. Remove part that only suggestions, answers, images in
knowledge shows waste. Students must guess what the picture is underneath. and contributions to Appendix 2
Ask students to evaluate what they see. What does that make you group and class covered with
think of? Why? What else could it be? Remove another piece that discussions. pieces of paper.
shows some of the environment around it. Ask students to re-evaluate
what they see. What does this piece make you think of? Why? Have
you changed your mind about what it could be? Why?
Keep removing each piece of card, discussing each uncovered part,
until the whole picture is revealed. Discuss the picture as a whole, and
how their thinking changed over the course of the activity.
Corners
Four Corners
Positioning Have some statements prepared for students to respond to such as Statement signs:
activity - eliciting we don’t need to recycle, the environment isn’t that important. Set out “agree, disagree,
students’ beliefs four signs in four corners of the room with agree, disagree, strongly strongly agree,
and values agree, strongly disagree. Students move to the sign their belief lines strongly disagree.”
up with and justify their opinions.
task and as a reflection tool to see how their values, attitudes and
understanding have changed.
Investigation Encourage students to write down any questions to Ask a Scientist. ● A shoe made
Allow students time to explore Properties of Plastics and Metal from plastic
Ask an expert Munchers games. fibres such as
a polyester or
What happens to waste? nylon sports
Students investigate what happens to their waste using Google Sites shoe, or a
link collection. plastic sandal
Continue to record main ideas for each type of waste in learning ● Plastic
journal. packaging
from food or
Are there other ways our waste can be managed? bubble wrap
Students investigate sustainable solutions to waste management ● Deflated
using Other ways to manage waste Google Sites collection. plastic pool toy
How have resources and waste changed over time? What happens to
Brainstorming Adapted from Cool Australia (2018) waste Google
Students look at the changes in the use and management of natural Sites link
resources and waste over the last 300 years. collection
Class discussion Explain that Aboriginal Australians used plants and materials that
were found in their environments. Identify plants in local area that are Formative: Other ways to
Compare and included in the Aboriginal Plant Use in South-Eastern Australia Students’ Worlds of manage waste
contrast ideas document and discuss their uses. Introduce the term natural Waste worksheet and Google Sites link
resources. Brainstorm with students about what natural resources we classification of waste collection
Graphic use today. Introduce the term processed materials. Brainstorm with audit items will inform
organiser to students about processed materials we use today. Display students’ the teacher about their Access to
display ideas ideas in a T-chart on the whiteboard. Discuss with students whether understanding of Aboriginal Plant
we use more natural resources or processed materials. natural resources and Use in
Discuss what might happen to objects made out of natural resources processed materials. South-Eastern
when they break or are thrown out, then ask the same for processed Australia
materials. What impacts might these have on the environment? Add
answers to the T-chart. Worlds of Waste
worksheet (see
Appendix 6)
EDSS341 Unit Plan Sem 2 2018
Organised the message that they want to put across, the target audience that will project, provides GG0a1Ox69C5iLj
learning be reading and viewing their information and the different ways in feedback to the teacher _CADVtBRRnxXW
which they want to communicate and present their work. about current student 66g/edit
Small group In mixed small groups, students brainstorm and create a list of the knowledge and areas of
discussion to different ways in which they could present their research and the improvement. Appendix 11
share ideas different audiences that their piece could for made for, e.g. teachers,
families, peers, general community, posters, websites, brochures,
Individual work presentation, comic strip, a letter, an article in the newspaper, etc.
This is open for student choice, as this will allow them to present their
Scaffolding research most effectively for them. A brochure template will be
available to students as an example (Appendix 11).
Pair share
editing Students will then devise a plan and decide how they will complete
these elements and then they will begin to write their draft of the
Allow student written element of the piece. This is to be completed individually. If the Assessment as
choice/ students choose to type their written element, they will use a google learning: Students
independence. doc set up by the teacher, which will allow progress to be monitored. assess and monitor
Once they have completed their draft, they are it proof read and edit, their progress and
pair share edit and then edited by the teacher. areas needing further Pencils, paper,
development through paint, arts and
Creation of the product editing and peer craft materials
After editing, students begin creating the product or piece in the way feedback. computers/iPad’s
they have decided to communicate their research. Students are
provided with different materials to assist them through this process
and the teacher will be available to provide guidance if needed. This
element of the unit is to be completed individually and students are
provided with a flexible learning space as they can work freely in the
Individual work classroom.
Scaffolding Students will be allowed the time to finalise their products. In small
mixed ability groups, students will share and present their product and
explain what they were investigating and their findings to their peers.
Students will then provide feedback to their peers.
EDSS341 Unit Plan Sem 2 2018
· Mix of small group and individual work – Instilling small groups of mixed ability allows all students to learn from their peers and to further
develop their understanding by experiencing different perspectives on the issue. By incorporating individual work, it allows students to develop
skills to be able to work independently.
· Teachermodelling – Modelled teaching allows all students to gain a similar understanding of the content that is being taught. It provides all
students the opportunity to ask questions and engage in their learning.
· Scaffolded
research – By scaffolding research and not guiding it, will allow students to develop skills that will gradually encourage them to
become independent learners and allows the teacher to provide additional support to those students who require it.
· Graphic
organisers – By using KWL charts, Mindmaps, Bubble.us, workchart, Y chart and T chart, provides various opportunities for students to
process and display their thoughts, ideas and understanding of the topic.
· Gradualrelease of responsibility – I do, we do, you do, was utelised throughout the unit and allows students the opportunity to learn and
present their work to their best ability. This strategy guides student learning and provides an understanding of what is required of them. They
are then able to and then the students are able to complete the task individually and apply and practice what they have learnt.
· Theprocess and product has been differentiated throughout as this will allow them to collect and present their research in the most effective
way for them. Allowing students to independently choose how they want to present their work and allowing them to freely work in different
areas of the room, supports all students to thrive, take control of their learning and supports different learning needs.
EDSS341 Unit Plan Sem 2 2018
Reference List
ABC Education. (2006). How does recycling work? [Video]. Retrieved from
http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/30438/recycling-household-items
Australian Academy of Science. (2012). Primary Connections: Package it better. Retrieved from:
https://primaryconnections.org.au/curriculum-resource/package-it-better
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). F-10 Curriculum: Humanities and social sciences. Retrieved from
https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/
Cool Australia. (2018). 4Rs communication challenge - Cool Australia. Retrieved from
https://www.coolaustralia.org/activity/4rs-communication-challenge/
Murdoch, K. (1998). Classroom connections: strategies for integrated learning. Armadale, Victoria: Eleanor Curtin Publishing.
Murdoch, K. (2010). An overview of the integrated inquiry planning model. Retrieved from
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55c7efeae4b0f5d2463be2d1/t/55ca9b43e4b0cf5cb3c4baa5/1439341379536/murdochmodelforin
quiry2010.pdf
EDSS341 Unit Plan Sem 2 2018
Murdoch, K. & Wilson, J. (2012). Learning for themselves: Pathways for thinking and independent learning in the primary classroom. Abingdon,
Oxon: Routledge.
Nayler, J. (2014). Enacting Australian Curriculum: Making connections for quality learning. Qld Studies Authority. Retrieved from
https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/ac_enact_ac_paper.pdf
Reynolds, R. (2104). Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences in the Primary School ( 3rd Edition). Oxford: Sydney.
Scootle. (2013a). Space lab: Metal munchers [Game]. Retrieved from http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/L37/index.html
Skamp, K. (2015). Teaching primary science constructively. In Skamp, K. & Preston, C. (Eds.). Teaching primary science constructively (5th
ed.). South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning Australia.
Whenham, T. (2015). 15 ways to spark student reflection in your classroom. Retrieved from
https://www.nureva.com/blog/education/15-ways-to-spark-student-reflection-in-your-classroom
Appendix 1: Y-Chart