2. What do we want to learn?

What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?

CHANGE

What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?

• The reasons for inventors inventing. • The ways in which inventors have shaped their society and future

societies. • The specific contributions of inventors in history

What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?

1. What does it mean to invent? What is an inventor? 2. Why do people invent? 3. How does one invention lead to another? 4. Are all inventions good/helpful/successful? 5. How do inventions change the way individuals and communities

live/act (positive and negative)?

Class/grade: 4 Age group: 9/10

School: Trinity Lutheran College School code:

Title: Inventions Rock the World

Teacher(s): Rebecca Sealey, Louise Symonds, Linda Dempster

Date: Weeks 3 - 7

Proposed duration: 10 hours over number of weeks: 5

1. What is our purpose? To inquire into the following: • Transdisciplinary Theme

Where We Are In Place and Time

• Central Idea Inventions change the world

Summative assessment task(s): 1. ‘Etherpad’ research notes 2. Information Report 3. Invention Movie

ESSENTIAL LEARNINGS ENGLISH: Literary and Non-Literary Texts

• Non-literary texts report, inform, … • Information … reports, … are types of non-literary texts • Main ideas are established by indentifying who, what, where, when, how and why. • Reports and arguments have structures, including an introduction or a general

statement, elaboration of information or reasons, and a conclusion SOSE TIME, CONTINUITY AND CHANGE: Changes and continuities are represented by events and people’s contributions, and are viewed differently by different people.

• Individuals and groups have made significant contributions to change and maintain Australian communities, heritages and identities

PLACE AND SPACE

• Interactions between people and places affect the physical features of the land, biodiversity, water and atmosphere

WAYS OF WORKING • pose and refine questions for investigations

• plan investigations based on questions and inquiry models

• collect and organise information and evidence

• evaluate sources of information and evidence to determine different perspectives, and distinguish facts from opinions

• draw and justify conclusions based on information and evidence • reflect on learning to identify new understandings and future applications

TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY AS A HUMAN ENDEAVOUR Technology influences and impacts on people, their communities and environments.

• Different ideas for designs and products are developed to meet needs and wants of people, their communities and environments

• The products and processes of technology can have positive or negative impacts

PYP planner

Planning the inquiry

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Outcomes SOSE TCC 3.4 Students organise information about causes and effects of specific historical events (inventions). TCC 3.1 Students use evidence about innovation to investigate how these have changed society. Science SS 3.3 Students make predictions about the immediate impact of some applications of science

4. How best might we learn?

Frontloading: • Discuss and define the words ‘invent’, ‘inventor’, ‘invention’ – chn write own definition, partner definition,

group definition – share and display definitions (check dictionary) – draw an inventor (list characteristics) • Everyday inventions – give pairs of children a familiar invention (eg biro) – discuss: What is it, what does it do,

why invented, what was the world like before it was invented, how is the world improved? • Look at ‘Rube Goldberg’ cartoons and ‘You Tube’ videos of competitions which show a collection of activities

to do a simple activity. • Treasure Hunt – touch 10 objects that did not exist 10 years ago, 100 years ago. • View episodes of ‘New Inventors’ –discuss the inventors, their problems and solutions • Mind Map (on ‘Inspiration’ – questions for inquiry categories: who, when, what, where, why, how. Discuss the

difference between open (‘fat’) and closed (‘skinny’) questions • Homework – interview parent/grandparent – inventions that have changed their lifestyle; list all inventions

used • Brainstorm list of inventions and categorise – time savers, energy savers, safety, transport, communication,

entertainment • In IT time with Danny Mackenzie and Kym Oestrich help children find appropriate websites containing

information about inventions. Discuss what makes an appropriate website. Students to find a website to recommend to others.

Supporting children’s inquiry: • Class development of timeline of inventions – add inventions throughout the unit as children discover dates –

Displayed on board but also on-line using “Timeline” • Negotiate list of inventions to be investigated individually – (from teacher list that include topics from

Brainpop and ‘Inventions’ encyclopedia) • Note-taking in classroom and home. Recorded on ‘Etherpad’ – one person per class on each topic. • During guided reading, focus on note taking and writing reports on general topics • Organise information gathered on Etherpad (by all authors) into an information report. Edit and publish. • Produce a visual movie to represent the information report. What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile? Acquisition of knowledge: Students gather specific facts about inventions – who they were invented by, when, where, etc. Reading: locating information in texts and on-line Writing: taking notes using Etherpad Presenting: constructing a movie to illustrate their knowledge of the invention Time management: students will only have a fortnight (mainly for homework) to record knowledge about an invention on Etherpad Formulating questions: students think about questions for the categories who, what, where, when, how, why Organising data: into an information report (Continued on Teacher Notes)

3. How might we know what we have learned?

What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and skills? What evidence will we look for?

• List inventions that you think have been useful • Sequence a given list of inventions

What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?

• Observation – anecdotal evidence from learning conversations o Teacher-student o Student-student

• Student informal oral reports of ‘current’ findings. • Regular observations of Etherpad entries. ‘Chat’ by using questions to

stimulate discussion. Observe participation. Work sample

1. Information Report: a. written format b. movie format

2. Written ‘discussion’ about how particular inventions have changed the world.

5. What resources need to be gathered?

• Non-fiction books about inventors and inventions • Video-taped episodes of ABC’s ‘New Inventors’ • Examples of everyday inventions • ‘Inspiration’ and ‘Movie maker’ software • Picture books featuring times in the past • Pictures of inventions • Websites of inventions set up on the library homepage and search engines • Encyclopaedia of Inventions (set) • ‘Etherpad’ (Web 2.0 application) • On-line encyclopaedia (Britannica, Encarta) • Teacher resources books: “Great Inventors and Inventions”, “Inventions Unlimited!” (28283); “Inventions” (28288)

How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry? • Guest speakers: Tara’s mum (pram shadecloth); • Research conducted at home, over internet using ‘Etherpad’, parental help encouraged

Planning the inquiry

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?

Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students’ understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included.

How you could improve on the assessment task(s so that you would have a more accurate picture of each student’s understanding of the central idea.

What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme?

7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?

What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:

• develop an understanding of the concepts identified in “What do we want to learn?”

• demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills?

Metacognition – did a reflection on the process from choosing topic, through research and writing report. Valuable.

• develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?

In each case, explain your selection.

Reflecting on the inquiry

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

9. Teacher notes

• Transidisciplinary Skills and learner profile planning continued …

o Presenting research findings: using a movie to clearly communicate their information abo the invention and how it has changed (rocked) the world

o Learner Profile:

Inquirers: students need to know the type of information to gather, thi about where to get it. After gaining knowledge, should come up with mo questions to answer.

Thinkers: students need to think about how the invention has changed t world – use information gathered to form an independent opinion

• Activity ideas for next year:

o From “Inventions Unlimited” by Jean Edwards (in library)

p 21 Choose 3 of the given ‘invented words’, which are all named after re people. Explain who, when, etc

p 25 Sort the inventions into 3 groups

p 26 Discuss with a grandparent, etc things that weren’t invented when th were your age.

p 27 ‘Interview’ the inventor

8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning?

Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that were incorporated into the teaching and learning.

At this point teachers should go back to box 2 “What do we want to learn?” and highlight the teacher questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the inquiries.

What student-initiated actions arose from the learning?

Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability to reflect, to choose and to act.

Reflecting on the inquiry

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007