developing a transdisciplinary programme of...

Primary Years Programme

Developing a transdisciplinaryprogramme of inquiry

Primary Years Programme

Developing a transdisciplinary programme of inquiry

Published February 2012

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Primary Years ProgrammeDeveloping a transdisciplinary programme of inquiry

International Baccalaureate, Baccalauréat International and Bachillerato Internacional are registered trademarks of the International Baccalaureate Organization.

Printed in the United Kingdom by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire PYP137

IB mission statementThe International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

IB learner profileThe aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.

IB learners strive to be:

Inquirers They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives.

Knowledgeable They explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global significance. In so doing, they acquire in-depth knowledge and develop understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines.

Thinkers They exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions.

Communicators They understand and express ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication. They work effectively and willingly in collaboration with others.

Principled They act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them.

Open-minded They understand and appreciate their own cultures and personal histories, and are open to the perspectives, values and traditions of other individuals and communities. They are accustomed to seeking and evaluating a range of points of view, and are willing to grow from the experience.

Caring They show empathy, compassion and respect towards the needs and feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment.

Risk-takers They approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and forethought, and have the independence of spirit to explore new roles, ideas and strategies. They are brave and articulate in defending their beliefs.

Balanced They understand the importance of intellectual, physical and emotional balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others.

Reflective They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience. They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in order to support their learning and personal development.

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007


Contents

Developing a transdisciplinary programme of inquiry 1

Introduction 1

What does a programme of inquiry include? 3

Developing a programme of inquiry for the first time 7

Connections with the subject-specific scope and sequences 8

Refining a programme of inquiry 9

Teaching using the programme of inquiry 11

Evaluating a programme of inquiry 12

How the PYP sample programme of inquiry (2012) was developed 14

Resources 18

Samples 19

Sample programme of inquiry (2012) 20

Sample programme of inquiry (2008) 24

Annex 27

PYP programme of inquiry rubric 28



IntroductionThis document aims to give guidance to schools developing a new transdisciplinary programme of inquiry, or revising an existing one.

The curriculum in a Primary Years Programme (PYP) school includes all student activities, academic and non-academic, for which the school takes responsibility. The curriculum is expressed as three interrelated components: the written, the taught and the assessed curriculums. All have an impact on student learning. At the heart of the curriculum is the learner constructing meaning.

Each school is required to document its written curriculum as specified in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme standards and practices (IB 2010).

The written curriculum is comprehensive and aligns with the requirements of the programme(s).

IB Programme standards and practices: Practice C2.1 (IB 2010)

The written curriculum identifies what is worth knowing for students. When developing the written curriculum in their schools, teachers and administrators need to consider the transdisciplinary themes and the subject-specific knowledge, concepts and skills.

The knowledge component of the written curriculum is determined by the belief that there are areas of knowledge that, while important for any student, are especially significant in schools that aim to promote international-mindedness on the part of their students.

The work of Ernest Boyer (Boyer 1995) has been seminal to the development of the PYP. Boyer proposed that students explore a set of themes that represents shared human experiences. He referred to these as “core commonalities”. Debate and discussion, representing multiple perspectives, about this idea of human commonalities have led to the selection of six transdisciplinary themes (see Figure 1) that are considered essential in the context of a programme of international education. These themes:

• have global significance—for all students in all cultures

• offer students the opportunity to explore the commonalities of human experience

• are supported by knowledge, concepts and skills from the traditional subject areas but utilize them in ways that transcend the confines of these subjects, thereby contributing to a transdisciplinary model of teaching and learning

• will be revisited throughout the students’ years of schooling, so that the end result is immersion in broad-ranging, in-depth, articulated curriculum content

• contribute to the common ground that unifies the curriculums in all PYP schools.

Developing a transdisciplinary programme of inquiry2


PYP transdisciplinary themes

Who we are

An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.

Where we are in place and time

An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives.

How we express ourselves

An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

How the world works

An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.

How we organize ourselves

An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.

Sharing the planet

An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

Figure 1



The PYP requirements under standard C2 state that:

The written curriculum incorporates relevant experiences for students.

a. The written curriculum provides opportunities for student learning that is significant, relevant, engaging and challenging.


The written curriculum promotes students’ awareness of individual, local, national and world issues.

a. The programme of inquiry includes the study of host or home country, the culture of individual students and the culture of others, including their belief systems.


The written curriculum provides opportunities for reflection on human commonality, diversity and multiple perspectives.


These requirements ensure that students inquire into, and learn about, globally significant issues in the context of units of inquiry, each of which addresses a central idea relevant to a particular transdisciplinary theme. These units collectively constitute the school’s programme of inquiry, providing a scaffold for the development of international-mindedness.

What does a programme of inquiry include?The PYP requirements under practice C1.3 state that:

Collaborative planning and reflection addresses vertical and horizontal articulation.

a. There is a systematic approach to integration of the subject-specific scope and sequences and the programme of inquiry.

b. The school ensures balance and ar ticulation bet ween the transdisciplinary programme of inquiry and any additional single-subject teaching.


In addition, the PYP requirements under practice C2.1 outline the content of a school’s programme of inquiry.

The written curriculum is comprehensive and aligns with the requirements of the programme(s).

a. The programme of inquiry consists of six units of inquiry—one for each transdisciplinary theme—at each year/grade level, with the exception of students who are 3–5 years, where the requirement is at least four units at each year/grade level, two of which must be under “Who we are” and “How we express ourselves”.

b. The school ensures that there is a coherent, horizontally and vertically articulated programme of inquiry.

c. The Primar y Years Programme exhibition is one of the six transdisciplinary units of inquiry in the final year of the programme.




Schools should be mindful of the fact that the transdisciplinary programme of inquiry is not merely a novel way of repackaging subject-specific content. Rather, it is a way of students using a range of subject-specific knowledge, concepts and skills in order to develop a deeper understanding of the transdisciplinary themes.

Transdisciplinary themesThe programme of inquiry is a matrix made up of the six transdisciplinary themes running vertically, and the age groups running horizontally. Organizing the curriculum around the six transdisciplinary themes contextualizes the learning for the students. It enables them to experience a balance of subject-specific knowledge, concepts and skills in order to develop an understanding of the transdisciplinary themes (see Figure 1).

Each transdisciplinary theme is accompanied by a description that explains what students will be inquiring into under this theme. This description should be referred to continually to ensure the relevance of the central ideas beneath it. It should be used as a tool to ensure the balance of the units of inquiry under each theme, rather than as a checklist.

All aspects of the descriptions of the transdisciplinary themes should be explored at some point in the programme of inquiry. The exception to this is schools that have fewer than five grade/year levels. Schools in this category should endeavour to address all aspects of the descriptions of the transdisciplinary themes in a reasonable manner in the number of years available to them.

Units of inquiryIn each of the cells of the matrix, a unit of inquiry is documented that is age-appropriate. Each unit of inquiry on the programme of inquiry should consist of a central idea, key concepts, related concepts, and lines of inquiry, as described in Figure 2.

Example of a unit on a programme of inquiry

An inquiry into:


An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.

9–10 years

Central idea

New digital media changes the way in which people access information and connect to each other.

Key concepts: function, causation, connection

Related concepts: networks, access, ethics, platform

Lines of inquiry

• How new digital media is used or organized

• Evaluating information

• Our responsibility in virtual environments

Figure 2



Central ideaEach of the units of inquiry has a central idea. The central idea should be written in one sentence that expresses concisely an enduring understanding. Each central idea will support students’ understanding of the particular transdisciplinary theme it is connected to, and should challenge and extend students’ prior knowledge. Central ideas should be globally significant and have relevance to students in all cultures and contexts, offering students the opportunity to explore commonalities of human experience as framed by the description of the transdisciplinary theme.

Central ideas should be written in a neutral voice that does not convey a specific or particular value of an individual or group, eg teachers. In the development of central ideas, wording that is overly subjective, suggests bias, or implies judgment, opinion or expected behaviours should be avoided. Central ideas should be written in such a way to invite student inquiry, so that a range of responses is possible. This is so that students are encouraged to uncover the complexity of a central idea, construct their own meaning and assign their own value to the ideas being explored.

Each central idea should be written so as to promote conceptual development supported by the PYP key concepts identified for the unit of inquiry. This does not mean that the name of a PYP key concept has to be recorded in the central idea, but rather that the central idea has a conceptual underpinning that will help students develop their ability to think conceptually.

Clear links between the transdisciplinary theme, the central idea and the associated lines of inquiry need to be established and articulated. The summative assessment tasks (documented in the PYP planner that accompanies the unit of inquiry) should also be articulated with the central idea: if there is no effective way in which students can demonstrate—or teachers assess—their understanding of the central idea, the central idea will need to be revised until such assessment is possible.

Development of central ideas requires time, careful thought and collaboration among staff. At times, students may also be involved. The central idea should be engaging, relevant, challenging and significant, and written as a concise statement. The central idea should be compelling to learners of all abilities. Learners of various abilities and ages can study a well-formulated central idea to differing depths.

Central ideas do not have to be worded in a complex way, nor do they have to be written in language appropriate to the age of the students. Words that students may not have come across before, but are essential to the understanding of the central idea, should be included. This means that the central idea may need to be “unpacked” by the teachers or students and discussed in language that the students can understand. By the end of a unit of inquiry, it is reasonable to expect students to be articulate about the central idea and to explain their understanding in their own words.

At the planning stage, it may hinder the development of the unit of inquiry to spend time trying to come up with a “catchy” title in addition to the central idea. For this reason, the PYP sample programme of inquiry does not contain titles. There is evidence in some cases that, over time, the titles used to label the units may obscure the articulation between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme. However, in the context of a school it may be convenient for teachers or students to add titles at a later stage in order to facilitate discussion about the units of inquiry.

ConceptsA school’s programme of inquiry should demonstrate the opportunity for deeper exploration of all eight PYP key concepts. All eight key concepts must be represented on the programme of inquiry at each grade/year level.

The central idea should be designed to promote conceptual development. The concepts are identified early in the process and embedded in the central idea to help students to extend their critical thinking capacity. Listing the concepts (key concepts and related concepts) on the programme of inquiry will help to focus the direction of the inquiries. No more than three PYP key concepts should be selected to focus on in any one unit of inquiry.



Related concepts derived from the key concepts and from the subject areas should also be listed. They deepen an understanding of the subject areas while providing further opportunities to make connections throughout the learning, from one subject to another, and between disciplinary and transdisciplinary learning.

Alignment between the PYP key concepts, related concepts and lines of inquiry of a unit will provide opportunities for students’ conceptual development, and deepen their understanding of the central idea.

There should be a balance of PYP key concepts used throughout each transdisciplinary theme. This does not mean that each key concept must be represented under each transdisciplinary theme but rather that schools are mindful of repetition or under-representation of concepts in order to ensure that there are appropriate opportunities for students to revisit and develop their understanding of all concepts.

Lines of inquiryThe purpose of the lines of inquiry is to clarify and develop understanding of the central idea. Each unit of inquiry will contain three or four lines of inquiry and these should be written as statements or phrases, not as questions, topics or tasks. There should be evidence of a connection between the lines of inquiry and aspects of the designated transdisciplinary theme.

Lines of inquiry should be written in such a manner as to develop conceptual understanding supported by the identified PYP key concepts and related concepts. Lines of inquiry should be relevant to the experience of the students within a particular developmental range. The lines of inquiry, as a set, should define the scope of the inquiry and help to focus student research. However, they should be open enough to extend student inquiries, and deepen understanding of the central idea.

In addition, lines of inquiry should be written in such a way as to provide opportunities for students to develop their understanding through multiple perspectives. To support this development of understanding, the lines of inquiry should be distinctive yet connected to one another, to provide a coherent context for learning.

Number of units of inquiry in the matrixThere could be as many as 54 units of inquiry in a programme of inquiry if schools have students aged 3 to 12 years old. However, as students aged 3 to 5 years only have to complete a minimum of four units, schools will generally have fewer units in the matrix.

Recording the exhibition on a programme of inquiryIn schools with three or more grade/year levels, it is a requirement that students participate in a PYP exhibition in the final grade/year of the school. In the exhibition grade/year, it is advisable that the school develops six units of inquiry (one for each of the transdisciplinary themes) and records these on the programme of inquiry.

The practice of developing a unit of inquiry under each transdisciplinary theme leads to a balanced programme of inquiry where understanding of each transdisciplinary theme is developed as fully as possible across the school. Every year, the school (with student involvement) replaces one of the six units with the PYP exhibition. The transdisciplinary theme under which the exhibition sits may differ from year to year depending on the issue selected (the exhibition may strongly reflect one particular theme but it is more likely that it will synthesize aspects of some or all of the transdisciplinary themes).



Developing a programme of inquiry for the first timeThe PYP requirement under practice C1.1 states that:

Collaborative planning and reflection addresses the requirements of the programme(s).

a. The programme of inquiry and all corresponding unit planners are the product of sustained collaborative work involving all the appropriate staff.


The task of developing a programme of inquiry is one the whole staff, including classroom teachers and single-subject teachers, takes responsibility for. It represents a sustained collaborative process involving all the appropriate PYP staff, full-time or part-time, to the fullest possible extent.

It is the role and responsibility of the PYP coordinator to facilitate the process in a manner that he or she believes will work best for the staff. This may involve a series of small-group meetings and/or whole-staff meetings. Examples of how the process could work include the following.

• A core group of teachers develops a skeleton programme of inquiry that is then shared and fully developed with the rest of the staff.

• Groups of teachers develop units, either by age range or under each of the transdisciplinary themes. The whole staff then reviews the programme of inquiry to consider areas of redundancy or omissions.

• A national, regional or state curriculum may require that certain content be included in a school’s programme of inquiry. The staff works to consider how this predetermined content might help to promote an understanding of the transdisciplinary themes.

• The whole staff works together all the way through the process to develop the complete programme of inquiry.

Schools should be aware that whatever method is selected for the development of a programme of inquiry, the process is a lengthy one, requiring many hours of collaboration and discussion. After a programme of inquiry has been developed, there will be many further refinements.

All PYP teaching staff, whether full-time or part-time, classroom teacher or single-subject teacher, then have the responsibility to develop accompanying planners that correspond to the units on the programme of inquiry.

When a school begins the process of developing a programme of inquiry, it should make use of the PYP subject-specific scope and sequences, the PYP sample programme of inquiry, and any other curriculum documents that the school may consider essential. Any national, local or regional requirements will guide the units of inquiry that a school chooses to develop and include in its programme of inquiry.

Providing high-quality resources for a new programme of inquiry may be expensive and time consuming. The resources available in a school (artifacts, audio-visual materials, books, people, places and technology) should all be carefully considered when a school develops a programme of inquiry in order to make the best use of the resources it already has. Additionally, consideration should be given to the resources available in the local community in order to provide a meaningful context for inquiry.

It is sometimes necessary to translate the programme of inquiry for those in the school community who need to understand the central ideas in a different language. This must be undertaken very carefully so that the concepts embedded in each central idea are not lost in the translation. For dual language schools that have to communicate the programme of inquiry to the school community in two languages, it is of particular importance to ensure consistency of conceptual understanding across both languages of instruction.



Connections with the subject-specific scope and sequencesThe PYP requirements under practice C1.3 state that:

Collaborative planning and reflection addresses vertical and horizontal articulation.

a. There is a systematic approach to integration of the subject-specific scope and sequences and the programme of inquiry.

b. The school ensures balance and ar ticulation bet ween the transdisciplinary programme of inquiry and any additional single-subject teaching.


The school’s programme of inquiry and subject-specific scope and sequence documents are key components of the written curriculum.

The importance of the traditional subject areas is acknowledged. Indeed, the subject areas of language, mathematics, science, social studies, arts, and personal, social and physical education (PSPE) are specified as components of the PYP curriculum model. However, it is also recognized that educating students in a set of isolated subject areas, while necessary, is not sufficient. Of equal importance is the need to acquire skills in context, and to explore content that is relevant to students and that transcends the boundaries of the traditional subjects.

To be truly educated, a student must also make connections across the disciplines, discover ways to integrate the separate subjects, and ultimately relate what they learn to life.

(Boyer 1995)

When planning a programme of inquiry, schools should be aware that all significant science and social studies teaching should take place within the programme of inquiry. Moreover, knowledge, concepts and skills from any of the other subject areas, ie language, mathematics, PSPE and arts, should be included in the programme of inquiry whenever there is an authentic connection to the students’ learning and understanding of the transdisciplinary theme. Aspects of PSPE are pervasive across the curriculum and are the responsibility of all teachers. Therefore PSPE needs to be considered in all areas of the curriculum and not just in the transdisciplinary programme of inquiry.

Relevant subject area tags have not been included in the PYP programme of inquiry samples included in this publication in order to demonstrate that coverage of subject areas was not the driver in the collaborative planning process. However, after the development of the programme of inquiry, it is appropriate to identify when a unit has provided the opportunity for teaching about or through a particular subject area in order to address the balance between transdisciplinary and disciplinary learning in the PYP. It is suggested that two or three PYP subject areas that will support understanding of the central idea be identified and recorded for each unit on the programme of inquiry. All PYP subject areas should be represented within the programme of inquiry at each grade/year level. Additionally, there should be a balance of PYP subject areas identified to support understanding of each transdisciplinary theme (this does not mean that each subject area must be represented under each transdisciplinary theme).

The scope and sequence documents represent the planned learning within the subject areas. They inform the order of the units of inquiry and the teaching of any further knowledge, concepts and skills within each grade/year level. Depending on the circumstances of the individual school, these scope and sequence documents may be those published by the IB or adaptations thereof; they may be required content as specified by national, state or regional governing agencies; they may be developed entirely by the school; or they may be a combination of these things.



There should be a process of mapping the scope and sequence documents (whether they are mandated by the state, region or nation or developed by the school) with the programme of inquiry. This cross-referencing should continue between the documents throughout the ongoing development of the programme of inquiry. The scope and sequence documents should also be cross-referenced with each other as well as with the programme of inquiry.

The subject-specific strand descriptors in the annex of Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education (IB 2009) and the PYP subject-specific scope and sequence documents may be used as a tool to ensure that the balance of subject-specific knowledge and skills is purposefully integrated.

Note: The IB would encourage independent schools functioning with considerable autonomy to use the PYP subject-specific scope and sequence documents and not spend unnecessary time developing their own.

Refining a programme of inquiryThe PYP requirement under practice C2.9 states that:

The written curriculum is informed by current IB publications and is reviewed regularly to incorporate developments in the programme(s).

a. There is a system for regular review and refinement of the programme of inquiry, individual units of inquiry and the subject-specific scope and sequences.


The development of the school’s programme of inquiry and the accompanying scope and sequence documents will differ in each setting due to the nature of the school and any locally or regionally determined subject requirements. The transdisciplinary themes provide the basis for much discussion and interpretation within a school, and allow for both local and global perspectives to be explored in the units. Consequently, it would be inappropriate for the PYP to attempt to produce a definitive programme of inquiry to be used by all schools. However, two sample programmes of inquiry are included in this publication for schools to use and adapt as they wish.

The PYP philosophy and practices have more of an impact on a school’s culture when the individuals in the school work collaboratively to develop a transdisciplinary programme of inquiry designed to meet the school’s needs and predetermined requirements. Schools should explore the possibilities for links between the units taught at each year level, and also across the different age ranges, so that the programme of inquiry is articulated both vertically and horizontally.

The units of inquiry that are chosen and developed should illuminate the transdisciplinary theme under which they are placed. A rigorous central idea that is conceptually rich will be targeted specifically to a particular transdisciplinary theme. The lines of inquiry will help to identify and clarify the direction the unit will take and, consequently, make the choice of transdisciplinary theme clearer. The concepts that drive the inquiry will also match the appropriate transdisciplinary theme for each grade/year level.

When schools have completed their first draft of a programme of inquiry, they should check for breadth and balance both vertically (down each transdisciplinary theme) and horizontally (across the year or grade level). This will ensure that a balance of subject-specific knowledge, concepts and skills has been included in the programme of inquiry, allowing the learner to build conceptual understanding and explore the essence of each transdisciplinary theme (see Figure 3).



Balance and articulation within a programme of inquiry

Age Theme Theme Theme Theme Theme Theme

3–4

4–5

5–6

6–7

7–8

8–9

9–10

10–11

11–12

Ensure balance throughout the entire programme of inquiry by:

• checking that all eight PYP key concepts are represented at each grade/year level

• making sure that a balance of PYP key concepts are used throughout each transdisciplinary theme

• cross-referencing between units to check for repetitions in central ideas and lines of inquiry

• mapping with subject-specific scope and sequence documents

• checking that all PYP subject areas are represented at each grade/year level

• checking the balance of PYP subject areas identified to support understanding of each transdisciplinary theme

• checking that all aspects of the descriptions of the transdisciplinary themes are explored at some point.

Figure 3

Look for a balance of essential elements across the units of inquiry at each year level—horizontal alignment

Look for clear developmental progression under each theme, and check for repetitions or omissions—vertical alignment



Teaching using the programme of inquiryThe PYP requirement under practice B2.10 states that:

The student schedule or timetable allows for the requirements of the programme(s) to be met.

a. The schedule or timetable allows for in-depth inquiry into the transdisciplinary and disciplinary dimensions of the curriculum.

IB Programme standards and practices: Practice B2.10 (IB 2010)

All teachers, including single-subject teachers whenever appropriate, have a responsibility for developing planners to accompany the units of inquiry documented on the programme of inquiry. Sample planners are available in other PYP publications on the online curriculum centre (OCC).

The central ideas indicate the concepts and knowledge that will be documented on the planners. It is then the responsibility of the teachers to define the learning experiences and assessments they feel will allow students to come to an understanding of the central idea. Summative assessment tasks and the evidence of understanding that students will need to produce also need to be documented on the accompanying planners. Schools should bear this in mind when developing central ideas.

Teachers of 3–5 year olds (early childhood) must plan and teach a minimum of four units of inquiry, which include a unit under the transdisciplinary theme “Who we are”, and another under the theme “How we express ourselves”. These two themes, in particular, are considered fundamentally relevant to all young students.

In the early childhood years, a substantial degree of flexibility is offered in terms of the length of the required four units of inquiry. Due to the nature of development and learning during early childhood (3–5 years), it is acknowledged that some units may be year-long and, consequently, more than one unit may be addressed at the same time. The same degree of flexibility regarding the length of the units for 3–5 year olds is considered appropriate for 5–6 year olds. However, for students aged 5 years and older, all six transdisciplinary themes need to be addressed during the year. This flexibility is outlined in Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education (IB 2009).

Teaching and learning, whenever possible and appropriate, should be within the school’s programme of inquiry. However, there are occasions when this is not practical. During these times, teachers may use a number of the following models to teach subject-specific knowledge, concepts and skills.

• Subject-specific inquiry: There are times when teachers will teach subject-specific knowledge, concepts and skills, outside the programme of inquiry, using purposeful inquiry. They should use the PYP planner to structure their planning for this type of inquiry. Teachers should still ensure that authentic connections are made with the essential elements of the programme while maintaining the integrity of the subject area.

• Preparing for or following on from a unit within the programme of inquiry: The direct teaching of subject-specific knowledge, concepts and skills in a unit of inquiry may not always be feasible but, where appropriate, introductory or follow-up learning experiences may be useful to help students make connections across the curriculum. Teachers plan and teach learning experiences that prepare the students to participate in a unit of inquiry. Following on from a unit, students may demonstrate their understanding of the central idea in a subject-specific activity.

• Skills-based teaching: This refers to the teaching of subject-specific skills not directly related to a unit of inquiry but to support mastery and increase students’ skills base in areas such as literacy, numeracy, arts and PSPE. Nevertheless, teachers should be mindful that it is appropriate to develop and use subject-specific skills in the context of units of inquiry. In fact, it could be argued, that this authentic, contextualized learning is preferable.



Evaluating a programme of inquiryThe PYP requirement under practice C2.9 states that:

The written curriculum is informed by current IB publications and is reviewed regularly to incorporate developments in the programme(s).

a. There is a system for regular review and refinement of the programme of inquiry, individual units of inquiry and the subject-specific scope and sequences.


Schools should review and refine their programme of inquiry and scope and sequence documents regularly. As they continue to develop and refine their programme of inquiry, there should be continual cross-referencing with the scope and sequence documents.

Many schools choose to have a large printout of their programme of inquiry in a communal area that allows teachers (and often parents and students) to make comments about the units of inquiry and the overall programme of inquiry. The reflection on the relative success of the units of inquiry and the integration of the units throughout the programme of inquiry are important aspects of evaluating how well the programme of inquiry is working.

After teachers have spent some time teaching the programme of inquiry, there are likely to be changes that they wish to make to the units of inquiry. The school should determine the process it wishes to use for incorporating these changes. For example, in some schools a request to change the units of inquiry is made at the end of the year and the whole staff reviews the requests in order to identify any possible redundancies or omissions these changes may cause in the school’s programme of inquiry.

It is a useful habit to revisit regularly the theme descriptions under the transdisciplinary theme as a prompt for expanding the scope of the central idea and making it more substantial.

The criteria in Figure 4 have been developed by the IB as a result of piloting a review service to provide schools with feedback on their programme of inquiry. Schools will find these criteria useful in helping them self-assess their programme of inquiry. A rubric that includes these criteria has been developed by the IB to support the self-assessment process in schools. The rubric can be found in the annex of this publication.



Criteria for reviewing a school’s programme of inquiryCe

ntra

l ide

as

There are six central ideas for all grade/year levels (other than 3–5 year olds).

There are at least four central ideas at each grade/year level for 3–5 year olds including “Who we are” and “How we express ourselves”.

Each central idea is written as one sentence.

The PYP key concepts have been identified (no more than three) for each unit of inquiry.

Central ideas are written in a neutral voice that does not convey a specific or particular value of an individual.

Central ideas are written in such a way to invite student inquiry, so that a range of responses is possible.

Central ideas are relevant to the transdisciplinary themes under which they have been placed.

Central ideas are written in such a manner as to develop conceptual understanding supported by the identified PYP key concepts.

Central ideas are globally significant addressing the commonalities of human experience.

Line

s of

inqu

iry

Three or four lines of inquiry have been identified for each unit.

The lines of inquiry are written as statements or phrases, not questions, topics or tasks.

The lines of inquiry develop understanding of the central idea.

The lines of inquiry offer opportunities to develop understanding through multiple perspectives.

The lines of inquiry develop understanding of aspects of the designated transdisciplinary theme.

The lines of inquiry are relevant to the experience of the students within a particular developmental range.

Within the unit, the lines of inquiry are distinctive yet connected to one another.

The lines of inquiry are written in such a manner as to develop conceptual understanding supported by the identified PYP key concepts and related concepts.

Bala

nce

and

artic

ulat

ion

with

in th

e pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry

All eight PYP key concepts are represented at each grade/year level.

There is a balance of PYP key concepts used throughout each transdisciplinary theme.

The related concepts are derived from the subject areas and connect to the PYP key concepts.

All the planned science and social studies content is incorporated into the programme of inquiry.

The school has mapped its subject-specific scope and sequences with its programme of inquiry.

Two or three PYP subject area focuses are recorded for each unit.

All PYP subject areas are represented within the programme of inquiry at each grade/year level.

There is a balance of PYP subject areas identified to support understanding of each transdisciplinary theme.

All aspects of the descriptions of the transdisciplinary themes are explored at some point in the programme of inquiry.

The PYP subject areas identified will support students’ understanding of the central idea.

The units throughout the programme of inquiry challenge and extend students’ understanding.

Figure 4



How the PYP sample programme of inquiry (2012) was developedThe development of a programme of inquiry within a school is an ongoing process. Teachers’ understanding of concept-based, transdisciplinary inquiry is being strengthened through discussions with colleagues as part of a school’s professional development activities and through regular collaborative planning sessions. Therefore each time a unit of inquiry is planned, taught and reflected upon, ways to improve the unit are identified and this in turn informs the development of the entire programme of inquiry.

In order to support teachers in understanding the changes that have been incorporated into the PYP sample programme of inquiry, a number of examples have been described here in more detail. Examples 1 and 2 are examples of units of inquiry where central ideas have been revised. Examples 3 and 4 are examples of units of inquiry where issues pertaining to lines of inquiry have been addressed. Examples 5 and 6 illustrate how units have been revised to strengthen balance and articulation across and within the programme of inquiry.

Each example includes an explanation of the changes that were made utilizing the criteria listed in Figure 4, as well as the units from both the 2008 sample (on the left-hand side) and the 2012 sample (on the right-hand side).

Example 1The central idea in the 2008 sample is value-laden, in that it conveys the idea that our lives are enriched by friendships. The central idea was broadened to incorporate other types of relationships that may be significant to the students, eg classmates and neighbours. The new central idea does not convey a specific value and is also more open to student inquiry, ensuring a range of responses is possible. The related concepts and lines of inquiry were revised in light of the changes to the central idea.

2008 2012

Who we are

4–5 years

Central idea: Friendships enrich our lives and require nurturing in order to develop.

Key concepts: causation, responsibility

Related concepts: conflict or cooperation, interdependence

Lines of inquiry

• How friends are made and kept• Why friends are needed• Characteristics that develop healthy

friendships

Who we are4–5 years

Central idea: People’s relationships with each other can have an impact on well-being.

Key concepts: function, connection, responsibility

Related concepts: cooperation, friendship, balance

Lines of inquiry

• How we develop relationships • How relationships affect us• Roles and behaviours within

relationships

Example 1



Example 2The central idea in the 2008 sample was not written in such a way as to be open to student inquiry, ensuring a range of responses was possible. Limiting the focus to “a workplace” didn’t allow for students to transfer the understanding embedded in the central idea to other contexts. The lines of inquiry were also narrow in focus and did not offer opportunities to explore multiple perspectives. When revising this unit, it became clear that the aspect in the transdisciplinary theme that needed focusing on was “the structure and function of organizations”.

2008 2012


7–8 years

Central idea: In a workplace people share responsibility towards a common purpose.

Key concepts: function, causation connection

Related concepts: cooperation, employment

Lines of inquiry

• Purpose of a workplace• Interconnectedness of people in a

workplace• Importance of a shared vision or

common purpose


7–8 years

Central idea: People create organizations to solve problems and support human endeavour and enterprise.

Key concepts: function, connection, responsibility

Related concepts: work, collaboration, entrepreneurship, service

Lines of inquiry

• Purpose of organizations• Why people join organizations• Strategies for problem solving within an

organization• What makes an organization successful

Example 2

Example 3The lines of inquiry in the 2008 sample were not written in such a way as to develop conceptual understanding supported by the identified key and related concepts. In addition, the second line of inquiry was too narrow in focus and would not allow for the exploration of multiple perspectives: not all places on Earth experience seasonal changes. As a result of the discussion about the global significance of the lines of inquiry, the central idea was revised to encompass other living things.

2008 2012

How the world works

3–4 years

Central idea: Our activity is usually connected to the Earth’s natural cycles.

Key concepts: change, connection

Related concepts: cycles, interaction

Lines of inquiry

• Night and day cycles (dark and light)• Seasonal changes• Health and safety as related to climate

and seasonal changes

How the world works

3–4 years

Central idea: The Earth’s natural cycles influence the activity of living things.

Key concepts: causation, change, connection

Related concepts: cycles, interaction, pattern

Lines of inquiry

• Natural cycles (eg night and day, weather patterns, seasons)

• The actions people take in response to Earth’s natural cycles

• Patterns of behaviour in living things related to Earth’s natural cycles

Example 3



Example 4In the 2008 sample, the first two lines of inquiry were not written in such a way as to develop conceptual understanding supported by the identified key and related concepts. For example, an inquiry into “Types of governance” could result in students developing a list rather than a deeper understanding of “How government systems function”. In order to ensure that the unit was inquiring more directly into aspects of the transdisciplinary theme description of “How we organize ourselves”, the central idea and lines of inquiry were revised.

2008 2012


10–11 years

Central idea: Governmental systems and decisions can promote or deny equal opportunities and social justice.

Key concepts: function, responsibility

Related concepts: equality, government or governance

Lines of inquiry

• Types of governance• Principles of human rights and social justice• The effect of institutional behaviours and

attitudes on social justice


11–12 years

Central idea: Government systems influence the lives of citizens.

Key concepts: function, perspective, responsibility

Related concepts: equality, citizenship, governance, law, politics

Lines of inquiry

• How government systems function • How decision-making practices reflect

human rights• Impact of government on citizens• The rights and responsibilities of citizenship

Example 4

Example 5This unit of inquiry was not thought rigorous enough to challenge learners at the 9–10 year level. In addition, it was decided that the central idea would be more appropriately placed under the transdisciplinary theme “Who we are”. The central idea was revised to better reflect its new position under the transdisciplinary theme “Who we are”. The lines of inquiry were reworked in order to ensure that they provided opportunities for developing understanding of the revised central idea.

2008 2012

How we express ourselves

9–10 years

Central idea: Choices of role models reflect the characteristics that societies and individuals value.

Key concepts: causation, perspective, reflection

Related concepts: self-fulfillment, influence

Lines of inquiry

• Role models and why we value them• Why we should develop our own gifts,

talents and interests• How personal strengths can be applied

to help others

Who we are

7–8 years

Central idea: Choices of role models reflect the beliefs and values of individuals and societies.

Key concepts: causation, perspective, reflection

Related concepts: identity, peer pressure, opinion

Lines of inquiry

• What determines our beliefs and values• How and why role models are chosen• Influence of role models on our choices

and actions

Example 5



Example 6The final example is the analysis of balance and articulation within and across transdisciplinary themes.

As part of the vertical analysis of the 2008 sample programme of inquiry, it was recognized that not all aspects of all transdisciplinary theme descriptions were explored. For example, in the units of inquiry under “Sharing the planet”, there was repeated exploration of “living things” and limited prospects for exploring “access to equal opportunities”. In the units of inquiry under “How we organize ourselves”, there were overlapping inquiries into “human-made systems and communities” and fewer opportunities for inquiry into “economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment”. In response to this, several units were revised, and some were removed with new units introduced in their place.

It was also decided that several units of inquiry would be better placed under different transdisciplinary themes. For example, in the 2008 sample the 8–9 year unit of inquiry under “How we express ourselves” with the central idea “A variety of signs and symbols facilitates local and global communication” was really felt to be exploring systems of communication and therefore belonged under “How we organize ourselves”.

Finally, there were a few units of inquiry that did not challenge and extend students’ understanding. In some instances these units were improved or moved to a different age level. In other instances, they were replaced with a completely new unit. For example, under the transdisciplinary theme “Where we are in place and time”, the 3–4 year unit with the central idea “Documenting personal histories allows us to reflect on and celebrate who we are and where we’ve come from” was not deemed appropriate to the experience of this young age group and was replaced by a new unit with the central idea “Spaces and facilities in and around buildings determine how people use them”. Under the transdisciplinary theme “Sharing the planet”, the 8–9 year unit with the central idea “Water is essential to life, and is a limited resource for many people” was removed. It was felt that water as a resource could be explored in several other units under this transdisciplinary theme.

Example 6



ResourcesBoyer, EL. 1995. The Basic School: A Community for Learning. Princeton, NJ. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Bredekamp, S and Copple, C (eds). 1997. Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs. Washington, DC. National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Erickson, HL. 2001. Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum and Instruction. Thousand Oaks, California. Corwin Press.

Erickson, HL. 2007. Concept-based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom. Thousand Oaks, California. Corwin Press.

IB Programme standards and practices. October 2010. Cardiff, UK. International Baccalaureate.

Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education. December 2009. Cardiff, UK. International Baccalaureate.

Pink, DH. 2005. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. New York. Riverhead Books.

Science scope and sequence. July 2008. Cardiff, UK. International Baccalaureate.

Social studies scope and sequence. July 2008. Cardiff, UK. International Baccalaureate.

The PYP as a model for transdisciplinary learning. February 2010. Cardiff, UK. International Baccalaureate.

Tomlinson, CA. 2005. How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms. Alexandria, Virginia. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Wells Lindfor, J. 1999. Children’s Inquiry: Using Language to Make Sense of the World. New York. Teachers College Press.

Wiggins, G and McTighe, J. 1998. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, Virginia. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Zhao, Y. 2009. Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. Alexandria, Virginia. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.


Samples

There are two sample programmes of inquiry included in this publication, one published in 2008 and one developed for this publication in 2012.

The 2012 sample provides a starting point for schools when developing their own programmes of inquiry. Schools are required to address the transdisciplinary themes, maintain both a vertical and horizontal balance, and be able to defend the rationale for the inclusion of units in their programme of inquiry. The specific units of inquiry in this sample programme of inquiry are not mandated and schools are free to make use of them in any way that suits their particular needs. It is highly unlikely that this sample programme of inquiry will fully meet the needs of any individual school. For many reasons, including availability of resources, some units in the sample may not be appropriate for some schools.

The 2008 sample is included in this publication as it contains content that articulates with the Science scope and sequence (IB 2008) and Social studies scope and sequence (IB 2008). Because of the changes incorporated into the 2012 sample, it is not as closely aligned with these scope and sequences.

In addition to the information included in this publication, further support for understanding all aspects of a programme of inquiry can be found in Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for international primary education (IB 2009) and The PYP as a model for transdisciplinary learning (IB 2010).

The IB has attempted to make this sample programme of inquiry as balanced, complete and user-friendly as possible. The PYP curriculum development team would appreciate your feedback on the 2012 sample. Schools are invited to send programmes of inquiry to the IB to inform future curriculum development: [email protected].


Sam

ple

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

(201

2) A

ge

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Who

we

are

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Whe

re w

e ar

e in

pla

ce a

nd ti

me

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

we

expr

ess

ours

elve

s A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow th

e w

orld

wor

ks

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

we

orga

nize

our

selv

es

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Shar

ing

the

plan

et

An

inqu

iry in

to th

e na

ture

of t

he s

elf;

belie

fs

and

valu

es; p

erso

nal,

phys

ical

, men

tal,

soci

al a

nd s

pirit

ual h

ealth

; hum

an

rela

tions

hips

incl

udin

g fa

milie

s, fr

iend

s,

com

mun

ities

and

cul

ture

s; ri

ghts

and

re

spon

sibi

litie

s; w

hat i

t mea

ns to

be

hum

an.

An in

quiry

into

orie

ntat

ion

in p

lace

and

tim

e;

pers

onal

his

torie

s; h

omes

and

jour

neys

; the

di

scov

erie

s, e

xplo

ratio

ns a

nd m

igra

tions

of

hum

ankin

d; th

e re

latio

nshi

ps b

etw

een

and

the

inte

rcon

nect

edne

ss o

f ind

ivid

uals

and

ci

viliz

atio

ns, f

rom

loca

l and

glo

bal

pers

pect

ives

.

An in

quiry

into

the

way

s in

whi

ch w

e di

scov

er a

nd e

xpre

ss id

eas,

feel

ings

, na

ture

, cul

ture

, bel

iefs

and

val

ues;

the

way

s in

whi

ch w

e re

flect

on,

ext

end

and

enjo

y ou

r cr

eativ

ity; o

ur a

ppre

ciat

ion

of th

e ae

sthe

tic.

An in

quiry

into

the

natu

ral w

orld

and

its

law

s;

the

inte

ract

ion

betw

een

the

natu

ral w

orld

(p

hysi

cal a

nd b

iolo

gica

l) an

d hu

man

soc

ietie

s;

how

hum

ans

use

thei

r und

erst

andi

ng o

f sc

ient

ific p

rinci

ples

; the

impa

ct o

f sci

entif

ic an

d te

chno

logi

cal a

dvan

ces

on s

ocie

ty a

nd o

n th

e en

viron

men

t.

An in

quiry

into

the

inte

rcon

nect

edne

ss o

f hu

man

-mad

e sy

stem

s an

d co

mm

uniti

es; t

he

stru

ctur

e an

d fu

nctio

n of

org

aniz

atio

ns;

soci

etal

dec

isio

n-m

akin

g; e

cono

mic

ac

tiviti

es a

nd th

eir i

mpa

ct o

n hu

man

kind

and

th

e en

viro

nmen

t.

An in

quiry

into

righ

ts a

nd re

spon

sibi

litie

s in

th

e st

rugg

le to

sha

re fi

nite

reso

urce

s w

ith

othe

r peo

ple

and

with

oth

er li

ving

thin

gs;

com

mun

ities

and

the

rela

tions

hips

with

in

and

betw

een

them

; acc

ess

to e

qual

op

portu

nitie

s; p

eace

and

con

flict

reso

lutio

n.

3–4

Cen

tral

idea

Fa

mily

rela

tions

hips

con

tribu

te to

sha

ping

ou

r ide

ntity

. K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, res

pons

ibili

ty,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

sim

ilarit

ies

and

diffe

renc

es, b

elon

ging

, rol

es

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• D

iver

sity

of f

amili

es

• R

espo

nsib

ilitie

s w

ithin

the

fam

ily

• H

ow fa

mili

es in

fluen

ce w

ho w

e be

com

e

Cen

tral

idea

Sp

aces

and

faci

litie

s in

and

aro

und

build

ings

de

term

ine

how

peo

ple

use

them

. K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, fun

ctio

n, c

ausa

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: s

pace

, stru

ctur

e, d

esig

n,

safe

ty

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

hara

cter

istic

s an

d ar

rang

emen

ts o

f ph

ysic

al s

pace

s

• H

ow p

eopl

e us

e di

ffere

nt s

pace

s

• O

ur re

spon

sibi

lity

in s

harin

g sp

aces

with

ot

hers

Cen

tral

idea

Th

roug

h pl

ay w

e ex

pres

s ou

r fee

lings

and

id

eas

and

com

e to

new

und

erst

andi

ngs.

K

ey c

once

pts:

func

tion,

con

nect

ion,

pe

rspe

ctiv

e R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

imag

inat

ion,

cre

ativ

ity,

com

mun

icat

ion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

omm

unic

atin

g th

roug

h pl

ay

• Im

agin

ativ

e us

e of

mat

eria

ls

• Th

e ro

le o

f toy

s in

pla

y

Cen

tral

idea

Th

e Ea

rth’s

nat

ural

cyc

les

influ

ence

the

activ

ity o

f liv

ing

thin

gs.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

cha

nge,

co

nnec

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ycle

s, in

tera

ctio

n,

patte

rn

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• N

atur

al c

ycle

s (e

g ni

ght a

nd d

ay,

wea

ther

pat

tern

s, s

easo

ns)

• Th

e ac

tions

peo

ple

take

in re

spon

se to

Ea

rth’s

nat

ural

cyc

les

• Pa

ttern

s of

beh

avio

ur in

livi

ng th

ings

re

late

d to

Ear

th’s

nat

ural

cyc

les

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

pla

y di

ffere

nt ro

les

in th

e co

mm

uniti

es to

whi

ch th

ey b

elon

g.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, f

unct

ion,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

com

mun

ity, r

ules

, in

tera

ctio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Va

rious

com

mun

ities

we

belo

ng to

• R

oles

of p

eopl

e w

ho a

re p

art o

f our

co

mm

uniti

es

• H

ow c

omm

uniti

es a

re o

rgan

ized

Cen

tral

idea

An

imal

s an

d pe

ople

inte

ract

in d

iffer

ent

way

s in

diff

eren

t con

text

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

onne

ctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

cha

ract

eris

tics,

re

latio

nshi

ps, n

eeds

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Th

e di

ffere

nt ro

les

anim

als

play

in

peop

les’

live

s

• Su

itabi

lity

of p

artic

ular

ani

mal

s fo

r sp

ecifi

c fu

nctio

ns

• O

ur re

spon

sibi

lity

for t

he w

ell-b

eing

of

anim

als

4–5

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

’s re

latio

nshi

ps w

ith e

ach

othe

r can

ha

ve a

n im

pact

on

wel

l-bei

ng.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

coo

pera

tion,

frie

ndsh

ip,

bala

nce

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• H

ow w

e de

velo

p re

latio

nshi

ps

• H

ow re

latio

nshi

ps a

ffect

us

• R

oles

and

beh

avio

urs

with

in

rela

tions

hips

Cen

tral

idea

In

terp

reta

tion

of a

rtifa

cts

cont

ribut

es to

our

un

ders

tand

ing

of p

eopl

es’ h

isto

ries.

K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, fun

ctio

n, re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: a

rtifa

ct, h

isto

ry, v

alue

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• H

ow p

eopl

e an

alys

e ar

tifac

ts

• H

ow a

rtifa

cts

cont

ribut

e to

our

un

ders

tand

ing

of th

e pa

st

• W

hy p

eopl

e ke

ep o

r dis

card

arti

fact

s

Cen

tral

idea

St

orie

s ca

n en

gage

thei

r aud

ienc

e an

d co

mm

unic

ate

mea

ning

. K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, con

nect

ion,

pe

rspe

ctiv

e R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

com

mun

icat

ion,

ch

arac

teriz

atio

n, e

xpre

ssio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

• H

ow to

con

stru

ct a

n ef

fect

ive

stor

y

• W

hat s

torie

s ca

n co

nvey

• H

ow s

torie

s ar

e cr

eate

d an

d sh

ared

• Fe

elin

gs a

nd e

mot

ions

that

sto

ries

evok

e

Cen

tral

idea

M

ater

ials

beh

ave

and

inte

ract

in c

erta

in

way

s, w

hich

det

erm

ine

how

peo

ple

use

them

. K

ey c

once

pts:

func

tion,

cau

satio

n, c

hang

e R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

beh

avio

ur, p

redi

ctio

n,

inno

vatio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Be

havi

our o

f mat

eria

ls

• C

hang

ing

prop

ertie

s of

mat

eria

ls

• M

anip

ulat

ion

and

appl

icat

ion

of

mat

eria

ls to

new

pur

pose

s

Cen

tral

idea

M

any

prod

ucts

go

thro

ugh

a pr

oces

s of

ch

ange

bef

ore

they

are

con

sum

ed o

r use

d.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, c

onne

ctio

n,

resp

onsi

bilit

y Re

late

d co

ncep

ts: c

ompo

nent

s, p

roce

ss,

choi

ce

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• O

rigin

s of

pro

duct

s

• C

hang

es p

rodu

cts

go th

roug

h

• D

istri

butio

n of

pro

duct

s

• H

ow p

eopl

e se

lect

the

prod

ucts

they

use

Cen

tral

idea

Pl

ants

sus

tain

life

on

Earth

and

pla

y a

role

in

our l

ives

. K

ey c

once

pts:

cau

satio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

inte

rdep

ende

nce,

ap

prec

iatio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

• C

arin

g fo

r pla

nts

• Pr

oduc

ts w

e de

rive

from

pla

nts

• H

ow p

lant

s co

ntrib

ute

to li

fe o

n Ea

rth

5–6

Cen

tral

idea

Aw

aren

ess

of o

ur c

hara

cter

istic

s, a

bilit

ies

and

inte

rest

s in

form

s ou

r lea

rnin

g an

d de

velo

pmen

t. K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, per

spec

tive,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

iden

tity,

sim

ilarit

ies

and

diffe

renc

es

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Ph

ysic

al, s

ocia

l and

em

otio

nal

char

acte

ristic

s

• Si

mila

ritie

s an

d di

ffere

nces

bet

wee

n ou

rsel

ves

and

othe

rs

• Pe

rson

al a

bilit

ies

and

inte

rest

s

Cen

tral

idea

H

omes

refle

ct c

ultu

ral i

nflu

ence

s an

d lo

cal

cond

ition

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, c

onne

ctio

n,

pers

pect

ive

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ultu

re, n

eeds

, ow

ners

hip,

loca

lity

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

hat c

onst

itute

s a

hom

e

• H

ow h

omes

refle

ct fa

mily

val

ues

• H

ow h

omes

refle

ct lo

cal c

ultu

re

• Fa

ctor

s th

at d

eter

min

e w

here

peo

ple

live

Cen

tral

idea

C

eleb

ratio

ns a

nd tr

aditi

ons

are

expr

essi

ons

of s

hare

d be

liefs

and

val

ues.

K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, con

nect

ion,

per

spec

tive

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: b

elie

fs, v

alue

s,

belo

ngin

g, c

ultu

re

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

hy p

eopl

e ce

lebr

ate

• Fe

atur

es o

f tra

ditio

ns a

nd c

eleb

ratio

ns

• Sy

mbo

lic re

pres

enta

tions

of c

eleb

ratio

ns

and

tradi

tions

• W

hat m

eani

ng p

eopl

e as

sign

to

cele

brat

ions

and

trad

ition

s

Cen

tral

idea

Al

l liv

ing

thin

gs g

o th

roug

h a

proc

ess

of

chan

ge.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

cha

nge,

co

nnec

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ycle

s, tr

ansf

orm

atio

n,

sim

ilarit

ies

and

diffe

renc

es

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Pa

ttern

s of

gro

wth

• H

ow li

ving

thin

gs c

hang

e ov

er th

eir

lifet

ime

• Fa

ctor

s th

at c

an in

fluen

ce li

fe c

ycle

s

Cen

tral

idea

C

omm

uniti

es m

ake

effo

rts to

cre

ate

trans

porta

tion

syst

ems

that

mee

t the

ir ne

eds.

K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, fun

ctio

n, c

hang

e R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

net

wor

k, te

chno

logy

, su

stai

nabi

lity

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Fe

atur

es o

f tra

nspo

rtatio

n sy

stem

s

• D

ecis

ions

invo

lved

in u

sing

tra

nspo

rtatio

n

• H

ow s

yste

ms

of tr

ansp

orta

tion

resp

ond

to c

hang

ing

need

s

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

inte

ract

with

, use

and

val

ue lo

cal

envi

ronm

ents

in d

iffer

ent w

ays.

K

ey c

once

pts:

cau

satio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

con

serv

atio

n,

deve

lopm

ent,

inte

rdep

ende

nce

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• N

atur

al a

nd h

uman

-mad

e el

emen

ts o

f lo

cal e

nviro

nmen

ts

• H

ow lo

cal e

nviro

nmen

ts a

ddre

sses

pe

ople

’s n

eeds

• H

ow n

atur

al s

pace

s ar

e va

lued

in lo

cal

envi

ronm

ents


Age

A

n in

quiry

into

: W

ho w

e ar

e A

n in

quiry

into

: W

here

we

are

in p

lace

and

tim

e A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow w

e ex

pres

s ou

rsel

ves

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

the

wor

ld w

orks

A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow w

e or

gani

ze o

urse

lves

A

n in

quiry

into

: Sh

arin

g th

e pl

anet

6–7

Cen

tral

idea

Th

e ch

oice

s pe

ople

mak

e af

fect

thei

r hea

lth

and

wel

l-bei

ng.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

resp

onsi

bilit

y,

refle

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

hoic

e, in

fluen

ce,

bala

nce

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

hat i

t mea

ns to

hav

e a

bala

nced

lif

esty

le

• H

ow th

e ch

oice

s w

e m

ake

affe

ct o

ur

heal

th

• D

iffer

ent s

ourc

es o

f inf

orm

atio

n th

at h

elp

us m

ake

choi

ces

Cen

tral

idea

Le

arni

ng a

bout

pre

viou

s ge

nera

tions

hel

ps

us u

nder

stan

d th

e re

latio

nshi

p be

twee

n th

e pa

st a

nd th

e pr

esen

t. K

ey c

once

pts:

cau

satio

n, c

hang

e,

conn

ectio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

tim

e, c

ontin

uity

, her

itage

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• W

ays

to fi

nd o

ut a

bout

the

past

• H

ow a

spec

ts o

f the

pas

t stil

l inf

luen

ce u

s to

day

• W

hy s

ome

beha

viou

rs a

nd p

ract

ices

ha

ve c

hang

ed o

r rem

aine

d th

e sa

me

over

tim

e

Cen

tral

idea

Im

ages

com

mun

icat

e id

eas

and

info

rmat

ion.

K

ey c

once

pts:

func

tion,

con

nect

ion,

pe

rspe

ctiv

e R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

cre

ativ

ity,

com

mun

icat

ion,

imag

ery

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Th

e us

e of

sta

tic a

nd m

ovin

g im

ages

in

diffe

rent

med

ia

• H

ow d

esig

n el

emen

ts o

f im

ages

sup

port

com

mun

icat

ion

• H

ow w

e in

terp

ret a

nd re

spon

d to

imag

es

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

app

ly th

eir u

nder

stan

ding

of f

orce

s an

d en

ergy

to in

vent

and

cre

ate.

K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, fun

ctio

n, c

ausa

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: in

genu

ity, t

echn

olog

y,

ener

gy, f

orce

s Li

nes

of in

quiry

• In

vent

ions

that

impa

ct p

eopl

e’s

lives

• H

ow c

ircum

stan

ces

lead

to th

e cr

eatio

n of

impo

rtant

inve

ntio

ns

• H

ow u

nder

stan

ding

forc

es a

nd e

nerg

y he

lps

inve

ntor

s

Cen

tral

idea

Ph

ysic

al a

nd v

irtua

l pub

lic s

pace

s pr

ovid

e pe

ople

with

opp

ortu

nitie

s to

mak

e co

nnec

tions

and

est

ablis

h a

sens

e of

co

mm

unity

. K

ey c

once

pts:

func

tion,

con

nect

ion,

re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

omm

unity

, en

viro

nmen

t, pa

rtici

patio

n, a

cces

s Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Pu

rpos

es o

f pub

lic s

pace

s

• C

hara

cter

istic

s of

diff

eren

t pub

lic s

pace

s

• H

ow p

eopl

e us

e pu

blic

spa

ces

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

can

mak

e ch

oice

s to

sup

port

the

sust

aina

bilit

y of

the

Earth

’s re

sour

ces.

K

ey c

once

pts:

per

spec

tive,

resp

onsi

bilit

y,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

life

styl

e, re

sour

ces,

w

aste

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Ea

rth’s

fini

te a

nd in

finite

reso

urce

s

• Th

e im

pact

of p

eopl

e’s

choi

ces

on th

e en

viro

nmen

t

• Th

e ba

lanc

e be

twee

n m

eetin

g hu

man

ne

eds

and

the

use

of li

mite

d re

sour

ces

7–8

Cen

tral

idea

C

hoic

es o

f rol

e m

odel

s re

flect

the

belie

fs

and

valu

es o

f ind

ivid

uals

and

soc

ietie

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

per

spec

tive,

re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: id

entit

y, p

eer p

ress

ure,

op

inio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

• W

hat d

eter

min

es o

ur b

elie

fs a

nd v

alue

s

• H

ow a

nd w

hy ro

le m

odel

s ar

e ch

osen

• In

fluen

ce o

f rol

e m

odel

s on

our

cho

ices

an

d ac

tions

Cen

tral

idea

Th

e Ea

rth’s

phy

sica

l geo

grap

hy h

as a

n im

pact

on

hum

an in

tera

ctio

ns a

nd

settl

emen

ts.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, c

ausa

tion,

con

nect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: g

eogr

aphy

, set

tlem

ent,

mod

ifica

tion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Va

riabi

lity

of p

hysi

cal g

eogr

aphy

aro

und

the

wor

ld

• Th

e re

latio

nshi

p be

twee

n lo

catio

n an

d se

ttlem

ent

• Im

pact

of h

uman

inte

ract

ion

on th

e ph

ysic

al e

nviro

nmen

t

Cen

tral

idea

Th

roug

h th

e ar

ts p

eopl

e us

e di

ffere

nt fo

rms

of e

xpre

ssio

n to

con

vey

thei

r uni

quen

ess

as

hum

an b

eing

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

per

cept

ion,

sel

f-ex

pres

sion

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Th

e di

vers

e w

ays

in w

hich

peo

ple

expr

ess

them

selv

es

• H

ow e

very

one

can

expr

ess

thei

r un

ique

ness

thro

ugh

the

arts

• Th

e ro

le o

f art

in c

ultu

re a

nd s

ocie

ty

Cen

tral

idea

Th

e de

sign

of b

uild

ings

and

stru

ctur

es is

de

pend

ent u

pon

envi

ronm

enta

l fac

tors

, hu

man

inge

nuity

, and

ava

ilabl

e m

ater

ials

. K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, fun

ctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

des

ign,

tech

nolo

gy,

sust

aina

bilit

y Li

nes

of in

quiry

• C

onsi

dera

tions

to ta

ke in

to a

ccou

nt

whe

n bu

ildin

g a

stru

ctur

e

• Th

e im

pact

of b

uild

ings

and

stru

ctur

es

on th

e en

viro

nmen

t

• Lo

cal a

rchi

tect

ure

and

its c

onne

ctio

n w

ith th

e ne

eds

of th

e co

mm

unity

and

av

aila

bilit

y of

mat

eria

ls

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

cre

ate

orga

niza

tions

to s

olve

pr

oble

ms

and

supp

ort h

uman

end

eavo

ur

and

ente

rpris

e.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

wor

k, c

olla

bora

tion,

en

trepr

eneu

rshi

p, s

ervi

ce

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Pu

rpos

e of

org

aniz

atio

ns

• W

hy p

eopl

e jo

in o

rgan

izat

ions

• St

rate

gies

for p

robl

em s

olvi

ng w

ithin

an

orga

niza

tion

• W

hat m

akes

an

orga

niza

tion

succ

essf

ul

Cen

tral

idea

W

hen

inte

ract

ing

with

nat

ural

hab

itats

, hu

man

s m

ake

choi

ces

that

hav

e an

impa

ct

on o

ther

livi

ng th

ings

. K

ey c

once

pts:

cau

satio

n, c

hang

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

hab

itat,

inte

rdep

ende

nce,

beh

avio

ural

ada

ptat

ions

, di

vers

ity

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Ba

lanc

e be

twee

n rig

hts

and

resp

onsi

bili-

ties

whe

n in

tera

ctin

g w

ith n

atur

al

habi

tats

• H

uman

impa

ct o

n na

tura

l hab

itats

• H

ow li

ving

thin

gs re

spon

d to

cha

ngin

g en

viro

nmen

tal c

ondi

tions

8–9

Cen

tral

idea

Th

e ef

fect

ive

inte

ract

ions

bet

wee

n hu

man

bo

dy s

yste

ms

cont

ribut

e to

hea

lth a

nd

surv

ival

. K

ey c

once

pts:

func

tion,

con

nect

ion,

re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: s

yste

ms,

in

terd

epen

denc

e, h

ealth

, hom

eost

asis

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Bo

dy s

yste

ms

and

how

they

wor

k

• H

ow b

ody

syst

ems

are

inte

rdep

ende

nt

• Im

pact

of l

ifest

yle

choi

ces

on th

e bo

dy

Cen

tral

idea

A

com

mun

ity’s

resp

onse

to s

igni

fican

t eve

nts

prov

ides

an

insig

ht in

to th

e hi

stor

y an

d va

lues

of

that

com

mun

ity.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

per

spec

tive,

re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: im

pact

, bia

s, e

vide

nce,

tru

th

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Th

e w

ays

in w

hich

sig

nific

ant e

vent

s m

ay b

e re

cogn

ized

, loc

ally

and

/or

glob

ally

• H

ow a

sig

nific

ant e

vent

has

an

impa

ct

on a

com

mun

ity

• W

hy v

iew

poin

ts d

iffer

abo

ut s

igni

fican

t ev

ents

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

can

cre

ate

or m

anip

ulat

e m

essa

ges

to ta

rget

spe

cific

aud

ienc

es.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

med

ia, a

dver

tisin

g,

prop

agan

da

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• H

ow im

ages

, tex

t and

mus

ic a

re u

sed

to

influ

ence

beh

avio

ur o

f tar

get a

udie

nces

• C

ritic

al e

valu

atio

n of

mes

sage

s pr

esen

ted

in th

e m

edia

• H

ow p

eopl

e re

spon

d to

mes

sage

s

Cen

tral

idea

C

hang

es in

the

Earth

and

its

atm

osph

ere

have

impa

cts

on th

e w

ay p

eopl

e liv

e th

eir

lives

. K

ey c

once

pts:

cau

satio

n, c

hang

e,

conn

ectio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

geo

logy

, ada

ptat

ion,

w

eath

er, e

nerg

y Li

nes

of in

quiry

• H

ow th

e di

ffere

nt c

ompo

nent

s of

the

Earth

are

inte

rrela

ted

• W

hy th

e Ea

rth h

as c

hang

ed a

nd is

co

ntin

uing

to c

hang

e

• H

uman

resp

onse

to th

e Ea

rth’s

cha

nges

Cen

tral

idea

Si

gns

and

sym

bols

are

par

t of h

uman

-mad

e sy

stem

s th

at fa

cilit

ate

loca

l and

glo

bal

com

mun

icat

ion.

K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, fun

ctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

cul

ture

, med

ia, p

atte

rn,

acce

ss

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Ic

onog

raph

y

• H

ow v

isua

l lan

guag

e fa

cilit

ates

co

mm

unic

atio

n

• Sp

ecia

lized

sys

tem

s of

com

mun

icatio

n

Cen

tral

idea

D

istri

butio

n of

wea

lth a

ffect

s co

mm

uniti

es

and

indi

vidu

als’

acc

ess

to e

qual

op

portu

nitie

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, c

ausa

tion,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

wea

lth, p

ower

, acc

ess

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• R

elat

ions

hip

betw

een

wea

lth a

nd p

ower

• Th

e im

pact

of t

he d

istri

butio

n of

wea

lth

on c

omm

uniti

es a

nd in

divi

dual

s

• Eq

uita

ble

acce

ss to

reso

urce

s an

d op

portu

nitie

s


Age

A

n in

quiry

into

: W

ho w

e ar

e A

n in

quiry

into

: W

here

we

are

in p

lace

and

tim

e A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow w

e ex

pres

s ou

rsel

ves

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

the

wor

ld w

orks

A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow w

e or

gani

ze o

urse

lves

A

n in

quiry

into

: Sh

arin

g th

e pl

anet

9–10

C

entr

al id

ea

Syst

ems

that

def

ine

belie

fs a

nd v

alue

s of

fer

expl

anat

ions

abo

ut th

e w

orld

aro

und

us a

nd

wha

t it m

eans

to b

e hu

man

. K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, per

spec

tive,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

div

ersi

ty, p

erce

ptio

n,

com

mitm

ent

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Si

mila

ritie

s an

d di

ffere

nces

bet

wee

n be

lief s

yste

ms

(sec

ular

and

faith

-bas

ed)

• H

ow b

elie

fs a

nd v

alue

s co

ntrib

ute

to th

e fo

rmat

ion

and

actio

ns o

f com

mun

ities

• Th

e im

pact

of s

pirit

ual t

radi

tions

on

soci

ety

Cen

tral

idea

Ex

plor

atio

n le

ads

to d

isco

verie

s,

oppo

rtuni

ties

and

new

und

erst

andi

ngs.

K

ey c

once

pts:

cau

satio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

impa

ct, n

avig

atio

n,

colo

nial

ism

, pow

er

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• R

easo

ns fo

r exp

lora

tion

(his

toric

al a

nd

pers

onal

)

• H

ow e

xplo

ratio

ns h

ave

take

n pl

ace

over

tim

e

• Th

e co

nseq

uenc

es o

f exp

lora

tion

Cen

tral

idea

Th

roug

hout

his

tory

, peo

ple

have

inte

ract

ed

with

eac

h ot

her a

nd c

omm

unic

ated

usi

ng

arts

. K

ey c

once

pts:

cha

nge,

con

nect

ion,

pe

rspe

ctiv

e R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

aes

thet

ics,

met

apho

r Li

nes

of in

quiry

• H

ow p

eopl

e co

mm

unic

ate

thro

ugh

arts

• H

ow a

rt w

orks

pro

vide

insi

ght a

nd

info

rmat

ion

• Th

e ro

le o

f arts

in d

iffer

ent c

ultu

res,

pl

aces

and

tim

es

• D

evel

opm

ent o

f art

form

s ov

er ti

me

Cen

tral

idea

En

ergy

may

be

conv

erte

d, tr

ansf

orm

ed a

nd

used

to s

uppo

rt hu

man

pro

gres

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, c

ausa

tion,

re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

onse

rvat

ion,

tra

nsfo

rmat

ion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• D

iffer

ent f

orm

s of

ene

rgy

sour

ces

(ren

ewab

le a

nd n

on-re

new

able

)

• H

ow e

nerg

y is

use

d (tr

ansf

orm

atio

n)

• Su

stai

nabl

e en

ergy

pra

ctic

es

Cen

tral

idea

N

ew d

igita

l med

ia c

hang

es th

e w

ay in

whi

ch

peop

le a

cces

s in

form

atio

n an

d co

nnec

t to

each

oth

er.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

ausa

tion,

co

nnec

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: n

etw

orks

, acc

ess,

et

hics

, pla

tform

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• H

ow n

ew d

igita

l med

ia is

use

d or

or

gani

zed

• Ev

alua

ting

info

rmat

ion

• O

ur re

spon

sibi

lity

in v

irtua

l env

ironm

ents

Cen

tral

idea

C

hild

ren

wor

ldw

ide

enco

unte

r a ra

nge

of

chal

leng

es, r

isks

and

opp

ortu

nitie

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, p

ersp

ectiv

e, re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: e

qual

ity, r

ight

s,

resi

lienc

e, h

ealth

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• C

halle

nges

, ris

ks a

nd o

ppor

tuni

ties

that

ch

ildre

n en

coun

ter (

loca

l and

glo

bal)

• H

ow c

hild

ren

resp

ond

to c

halle

nges

, ris

ks a

nd o

ppor

tuni

ties

• W

ays

in w

hich

indi

vidu

als

and

orga

niza

-tio

ns w

ork

to p

rote

ct c

hild

ren

from

risk

10–1

1 C

entr

al id

ea

Cha

nges

peo

ple

expe

rienc

e at

diff

eren

t st

ages

of t

heir

lives

affe

ct th

eir e

volv

ing

sens

e of

sel

f. K

ey c

once

pts:

func

tion,

cha

nge,

re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: m

atur

ity, i

mag

e, w

ell-

bein

g, re

prod

uctio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Th

e ph

ysic

al, s

ocia

l, em

otio

nal a

nd

inte

llect

ual c

hang

es th

at o

ccur

th

roug

hout

life

• Fa

ctor

s th

at c

ontri

bute

to w

ell-b

eing

du

ring

adol

esce

nce

• H

ow re

latio

nshi

ps c

ontri

bute

to o

ur s

elf-

conc

ept

Cen

tral

idea

Ev

iden

ce o

f pas

t civ

iliza

tions

can

be

used

to

mak

e co

nnec

tions

to p

rese

nt-d

ay s

ocie

ties.

K

ey c

once

pts:

form

, cha

nge,

con

nect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ontin

uity

, pro

gres

s,

diffe

renc

e, v

alid

ity

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

hara

cter

istic

s of

civ

iliza

tions

and

so

ciet

ies

• C

onne

ctio

ns b

etw

een

past

and

pre

sent

• Im

plic

atio

ns fo

r the

futu

re

• Pr

oces

ses

invo

lved

in c

olle

ctin

g,

anal

ysin

g an

d va

lidat

ing

evid

ence

Cen

tral

idea

C

reat

ing

and

resp

ondi

ng to

art

deve

lops

un

ders

tand

ing

of o

urse

lves

and

the

wor

ld

arou

nd u

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

cre

ativ

ity, p

erce

ptio

n,

bias

/inte

rpre

tatio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

• H

ow a

rts c

an b

e a

refle

ctio

n of

soc

ieta

l va

lues

and

issu

es

• Th

e co

ntex

ts in

whi

ch a

rtwor

ks w

ere

crea

ted

• H

ow le

arni

ng a

bout

arts

dev

elop

s ap

prec

iatio

n

• Pe

rson

al p

refe

renc

e in

app

reci

atio

n of

ar

ts

Cen

tral

idea

N

atur

al m

ater

ials

can

unde

rgo

chan

ges

that

m

ay p

rovid

e ch

alle

nges

and

ben

efits

for s

ocie

ty

and

the

envir

onm

ent.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

hang

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

sus

tain

abili

ty,

trans

form

atio

n, in

dust

rializ

atio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

• C

ondi

tions

that

cau

se re

vers

ible

and

irr

ever

sibl

e ch

ange

s in

mat

eria

ls

• H

ow s

ocie

ties

take

adv

anta

ge o

f the

pr

oper

ties

of m

ater

ials

• Th

e im

pact

of r

etrie

val,

prod

uctio

n an

d th

e us

e of

mat

eria

ls o

n th

e en

viro

nmen

t

Cen

tral

idea

Ec

onom

ic a

ctiv

ity re

lies

on s

yste

ms

of

prod

uctio

n, e

xcha

nge

and

cons

umpt

ion

of

good

s an

d se

rvic

es.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

inte

rdep

ende

nce,

in

equi

ty, f

air t

rade

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Th

e ro

le o

f sup

ply

and

dem

and

• Th

e di

strib

utio

n of

goo

ds a

nd s

ervi

ces

• O

ur re

spon

sibi

lity

as c

onsu

mer

s

Cen

tral

idea

R

each

ing

a re

solu

tion

durin

g pe

riods

or

mom

ents

of c

onfli

ct is

influ

ence

d by

the

actio

ns a

nd re

actio

ns o

f all

invo

lved

. K

ey c

once

pts:

cau

satio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

pea

ce, r

econ

cilia

tion,

ex

ploi

tatio

n, g

rief

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

ause

of c

onfli

ct (l

ocal

and

glo

bal)

• H

uman

righ

ts a

nd e

quity

• St

rate

gies

use

d to

reso

lve

conf

lict

• C

onse

quen

ces

of re

solu

tions

11–1

2 C

entr

al id

ea

Peop

le’s

cul

tura

l bac

kgro

und

has

an im

pact

on

thei

r bel

iefs

, val

ues

and

actio

ns.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, c

onne

ctio

n,

pers

pect

ive

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: in

terp

reta

tion,

iden

tity,

su

bjec

tivity

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• W

hat c

onst

itute

s cu

lture

• H

ow p

eopl

e us

e di

ffere

nt e

xper

ienc

es to

in

form

thei

r per

spec

tives

• Th

e co

nnec

tions

bet

wee

n be

liefs

and

va

lues

, and

the

actio

ns ta

ken

in

resp

onse

to th

em

Cen

tral

idea

H

uman

mig

ratio

n is

a re

spon

se to

ch

alle

nges

, ris

ks a

nd o

ppor

tuni

ties.

K

ey c

once

pts:

cau

satio

n, c

hang

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

pop

ulat

ion,

set

tlem

ent,

dive

rsity

, ref

ugee

s Li

nes

of in

quiry

• Th

e re

ason

s w

hy p

eopl

e m

igra

te

• M

igra

tion

thro

ugho

ut h

isto

ry

• Ef

fect

s of

mig

ratio

n on

com

mun

ities

, cu

lture

s an

d in

divi

dual

s

Cen

tral

idea

A

pers

on’s

beh

avio

ur a

nd h

ow th

ey c

hoos

e to

pre

sent

them

selv

es p

roje

ct a

spec

ts o

f th

eir i

dent

ity.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

iden

tity,

sta

tus,

imag

e,

impr

essi

on

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• H

ow a

ppea

ranc

e an

d be

havi

our

influ

ence

our

per

cept

ion

of o

ther

s

• Th

e in

fluen

ce o

f cul

tura

l and

soc

ial

norm

s on

how

we

choo

se to

pre

sent

ou

rsel

ves

• Fa

shio

n as

a fo

rm o

f exp

ress

ion

Cen

tral

idea

U

nder

stan

ding

of s

cien

tific

kno

wle

dge

is

cons

tant

ly e

volv

ing

and

has

an im

pact

on

peop

le’s

live

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, c

onne

ctio

n,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

inge

nuity

, pro

gres

s,

ethi

cs, s

usta

inab

ility

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• W

hat l

eads

to a

dvan

ces

in s

cien

tific

kn

owle

dge

and

unde

rsta

ndin

g

• Th

e ro

le o

f tec

hnol

ogy

in s

cien

tific

un

ders

tand

ing

• Th

e ef

fect

s of

sci

entif

ic a

dvan

ces

on

peop

le a

nd th

e en

viro

nmen

t

Cen

tral

idea

G

over

nmen

t sys

tem

s in

fluen

ce th

e liv

es o

f ci

tizen

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y R

elat

ed c

once

pts:

equ

ality

, citi

zens

hip,

go

vern

ance

, law

, pol

itics

Li

nes

of in

quiry

• H

ow g

over

nmen

t sys

tem

s fu

nctio

n

• H

ow d

ecis

ion-

mak

ing

prac

tices

refle

ct

hum

an ri

ghts

• Im

pact

of g

over

nmen

t on

citiz

ens

• Th

e rig

hts

and

resp

onsi

bilit

ies

of

citiz

ensh

ip

Cen

tral

idea

Bi

odiv

ersi

ty re

lies

on m

aint

aini

ng th

e in

terd

epen

dent

bal

ance

of o

rgan

ism

s w

ithin

sy

stem

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

con

nect

ion,

re

spon

sibi

lity

Rela

ted

conc

epts

: bal

ance

, bio

dive

rsity

, in

terd

epen

denc

e Li

nes

of in

quiry

• W

ays

in w

hich

eco

syst

ems,

bio

mes

and

en

viro

nmen

ts a

re in

terd

epen

dent

• H

ow h

uman

inte

ract

ion

with

the

envi

ronm

ent c

an a

ffect

the

bala

nce

of

syst

ems

• Th

e co

nseq

uenc

es o

f im

bala

nce

with

in

ecos

yste

ms



Recording the exhibition on a programme of inquiryIn schools with three or more grade/year levels, it is a requirement that students participate in a PYP exhibition in the final grade/year of the school. In the exhibition grade/year, it is advisable that the school develops six units of inquiry (one for each of the transdisciplinary themes) and records these on the programme of inquiry.

The practice of developing a unit of inquiry under each transdisciplinary theme leads to a balanced programme of inquiry where understanding of each transdisciplinary theme is developed as fully as possible across the school. Every year, the school (with student involvement) replaces one of the six units with the PYP exhibition. The transdisciplinary theme under which the exhibition sits may differ from year to year depending on the issue selected (the exhibition may strongly reflect one particular theme but it is more likely that it will synthesize aspects of some or all of the transdisciplinary themes).


Sam

ple

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

(200

8)

Age

A

n in

quiry

into

: W

ho w

e ar

e A

n in

quiry

into

: W

here

we

are

in p

lace

and

tim

e A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow w

e ex

pres

s ou

rsel

ves

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

the

wor

ld w

orks

A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow w

e or

gani

ze o

urse

lves

A

n in

quiry

into

: Sh

arin

g th

e pl

anet

An

inqu

iry in

to th

e na

ture

of t

he s

elf;

belie

fs

and

valu

es; p

erso

nal,

phys

ical

, men

tal,

soci

al a

nd s

pirit

ual h

ealth

; hum

an

rela

tions

hips

incl

udin

g fa

milie

s, fr

iend

s,

com

mun

ities

and

cul

ture

s; ri

ghts

and

re

spon

sibi

litie

s; w

hat i

t mea

ns to

be

hum

an.

An in

quiry

into

orie

ntat

ion

in p

lace

and

tim

e;

pers

onal

his

torie

s; h

omes

and

jour

neys

; the

di

scov

erie

s, e

xplo

ratio

ns a

nd m

igra

tions

of

hum

anki

nd; t

he re

latio

nshi

ps b

etw

een

and

the

inte

rcon

nect

edne

ss o

f ind

ivid

uals

and

ci

viliz

atio

ns, f

rom

loca

l and

glo

bal

pers

pect

ives

.

An in

quiry

into

the

way

s in

whi

ch w

e di

scov

er a

nd e

xpre

ss id

eas,

feel

ings

, na

ture

, cul

ture

, bel

iefs

and

val

ues;

the

way

s in

whi

ch w

e re

flect

on,

ext

end

and

enjo

y ou

r cre

ativ

ity; o

ur a

ppre

ciat

ion

of th

e ae

sthe

tic.

An in

quiry

into

the

natu

ral w

orld

and

its

law

s; th

e in

tera

ctio

n be

twee

n th

e na

tura

l w

orld

(phy

sica

l and

bio

logi

cal)

and

hum

an

soci

etie

s; h

ow h

uman

s us

e th

eir

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

sci

entif

ic p

rinci

ples

; the

im

pact

of s

cien

tific

and

tech

nolo

gica

l ad

vanc

es o

n so

ciet

y an

d on

the

envi

ronm

ent.

An in

quiry

into

the

inte

rcon

nect

edne

ss o

f hu

man

-mad

e sy

stem

s an

d co

mm

uniti

es;

the

stru

ctur

e an

d fu

nctio

n of

org

aniza

tions

; so

ciet

al d

ecis

ion-

mak

ing;

eco

nom

ic

activ

ities

and

thei

r im

pact

on

hum

anki

nd

and

the

envi

ronm

ent.

An in

quiry

into

righ

ts a

nd re

spon

sibi

litie

s in

th

e st

rugg

le to

sha

re fi

nite

reso

urce

s w

ith

othe

r peo

ple

and

with

oth

er li

ving

thin

gs;

com

mun

ities

and

the

rela

tions

hips

with

in

and

betw

een

them

; acc

ess

to e

qual

op

portu

nitie

s; p

eace

and

con

flict

reso

lutio

n.

3–4

Cen

tral

idea

In

crea

sing

aw

aren

ess

of o

ur p

erso

nal

char

acte

ristic

s an

d ab

ilitie

s, a

nd th

ose

of

othe

rs, a

llow

s ou

r sel

f-ide

ntity

to d

evel

op.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: id

entit

y, re

latio

nshi

ps

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Ph

ysic

al, s

ocia

l and

em

otio

nal

char

acte

ristic

s •

My

role

with

in m

y fa

mily

•

Rec

ogni

zing

sim

ilarit

ies

and

diffe

renc

es b

etw

een

mys

elf a

nd o

ther

s

Cen

tral

idea

D

ocum

entin

g pe

rson

al h

isto

ries

allo

ws

us to

re

flect

on

and

cele

brat

e w

ho w

e ar

e an

d w

here

we’

ve c

ome

from

.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

cha

nge

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: d

evel

opm

ent (

grow

th),

fam

ily

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

ays

of d

ocum

entin

g pe

rson

al h

isto

ry

• Pe

rson

al c

hang

e fro

m b

irth

to p

rese

nt:

self

and

fam

ily

• R

efle

ctin

g on

pas

t exp

erie

nce

Cen

tral

idea

* W

e us

e pl

ay to

exp

ress

our

feel

ings

and

id

eas

and

in o

rder

to c

ome

to n

ew

unde

rsta

ndin

gs.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n,

pers

pect

ive

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: b

elie

fs, r

epre

sent

atio

n

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

omm

unic

atin

g th

roug

h pl

ay

• Im

agin

ativ

e us

e of

eve

ryda

y m

ater

ials

•

Gam

es a

nd to

ys

Cen

tral

idea

O

ur a

ctiv

ity is

usu

ally

con

nect

ed to

the

Earth

’s n

atur

al c

ycle

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ycle

s, in

tera

ctio

n

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• N

ight

and

day

cyc

les

(dar

k an

d lig

ht)

• Se

ason

al c

hang

es

• H

ealth

and

saf

ety

as re

late

d to

clim

ate

and

seas

onal

cha

nges

Cen

tral

idea

C

omm

uniti

es fu

nctio

n m

ore

effe

ctiv

ely

whe

n ru

les

and

rout

ines

are

sha

red

with

all

mem

bers

.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

resp

onsi

bilit

y,

refle

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

omm

unity

, sys

tem

Li

nes

of in

quiry

•

Vario

us c

omm

uniti

es w

e be

long

to

• Pu

rpos

e of

rule

s an

d ro

utin

es

• R

each

ing

agre

emen

t

Cen

tral

idea

Li

ving

thin

gs h

ave

certa

in re

quire

men

ts in

or

der t

o gr

ow a

nd s

tay

heal

thy.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

lass

ifica

tion,

livi

ng

and

non-

livin

g

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

hara

cter

istic

s of

livi

ng th

ings

•

Our

nee

ds a

nd th

e ne

eds

of o

ther

liv

ing

thin

gs

• O

ur re

spon

sibi

lity

for t

he w

ell-b

eing

of

othe

r liv

ing

thin

gs

4–5

Cen

tral

idea

Fr

iend

ship

s en

rich

our l

ives

and

requ

ire

nurtu

ring

in o

rder

to d

evel

op.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

resp

onsi

bilit

y

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

onfli

ct o

r coo

pera

tion,

in

terd

epen

denc

e

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• H

ow fr

iend

s ar

e m

ade

and

kept

•

Why

frie

nds

are

need

ed

• C

hara

cter

istic

s th

at d

evel

op h

ealth

y fri

ends

hips

Cen

tral

idea

Jo

urne

ys c

reat

e ch

ange

and

can

lead

to n

ew

oppo

rtuni

ties.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

cha

nge

Rel

ated

con

cept

: cho

ice

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Ty

pes

of jo

urne

ys p

eopl

e m

ake

• C

hoic

es a

nd d

ecis

ions

invo

lved

in

mak

ing

a jo

urne

y •

Cha

nges

exp

erie

nced

bec

ause

of a

jo

urne

y

Cen

tral

idea

St

orie

s in

form

and

pro

voke

us,

and

giv

e us

pl

easu

re.

Key

con

cept

s: c

onne

ctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

: com

mun

icat

ion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

hat a

sto

ry is

•

Wha

t sto

ries

conv

ey

• H

ow s

torie

s ar

e cr

eate

d an

d sh

ared

•

Feel

ings

and

em

otio

ns th

at s

torie

s ev

oke

Cen

tral

idea

U

nder

stan

ding

the

way

mat

eria

ls b

ehav

e an

d in

tera

ct d

eter

min

es h

ow p

eopl

e us

e th

em.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

hang

e

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: b

ehav

iour

, pre

dict

ion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Be

havi

our a

nd u

ses

of m

ater

ials

•

Cha

ngin

g pr

oper

ties

of m

ater

ials

•

Man

ipul

atio

n of

mat

eria

ls fo

r spe

cific

pu

rpos

es

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

use

a v

arie

ty o

f ski

lls a

nd

stra

tegi

es th

at c

ontri

bute

to th

eir r

ole

in a

co

mm

unity

of l

earn

ers.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

itize

nshi

p,

inde

pend

ence

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Be

ing

part

of a

com

mun

ity o

f lea

rner

s •

Skill

s, s

trate

gies

and

atti

tude

s

• M

akin

g co

ntrib

utio

ns to

a c

omm

unity

Cen

tral

idea

Pl

ants

are

a li

fe-s

usta

inin

g re

sour

ce fo

r us

and

for o

ther

livi

ng th

ings

.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, c

hang

e, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: in

terd

epen

denc

e,

syst

ems

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

hat p

lant

s pr

ovid

e fo

r us

and

for

othe

r liv

ing

thin

gs

• Th

e st

ruct

ure

of a

pla

nt

• C

arin

g fo

r pla

nt li

fe

5–6

Cen

tral

idea

* M

akin

g ba

lanc

ed c

hoic

es a

bout

dai

ly

rout

ines

ena

bles

us

to h

ave

a he

alth

y lif

esty

le.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

ausa

tion,

re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: b

alan

ce, w

ell-b

eing

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• D

aily

hab

its a

nd ro

utin

es (h

ygie

ne,

slee

p, p

lay,

eat

ing)

•

Bala

nced

cho

ices

•

Con

sequ

ence

s of

cho

ices

Cen

tral

idea

C

omm

uniti

es a

re e

nric

hed

by th

eir m

embe

rs

and

the

diffe

rent

per

spec

tives

they

brin

g.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, p

ersp

ectiv

e

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ontin

uity

, div

ersi

ty

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

hat a

com

mun

ity is

•

Peop

le w

ithin

a c

omm

unity

•

The

pers

onal

sto

ries

of c

omm

unity

m

embe

rs

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

reco

gniz

e im

porta

nt e

vent

s th

roug

h ce

lebr

atio

ns a

nd tr

aditi

ons.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, p

ersp

ectiv

e

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: b

elie

fs, c

ultu

re, v

alue

s Li

nes

of in

quiry

•

Wha

t tra

ditio

ns a

re

• H

ow a

nd w

hy p

eopl

e ce

lebr

ate

• Si

mila

ritie

s an

d di

ffere

nces

bet

wee

n va

rious

cel

ebra

tions

Cen

tral

idea

Al

l liv

ing

thin

gs g

o th

roug

h a

proc

ess

of

chan

ge.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ycle

s, tr

ansf

orm

atio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

•

Life

cyc

les

• H

ow li

ving

thin

gs c

hang

e ov

er th

eir l

ife

time

• D

evel

opm

enta

l sta

ges

of v

ario

us li

ving

th

ings

Cen

tral

idea

Tr

ansp

orta

tion

syst

ems

are

dire

ctly

rela

ted

to th

e ne

eds

of a

com

mun

ity.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: s

yste

ms

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Sp

ecifi

c pu

rpos

es o

f diff

eren

t tra

nspo

rtatio

n sy

stem

s •

Fact

ors

that

affe

ct th

e ki

nds

of

syst

ems

that

can

be

deve

lope

d •

Rel

atio

nshi

p be

twee

n tra

nspo

rtatio

n sy

stem

s an

d th

e en

viro

nmen

t

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

inte

ract

with

, use

and

val

ue th

e na

tura

l env

ironm

ent i

n di

ffere

nt w

ays.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

resp

onsi

bilit

y,

refle

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

onse

rvat

ion,

in

terd

epen

denc

e, o

rder

Li

nes

of in

quiry

•

Loca

l nat

ural

env

ironm

ent

• H

uman

use

of t

he lo

cal e

nviro

nmen

t •

Actio

ns th

at b

enef

it or

har

m th

e lo

cal

envi

ronm

ent


A

ge

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Who

we

are

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Whe

re w

e ar

e in

pla

ce a

nd ti

me

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

we

expr

ess

ours

elve

s A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow th

e w

orld

wor

ks

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

we

orga

nize

our

selv

es

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Shar

ing

the

plan

et

6–7

Cen

tral

idea

H

omes

refle

ct p

erso

nal i

dent

ity a

nd lo

cal

cultu

re.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, c

onne

ctio

n,

pers

pect

ive

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

reat

ivity

, div

ersi

ty

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Th

e co

ncep

t of h

ome

• D

iffer

ent t

ypes

of h

omes

•

Circ

umst

ance

s th

at d

eter

min

e w

here

pe

ople

live

Cen

tral

idea

Pu

blic

are

as s

treng

then

com

mun

ities

and

pr

ovid

e pe

ople

with

opp

ortu

nitie

s to

con

nect

.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

oope

ratio

n, o

wne

rshi

p

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• D

iffer

ent p

ublic

are

as a

nd th

eir f

unct

ions

•

How

pub

lic a

reas

dev

elop

•

How

thes

e pl

aces

diff

er fr

om o

ur h

omes

Cen

tral

idea

Im

agin

atio

n is

a p

ower

ful t

ool f

or e

xten

ding

ou

r abi

lity

to th

ink,

cre

ate

and

expr

ess

ours

elve

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

per

spec

tive,

re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: e

mpa

thy,

inve

ntio

n,

trans

form

atio

n

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• H

ow w

e de

mon

stra

te a

nd e

njoy

our

im

agin

atio

n •

How

our

imag

inat

ion

help

s us

to

cons

ider

oth

er p

ersp

ectiv

es

• H

ow im

agin

atio

n he

lps

us to

sol

ve

prob

lem

s •

The

valu

e of

imag

inat

ion

Cen

tral

idea

U

nder

stan

ding

the

prop

ertie

s of

air

allo

ws

peop

le to

mak

e pr

actic

al a

pplic

atio

ns.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

ausa

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: fo

rce,

ene

rgy

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Th

e ev

iden

ce o

f the

exi

sten

ce o

f air

• W

hat a

ir ca

n do

and

how

we

use

it •

The

rela

tions

hip

betw

een

air,

light

and

so

und

Cen

tral

idea

* Sy

stem

s ne

ed to

be

in p

lace

to m

aint

ain

orga

niza

tion

in c

omm

uniti

es.

Key

con

cept

s: c

onne

ctio

n, re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: in

terd

epen

denc

e,

orga

niza

tion,

sys

tem

s

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Th

e co

ncep

t of o

rgan

izat

ion

• D

iffer

ent s

yste

ms

of o

rgan

izat

ion

that

w

e us

e pe

rson

ally

•

Diff

eren

t sys

tem

s of

org

aniz

atio

n in

ou

r com

mun

ity

• C

olle

ctio

n, s

tora

ge a

nd u

se o

f in

form

atio

n fo

r org

aniz

atio

n

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

can

est

ablis

h pr

actic

es in

ord

er to

su

stai

n an

d m

aint

ain

the

Earth

’s re

sour

ces.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, re

spon

sibi

lity,

re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: li

fest

yle,

reso

urce

s

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Li

mite

d na

ture

of t

he E

arth

’s re

sour

ces

• Pe

rson

al c

hoic

es th

at c

an h

elp

sust

ain

the

envi

ronm

ent

• R

eusi

ng a

nd re

cycl

ing

diffe

rent

m

ater

ials

•

Red

ucin

g w

aste

7–8

Cen

tral

idea

R

elat

ions

hips

are

enh

ance

d by

lear

ning

ab

out o

ther

peo

ple’

s pe

rspe

ctiv

es a

nd

com

mun

icat

ing

our o

wn.

Key

con

cept

s: p

ersp

ectiv

e, re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

omm

unic

atio

n,

empa

thy,

ope

n-m

inde

dnes

s

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• So

cial

inte

ract

ions

•

Ackn

owle

dgin

g ot

hers

’ per

spec

tives

•

Man

agin

g an

d re

solv

ing

conf

lict

Cen

tral

idea

Th

e de

velo

pmen

t of g

loba

l per

spec

tives

is

supp

orte

d th

roug

h un

ders

tand

ing

our p

lace

in

the

wor

ld in

rela

tion

to o

ther

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

onne

ctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

onte

xt, l

ocat

ion,

or

ient

atio

n

Line

s of

inqu

iry:

• H

ow w

e re

pres

ent p

lace

•

Rep

rese

ntat

ions

of p

lace

thro

ugh

time

• Th

e re

latio

nshi

p of

our

loca

tion

to o

ther

pa

rts o

f the

wor

ld

Cen

tral

idea

Th

roug

h th

e ar

ts p

eopl

e us

e di

ffere

nt

form

s of

exp

ress

ion

to c

onve

y th

eir

uniq

uene

ss a

s hu

man

bei

ngs.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: p

erce

ptio

n, s

elf-

expr

essi

on

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Th

e di

vers

e w

ays

in w

hich

peo

ple

expr

ess

them

selv

es

• H

ow e

very

one

can

expr

ess

thei

r un

ique

ness

thro

ugh

the

arts

•

The

role

of a

rt in

cul

ture

and

soc

iety

Cen

tral

idea

Th

e de

sign

of b

uild

ings

and

stru

ctur

es is

de

pend

ent u

pon

the

envi

ronm

ent a

nd

avai

labl

e m

ater

ials

.

Key

con

cept

s: c

onne

ctio

n, re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: s

truct

ure,

su

stai

nabi

lity,

tran

sfor

mat

ion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

onsi

dera

tions

to ta

ke in

to a

ccou

nt

whe

n bu

ildin

g a

stru

ctur

e •

How

bui

ldin

g im

pact

s on

the

envi

ronm

ent

• In

dige

nous

arc

hite

ctur

e

Cen

tral

idea

In

a w

orkp

lace

peo

ple

shar

e re

spon

sibi

lity

tow

ards

a c

omm

on p

urpo

se.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

ausa

tion

conn

ectio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

oope

ratio

n,

empl

oym

ent

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Pu

rpos

e of

a w

orkp

lace

•

Inte

rcon

nect

edne

ss o

f peo

ple

in a

w

orkp

lace

•

Impo

rtanc

e of

a s

hare

d vi

sion

or

com

mon

pur

pose

Cen

tral

idea

O

ver t

ime,

livi

ng th

ings

nee

d to

ada

pt in

or

der t

o su

rviv

e.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: a

dapt

atio

n, e

volu

tion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

once

pt o

f ada

ptat

ion

• C

ircum

stan

ces

that

lead

to a

dapt

atio

n •

How

pla

nts

and

anim

als

adap

t or

resp

ond

to e

nviro

nmen

tal c

ondi

tions

8–9

Cen

tral

idea

U

nder

stan

ding

diff

eren

t way

s of

lear

ning

en

able

s pe

ople

to re

spon

d to

thei

r ow

n le

arni

ng n

eeds

as

wel

l as

thos

e of

oth

ers.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

resp

onsi

bilit

y

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: d

iver

sity

, mot

ivat

ion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Le

arni

ng c

omm

uniti

es

• H

ow p

eopl

e co

nstru

ct k

now

ledg

e •

Diff

eren

t lea

rnin

g st

yles

•

How

lear

ning

sty

les

impa

ct th

e w

ay

peop

le e

ngag

e in

a le

arni

ng

com

mun

ity

Cen

tral

idea

Fa

mily

his

torie

s pr

ovid

e an

insi

ght i

nto

cultu

ral a

nd p

erso

nal i

dent

ity.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

hron

olog

y, h

isto

ry,

tradi

tion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Fa

mily

anc

estry

•

Artif

acts

, hei

rloom

s or

ritu

als

that

hav

e m

eani

ng in

a fa

mily

•

Sim

ilarit

ies

and

diffe

renc

es b

etw

een

gene

ratio

ns w

ithin

a fa

mily

Cen

tral

idea

A

varie

ty o

f sig

ns a

nd s

ymbo

ls fa

cilit

ates

lo

cal a

nd g

loba

l com

mun

icat

ion.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ultu

re, m

edia

, pat

tern

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Si

gns

and

sym

bols

•

Rea

sons

for t

he d

evel

opm

ent o

f co

mm

unic

atio

n sy

stem

s •

Spec

ializ

ed s

yste

ms

of c

omm

unic

atio

n

Cen

tral

idea

* H

uman

sur

viva

l is

conn

ecte

d to

un

ders

tand

ing

the

cont

inua

l cha

ngin

g na

ture

of t

he E

arth

.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

cha

nge,

co

nnec

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: e

rosi

on, g

eolo

gy,

tect

onic

pla

tes,

mov

emen

t

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• H

ow th

e di

ffere

nt c

ompo

nent

s of

the

Earth

are

inte

rrel

ated

•

How

the

Ear

th h

as c

hang

ed a

nd is

co

ntin

uing

to c

hang

e •

Why

the

Earth

cha

nges

•

Hum

an re

spon

se to

the

Earth

’s

chan

ges

Cen

tral

idea

C

omm

uniti

es p

rovi

de in

terc

onne

cted

se

rvic

es d

esig

ned

to m

eet p

eopl

e’s

need

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

ausa

tion,

co

nnec

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

: net

wor

ks

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• R

easo

ns p

eopl

e liv

e in

the

loca

l co

mm

unity

•

Serv

ices

nee

ded

to s

uppo

rt a

com

mun

ity

• Pl

anni

ng s

ervi

ces

for a

com

mun

ity

Cen

tral

idea

W

ater

is e

ssen

tial t

o lif

e, a

nd is

a li

mite

d re

sour

ce fo

r man

y pe

ople

.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

onse

rvat

ion,

equ

ity,

proc

esse

s Li

nes

of in

quiry

•

Sour

ces

of w

ater

and

how

wat

er is

us

ed

• W

hat h

appe

ns to

wat

er a

fter w

e ha

ve

used

it

• D

istri

butio

n an

d av

aila

bilit

y of

usa

ble

wat

er

• R

espo

nsib

ilitie

s re

gard

ing

wat

er


A

ge

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Who

we

are

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Whe

re w

e ar

e in

pla

ce a

nd ti

me

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

we

expr

ess

ours

elve

s A

n in

quiry

into

: H

ow th

e w

orld

wor

ks

An

inqu

iry in

to:

How

we

orga

nize

our

selv

es

An

inqu

iry in

to:

Shar

ing

the

plan

et

9–10

C

entr

al id

ea

Wha

t we

belie

ve is

a p

art o

f who

we

are.

Key

con

cept

s: p

ersp

ectiv

e, re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: d

iver

sity

, per

cept

ion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

hat w

e be

lieve

•

How

bel

iefs

influ

ence

the

way

we

beha

ve

• Th

e im

pact

of r

elig

ion

and

spiri

tual

tra

ditio

ns o

n so

ciet

y

Cen

tral

idea

H

uman

mig

ratio

n is

a re

spon

se to

cha

lleng

es,

risks

and

opp

ortu

nitie

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

cha

nge,

pe

rspe

ctiv

e

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: p

opul

atio

n, s

ettle

men

t

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Th

e re

ason

s w

hy p

eopl

e m

igra

te

• M

igra

tion

thro

ugho

ut h

isto

ry

• Ef

fect

s of

mig

ratio

n on

com

mun

ities

, cu

lture

s an

d in

divi

dual

s

Cen

tral

idea

C

hoic

es o

f rol

e m

odel

s re

flect

the

char

acte

ristic

s th

at s

ocie

ties

and

indi

vidu

als

valu

e.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

per

spec

tive,

re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: s

elf-f

ulfil

lmen

t, in

fluen

ce

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• R

ole

mod

els

and

why

we

valu

e th

em

• W

hy w

e sh

ould

dev

elop

our

ow

n gi

fts,

tale

nts

and

inte

rest

s •

How

per

sona

l stre

ngth

s ca

n be

ap

plie

d to

hel

p ot

hers

Cen

tral

idea

En

ergy

may

be

conv

erte

d fro

m o

ne fo

rm to

an

othe

r and

sto

red

in v

ario

us w

ays.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, f

unct

ion,

con

nect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

onse

rvat

ion,

tra

nsfo

rmat

ion

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Fo

rms

of e

nerg

y •

The

stor

age

and

trans

form

atio

n of

en

ergy

•

Con

serv

atio

n of

ene

rgy

• R

enew

able

and

sus

tain

able

ene

rgy

Cen

tral

idea

M

arke

tpla

ces

depe

nd o

n th

e ab

ility

to

prod

uce

good

s an

d su

pply

ser

vice

s th

at

can

be e

xcha

nged

.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: in

terd

epen

denc

e,

supp

ly a

nd d

eman

d

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• M

ediu

m o

f exc

hang

e in

var

ious

m

arke

tpla

ces

• Et

hics

of t

he m

arke

tpla

ce

• H

ow a

nd in

wha

t way

s w

e de

pend

on

peop

le in

oth

er p

lace

s •

How

glo

bal m

ovem

ent a

nd

com

mun

icat

ion

affe

ct th

e av

aila

bilit

y of

go

ods

and

serv

ices

Cen

tral

idea

C

hild

ren

wor

ldw

ide

face

a v

arie

ty o

f ch

alle

nges

and

risk

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: e

qual

ity, r

ight

s

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

halle

nges

and

risk

s th

at c

hild

ren

face

•

How

chi

ldre

n re

spon

d to

cha

lleng

es

and

risks

•

Way

s in

whi

ch in

divi

dual

s,

orga

niza

tions

and

nat

ions

wor

k to

pr

otec

t chi

ldre

n fro

m ri

sk

10–1

1 C

entr

al id

ea

Com

plex

fact

ors

cont

ribut

e to

the

proc

ess

of m

akin

g de

cisi

ons

that

hav

e im

plic

atio

ns

for o

urse

lves

and

oth

ers.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

cha

nge,

co

nnec

tion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

hoic

e, s

yste

ms

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Fa

ctor

s th

at in

fluen

ce o

ur d

ecis

ions

•

Dec

isio

n-m

akin

g pr

oces

ses

for g

roup

s an

d in

divi

dual

s •

Impa

ct o

r con

sequ

ence

s th

at

deci

sion

s ca

n ha

ve

Cen

tral

idea

Pa

st c

ivili

zatio

ns s

hape

pre

sent

day

sys

tem

s an

d te

chno

logi

es.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

cha

nge,

pe

rspe

ctiv

e

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ontin

uity

, pro

gres

s,

tech

nolo

gy

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• As

pect

s of

pas

t civ

iliza

tions

that

hav

e su

rviv

ed

• R

easo

ns th

ese

syst

ems

and

tech

nolo

gies

de

velo

ped

• W

hy m

oder

n so

ciet

ies

cont

inue

to u

se

adap

tatio

ns o

f the

se s

yste

ms

and

tech

nolo

gies

•

Impl

icat

ions

for t

he fu

ture

Cen

tral

idea

R

itual

s, tr

aditi

ons

and

artif

acts

pro

vide

a

win

dow

into

the

belie

fs a

nd v

alue

s of

cu

lture

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: b

elie

fs, d

iver

sity

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• W

hat c

onst

itute

s a

cultu

re

• Si

gnifi

canc

e of

ritu

als

and

tradi

tions

•

How

arti

fact

s sy

mbo

lize

belie

fs a

nd

valu

es

Cen

tral

idea

Th

e fa

ct th

at m

ater

ials

can

und

ergo

pe

rman

ent o

r tem

pora

ry c

hang

es p

oses

ch

alle

nges

and

pro

vide

s be

nefit

s fo

r so

ciet

y an

d th

e en

viro

nmen

t.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, f

unct

ion,

re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: m

easu

rem

ent,

trans

form

atio

n Li

nes

of in

quiry

•

Nat

ure

of c

hem

ical a

nd p

hysic

al c

hang

es

• Pr

actic

al a

pplic

atio

ns a

nd im

plic

atio

ns

of c

hang

e in

mat

eria

ls

• Et

hica

l dile

mm

as a

ssoc

iate

d w

ith

man

ufac

turin

g pr

oces

ses

and

by-

prod

ucts

Cen

tral

idea

G

over

nmen

tal s

yste

ms

and

deci

sion

s ca

n pr

omot

e or

den

y eq

ual o

ppor

tuni

ties

and

soci

al ju

stic

e.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: e

qual

ity, g

over

nmen

t or

gov

erna

nce

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Ty

pes

of g

over

nanc

e •

Prin

cipl

es o

f hum

an ri

ghts

and

soc

ial

just

ice

• Th

e ef

fect

of i

nstit

utio

nal b

ehav

iour

s an

d at

titud

es o

n so

cial

just

ice

Cen

tral

idea

Bi

odiv

ersi

ty re

lies

on m

aint

aini

ng th

e in

terd

epen

dent

bal

ance

of o

rgan

ism

s w

ithin

sys

tem

s.

Key

con

cept

s: c

onne

ctio

n, re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: b

alan

ce, b

iodi

vers

ity,

inte

rdep

ende

nce

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• In

terd

epen

denc

e w

ithin

eco

syst

ems,

bi

omes

and

env

ironm

ents

•

Way

s in

whi

ch o

rgan

ism

s ar

e in

terc

onne

cted

in n

atur

e •

How

hum

an in

tera

ctio

n w

ith th

e en

viro

nmen

t can

affe

ct th

e ba

lanc

e of

sy

stem

s

11–1

2

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

rson

al w

ell-b

eing

is d

epen

dent

on

a co

mpl

ex b

alan

ce o

f int

erco

nnec

ted

fact

ors.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: g

row

th, r

elat

ions

hips

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Th

e co

ncep

t of “

wel

l-bei

ng”

• Fa

ctor

s th

at c

ontri

bute

to w

ell-b

eing

(p

hysi

cal,

men

tal,

soci

al a

nd s

pirit

ual)

• Pe

rson

al is

sues

affe

ctin

g ou

r wel

l-be

ing

Cen

tral

idea

Ex

plor

atio

n le

ads

to d

isco

very

and

dev

elop

s ne

w u

nder

stan

ding

s.

Key

con

cept

s: fo

rm, p

ersp

ectiv

e, re

flect

ion

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

onse

quen

ces,

di

scov

ery,

geo

grap

hy

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• R

easo

ns fo

r exp

lora

tion

(his

toric

al a

nd

pers

onal

) •

Feel

ings

and

atti

tude

s as

soci

ated

with

ex

plor

atio

n •

Wha

t we

lear

n th

roug

h ex

plor

atio

n •

Met

hods

of n

avig

atio

n

Cen

tral

idea

Pe

ople

’s o

utw

ard

appe

aran

ce c

an le

ad to

pe

rcep

tions

and

mis

conc

eptio

ns.

Key

con

cept

s: fu

nctio

n, p

ersp

ectiv

e,

refle

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

reat

ivity

, div

ersi

ty,

ster

eoty

pes

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Pe

rson

al a

dorn

men

ts, c

loth

ing

and

iden

tity

• R

easo

ns fo

r wha

t peo

ple

wea

r •

Impa

ct o

f firs

t im

pres

sion

s •

Cou

nter

ing

mis

conc

eptio

ns

Cen

tral

idea

R

epro

duct

ion

of li

ving

thin

gs c

ontri

bute

s to

th

e co

ntin

uatio

n of

the

spec

ies.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, c

onne

ctio

n

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

ycle

s, g

row

th

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• R

epro

duct

ion

as p

art o

f a li

fe c

ycle

•

Rep

rodu

ctiv

e pr

oces

ses

• G

enet

ics

and

here

dita

ry fa

ctor

s

Cen

tral

idea

Te

chno

logy

impa

cts

on th

e w

orld

of w

ork

and

leis

ure.

Key

con

cept

s: c

hang

e, c

onne

ctio

n,

resp

onsi

bilit

y

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

omm

unic

atio

n,

syst

ems,

eth

ics

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• Te

chno

logy

and

inve

ntio

ns o

f the

ho

me,

wor

kpla

ce a

nd le

isur

e ac

tiviti

es

• C

ircum

stan

ces

that

lead

to th

e de

velo

pmen

t of i

mpo

rtant

inve

ntio

ns

and

thei

r im

pact

•

How

tech

nolo

gy s

uppo

rts/im

pact

s su

stai

nabi

lity

Cen

tral

idea

* Fi

ndin

g pe

acef

ul s

olut

ions

to c

onfli

ct le

ads

to a

bet

ter q

ualit

y of

hum

an li

fe.

Key

con

cept

s: c

ausa

tion,

per

spec

tive,

re

spon

sibi

lity

Rel

ated

con

cept

s: c

onfli

ct, d

iver

sity

, ju

stic

e

Line

s of

inqu

iry

• C

ause

s of

con

flict

•

Con

flict

reso

lutio

n an

d m

anag

emen

t •

Livi

ng a

nd w

orki

ng to

geth

er p

eace

fully

In th

e st

uden

ts’ f

inal

yea

r of t

he P

YP, t

here

are

five

uni

ts o

f inq

uiry

and

the

exhi

bitio

n. T

he e

xhib

ition

may

be

rela

ted

to a

ny tr

ansd

isci

plin

ary

them

e at

the

disc

retio

n of

the

scho

ol. T

his

sam

ple

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

has

incl

uded

six

uni

ts o

f inq

uiry

in th

e fin

al y

ear,

any

one

of w

hich

co

uld

be re

plac

ed b

y th

e ex

hibi

tion.

Onl

y IB

Wor

ld S

choo

ls a

re re

quire

d to

par

ticip

ate

in th

e ex

hibi

tion

alth

ough

can

dida

te s

choo

ls m

ay c

hoos

e to

do

so.

* Sam

ple

plan

ners

hav

e be

en d

evel

oped

for t

hose

uni

ts m

arke

d w

ith a

n as

teris

k.


Annex

This PYP programme of inquiry rubric has been developed as a tool for schools to use to self-assess their programme of inquiry. The rubric contains criteria to assess central ideas, lines of inquiry, and the balance and articulation of knowledge and concepts within the programme of inquiry.


Annex

PYP

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

rubr

ic

Afte

r re

adin

g D

evel

opin

g a

trans

disc

iplin

ary

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

(20

12)

it w

ould

be

appr

opria

te f

or a

sch

ool t

o ca

rry o

ut a

sel

f-ass

essm

ent

of it

s pr

ogra

mm

e of

in

quiry

usi

ng th

is ru

bric

.

Prio

r to

com

plet

ing

the

self-

asse

ssm

ent,

a sc

hool

sho

uld

ensu

re th

at th

e pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry is

pre

sent

ed in

the

sam

e fo

rmat

as

the

PYP

sam

ple

prog

ram

me

of

inqu

iry in

clud

ed in

Dev

elop

ing

a tra

nsdi

scip

linar

y pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry (2

012)

, with

cen

tral i

dea,

key

con

cept

s, re

late

d co

ncep

ts a

nd li

nes

of in

quiry

incl

uded

. For

the

purp

ose

of a

sch

ool’s

sel

f-ass

essm

ent i

t is

impo

rtant

that

the

scho

ol h

as id

entif

ied

the

PYP

sub

ject

are

as re

leva

nt to

eac

h un

it of

inqu

iry.

The

term

s “a

ll, o

r al

mos

t al

l”, “

man

y”,

“som

e” a

nd “

few

” us

ed i

n th

e ru

bric

hav

e a

degr

ee o

f su

bjec

tivity

. Th

e pe

rcen

tage

s be

low

are

pro

vide

d as

app

roxi

mat

e gu

idel

ines

to e

nsur

e a

com

mon

und

erst

andi

ng. H

owev

er, s

choo

ls a

re e

ncou

rage

d to

resi

st c

ount

ing,

but

rath

er to

con

side

r the

ir pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry h

olis

tical

ly a

nd

to e

stim

ate

base

d on

repe

ated

read

ing

of th

e w

hole

doc

umen

t.

• “A

ll or

alm

ost a

ll” to

mea

n m

ore

than

95%

(for

exa

mpl

e, a

ll ex

cept

for 1

or 2

uni

ts o

ut o

f 50)

• “M

any”

to m

ean

61%

–95%

• “S

ome”

to m

ean

11%

–60%

• “F

ew” t

o m

ean

10%

or b

elow

(for

exa

mpl

e, 5

or f

ewer

uni

ts o

ut o

f 50)

A M

icro

soft

Wor

d ve

rsio

n of

this

rubr

ic c

an b

e fo

und

in th

e H

TML

vers

ion

of D

evel

opin

g a

trans

disc

iplin

ary

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

(201

2).


Annex

C

entr

al id

eas

1

a. T

here

are

six

cen

tral i

deas

for a

ll gr

ade/

year

leve

ls (o

ther

than

3–5

yea

r old

s).

Yes

No

b. T

here

are

at l

east

four

cen

tral i

deas

at e

ach

grad

e/ye

ar le

vel f

or 3

–5 y

ear o

lds

incl

udin

g “W

ho w

e ar

e” a

nd “H

ow w

e ex

pres

s ou

rsel

ves”

. Ye

s N

o

c.

Eac

h ce

ntra

l ide

a is

writ

ten

as o

ne s

ente

nce.

Ye

s N

o

d. T

he P

YP k

ey c

once

pts

have

bee

n id

entif

ied

(no

mor

e th

an th

ree)

for e

ach

unit

of in

quiry

. Ye

s N

o

2

All,

or a

lmos

t all,

cen

tral i

deas

are

w

ritte

n in

a n

eutra

l voi

ce th

at d

oes

not c

onve

y a

spec

ific

or p

artic

ular

va

lue

of a

n in

divi

dual

.

Man

y ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

a

neut

ral v

oice

that

doe

s no

t con

vey

a sp

ecifi

c or

par

ticul

ar v

alue

of a

n in

divi

dual

.

Som

e ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

a

neut

ral v

oice

that

doe

s no

t con

vey

a sp

ecifi

c or

par

ticul

ar v

alue

of a

n in

divi

dual

.

A fe

w c

entra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

a

neut

ral v

oice

that

doe

s no

t con

vey

a sp

ecifi

c or

par

ticul

ar v

alue

of a

n in

divi

dual

.

3

All,

or a

lmos

t all,

cen

tral i

deas

are

w

ritte

n in

suc

h a

way

to in

vite

st

uden

t inq

uiry

, so

that

a ra

nge

of

resp

onse

s is

pos

sibl

e.

Man

y ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

su

ch a

way

to in

vite

stu

dent

inqu

iry,

so th

at a

rang

e of

resp

onse

s is

po

ssib

le.

Som

e ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

su

ch a

way

to in

vite

stu

dent

inqu

iry,

so th

at a

rang

e of

resp

onse

s is

po

ssib

le.

A fe

w c

entra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

su

ch a

way

to in

vite

stu

dent

inqu

iry,

so th

at a

rang

e of

resp

onse

s is

po

ssib

le.

4

All,

or a

lmos

t all,

cen

tral i

deas

are

re

leva

nt to

the

trans

disc

iplin

ary

them

es u

nder

whi

ch th

ey h

ave

been

pl

aced

.

Man

y ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re re

leva

nt to

th

e tra

nsdi

scip

linar

y th

emes

und

er

whi

ch th

ey h

ave

been

pla

ced.

Som

e ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re re

leva

nt to

th

e tra

nsdi

scip

linar

y th

emes

und

er

whi

ch th

ey h

ave

been

pla

ced.

A fe

w c

entra

l ide

as a

re re

leva

nt to

th

e tra

nsdi

scip

linar

y th

emes

und

er

whi

ch th

ey h

ave

been

pla

ced.

5

All,

or a

lmos

t all,

cen

tral i

deas

are

w

ritte

n in

suc

h a

man

ner a

s to

de

velo

p co

ncep

tual

und

erst

andi

ng

supp

orte

d by

the

iden

tifie

d PY

P k

ey

conc

epts

.

Man

y ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

su

ch a

man

ner a

s to

dev

elop

co

ncep

tual

und

erst

andi

ng s

uppo

rted

by th

e id

entif

ied

PYP

key

con

cept

s.

Som

e ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

su

ch a

man

ner a

s to

dev

elop

co

ncep

tual

und

erst

andi

ng s

uppo

rted

by th

e id

entif

ied

PYP

key

con

cept

s.

A fe

w c

entra

l ide

as a

re w

ritte

n in

su

ch a

man

ner a

s to

dev

elop

co

ncep

tual

und

erst

andi

ng s

uppo

rted

by th

e id

entif

ied

PYP

key

con

cept

s.

6

All,

or a

lmos

t all,

cen

tral i

deas

are

gl

obal

ly s

igni

fican

t add

ress

ing

the

com

mon

aliti

es o

f hum

an

expe

rienc

e.

Man

y ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re g

loba

lly

sign

ifica

nt a

ddre

ssin

g th

e co

mm

onal

ities

of h

uman

ex

perie

nce.

Som

e ce

ntra

l ide

as a

re g

loba

lly

sign

ifica

nt a

ddre

ssin

g th

e co

mm

onal

ities

of h

uman

ex

perie

nce.

A fe

w c

entra

l ide

as a

re g

loba

lly

sign

ifica

nt a

ddre

ssin

g th

e co

mm

onal

ities

of h

uman

ex

perie

nce.


Annex

Li

nes

of in

quiry

7 a.

Th

ree

or fo

ur li

nes

of in

quiry

hav

e be

en id

entif

ied

for e

ach

unit.

Ye

s N

o

b. T

he li

nes

of in

quiry

are

writ

ten

as s

tate

men

ts o

r phr

ases

, not

que

stio

ns, t

opic

s or

task

s.

Yes

No

8 In

all,

or a

lmos

t all,

uni

ts th

e lin

es o

f in

quiry

dev

elop

und

erst

andi

ng o

f the

ce

ntra

l ide

as.

In m

any

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry

deve

lop

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

the

cent

ral

idea

s.

In s

ome

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry

deve

lop

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

the

cent

ral

idea

s.

In a

few

uni

ts th

e lin

es o

f inq

uiry

de

velo

p un

ders

tand

ing

of th

e ce

ntra

l id

eas.

9

In a

ll, o

r alm

ost a

ll, u

nits

the

lines

of

inqu

iry o

ffer o

ppor

tuni

ties

to d

evel

op

unde

rsta

ndin

g th

roug

h m

ultip

le

pers

pect

ives

.

In m

any

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry

offe

r opp

ortu

nitie

s to

dev

elop

un

ders

tand

ing

thro

ugh

mul

tiple

pe

rspe

ctiv

es.

In s

ome

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry

offe

r opp

ortu

nitie

s to

dev

elop

un

ders

tand

ing

thro

ugh

mul

tiple

pe

rspe

ctiv

es.

In a

few

uni

ts th

e lin

es o

f inq

uiry

of

fer o

ppor

tuni

ties

to d

evel

op

unde

rsta

ndin

g th

roug

h m

ultip

le

pers

pect

ives

.

10

In a

ll, o

r alm

ost a

ll, u

nits

the

lines

of

inqu

iry d

evel

op u

nder

stan

ding

of

aspe

cts

of th

e de

sign

ated

tra

nsdi

scip

linar

y th

eme.

In m

any

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry

deve

lop

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

asp

ects

of

the

desi

gnat

ed tr

ansd

isci

plin

ary

them

e.

In s

ome

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry

deve

lop

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

asp

ects

of

the

desi

gnat

ed tr

ansd

isci

plin

ary

them

e.

In a

few

uni

ts th

e lin

es o

f inq

uiry

de

velo

p un

ders

tand

ing

of a

spec

ts o

f th

e de

sign

ated

tran

sdis

cipl

inar

y th

eme.

11

In a

ll, o

r alm

ost a

ll, u

nits

the

lines

of

inqu

iry a

re re

leva

nt to

the

expe

rienc

e of

the

stud

ents

with

in a

pa

rticu

lar d

evel

opm

enta

l ran

ge.

In m

any

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry a

re

rele

vant

to th

e ex

perie

nce

of th

e st

uden

ts w

ithin

a p

artic

ular

de

velo

pmen

tal r

ange

.

In s

ome

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry a

re

rele

vant

to th

e ex

perie

nce

of th

e st

uden

ts w

ithin

a p

artic

ular

de

velo

pmen

tal r

ange

.

In a

few

uni

ts th

e lin

es o

f inq

uiry

are

re

leva

nt to

the

expe

rienc

e of

the

stud

ents

with

in a

par

ticul

ar

deve

lopm

enta

l ran

ge.

12

In a

ll, o

r alm

ost a

ll, u

nits

the

lines

of

inqu

iry a

re d

istin

ctiv

e ye

t con

nect

ed

to o

ne a

noth

er.

In m

any

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry a

re

dist

inct

ive

yet c

onne

cted

to o

ne

anot

her.

In s

ome

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry a

re

dist

inct

ive

yet c

onne

cted

to o

ne

anot

her.

In a

few

uni

ts th

e lin

es o

f inq

uiry

are

di

stin

ctiv

e ye

t con

nect

ed to

one

an

othe

r.

13

In a

ll, o

r alm

ost a

ll, u

nits

the

lines

of

inqu

iry a

re w

ritte

n in

suc

h a

man

ner

as to

dev

elop

con

cept

ual

unde

rsta

ndin

g su

ppor

ted

by th

e id

entif

ied

PYP

key

con

cept

s an

d re

late

d co

ncep

ts.

In m

any

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry a

re

writ

ten

in s

uch

a m

anne

r as

to

deve

lop

conc

eptu

al u

nder

stan

ding

su

ppor

ted

by th

e id

entif

ied

PYP

key

co

ncep

ts a

nd re

late

d co

ncep

ts.

In s

ome

units

the

lines

of i

nqui

ry a

re

writ

ten

in s

uch

a m

anne

r as

to

deve

lop

conc

eptu

al u

nder

stan

ding

su

ppor

ted

by th

e id

entif

ied

PYP

key

co

ncep

ts a

nd re

late

d co

ncep

ts.

In a

few

uni

ts th

e lin

es o

f inq

uiry

are

w

ritte

n in

suc

h a

man

ner a

s to

de

velo

p co

ncep

tual

und

erst

andi

ng

supp

orte

d by

the

iden

tifie

d PY

P k

ey

conc

epts

and

rela

ted

conc

epts

.


Annex

Bal

ance

and

art

icul

atio

n w

ithin

the

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

14

a. A

ll ei

ght P

YP k

ey c

once

pts

are

repr

esen

ted

at e

ach

grad

e/ye

ar le

vel.

Yes

No

b. T

here

is a

bal

ance

of P

YP k

ey c

once

pts

used

thro

ugho

ut e

ach

trans

disc

iplin

ary

them

e.*

(Thi

s do

es n

ot m

ean

that

eac

h ke

y co

ncep

t mus

t be

repr

esen

ted

unde

r eac

h tra

nsdi

scip

linar

y th

eme.

) Ye

s N

o

c.

The

rela

ted

conc

epts

are

der

ived

from

the

subj

ect a

reas

and

con

nect

to th

e P

YP k

ey c

once

pts.

Ye

s N

o

d. A

ll th

e pl

anne

d sc

ienc

e an

d so

cial

stu

dies

con

tent

is in

corp

orat

ed in

to th

e pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry.

Yes

No

e. T

he s

choo

l has

map

ped

its s

ubje

ct-s

peci

fic s

cope

and

seq

uenc

es w

ith it

s pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry.

Yes

No

f. Tw

o or

thre

e P

YP s

ubje

ct a

rea

focu

ses

are

reco

rded

for e

ach

unit.

Ye

s N

o

g. A

ll P

YP s

ubje

ct a

reas

are

repr

esen

ted

with

in th

e pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry a

t eac

h gr

ade/

year

leve

l. Ye

s N

o

h.

Ther

e is

a b

alan

ce o

f PYP

sub

ject

are

as id

entif

ied

to s

uppo

rt un

ders

tand

ing

of e

ach

trans

disc

iplin

ary

them

e.

(Thi

s do

es n

ot m

ean

that

eac

h su

bjec

t are

a m

ust b

e re

pres

ente

d un

der e

ach

trans

disc

iplin

ary

them

e.)

Yes

No

15

All,

or a

lmos

t all,

asp

ects

of t

he

desc

riptio

ns o

f the

tran

sdis

cipl

inar

y th

emes

are

exp

lore

d at

som

e po

int

in th

e pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry.

Man

y as

pect

s of

the

desc

riptio

ns o

f th

e tra

nsdi

scip

linar

y th

emes

are

ex

plor

ed a

t som

e po

int i

n th

e pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry

Som

e as

pect

s of

the

desc

riptio

ns o

f th

e tra

nsdi

scip

linar

y th

emes

are

ex

plor

ed a

t som

e po

inin

the

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

.

A fe

w a

spec

ts o

f the

des

crip

tions

of

the

trans

disc

iplin

ary

them

es a

re

expl

ored

at s

ome

poin

t in

the

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

.

16

In a

ll, o

r alm

ost a

ll, u

nits

the

PYP

su

bjec

t are

as id

entif

ied

will

sup

port

stud

ents

’ und

erst

andi

ng o

f the

ce

ntra

l ide

a.

In m

any

units

the

PYP

sub

ject

are

as

iden

tifie

d w

ill s

uppo

rt st

uden

ts’

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

the

cent

ral i

dea.

In s

ome

units

the

PYP

sub

ject

are

as

iden

tifie

d w

ill s

uppo

rt st

uden

ts’

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

the

cent

ral i

dea.

In a

few

uni

ts th

e P

YP s

ubje

ct a

reas

id

entif

ied

will

sup

port

stud

ents

’ un

ders

tand

ing

of th

e ce

ntra

l ide

a.

17

All,

or a

lmos

t all,

uni

ts th

roug

hout

th

e pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry c

halle

nge

and

exte

nd s

tude

nts’

und

erst

andi

ng.

Man

y un

its th

roug

hout

the

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

cha

lleng

e an

d ex

tend

stu

dent

s’ u

nder

stan

ding

.

Som

e un

its th

roug

hout

the

prog

ram

me

of in

quiry

cha

lleng

e an

d ex

tend

stu

dent

s’ u

nder

stan

ding

.

A fe

w u

nits

thro

ugho

ut th

e pr

ogra

mm

e of

inqu

iry c

halle

nge

and

exte

nd s

tude

nts’

und

erst

andi

ng.

Not

e

14b.

* A

pplie

s on

ly to

sch

ools

with

at l

east

five

con

secu

tive

grad

e/ye

ar le

vels

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