This Week in HASS | OpenSTEM Pty Ltd

This Week in HASS – term 2, week 4

It’s NAPLAN week and that means time is short! Fortunately, the Understanding Our World™ program is based on 9 week units, which means that if you run out of time in any particular week, it’s not a disaster. Furthermore, we have made sure that there is plenty of catch-up time within the lessons, so that there is no need to feel rushed. This week students are getting into the nitty gritty of their term projects. Our youngest students are studying their surroundings at school and in the local area. Older students are getting to the core of their research projects.

Foundation to Year 3

Students in our standalone Foundation/Kindy/Prep class (unit F.2) are starting to build a model of their Favourite Place. It is the teacher’s choice whether they build a diorama, make a poster or collage, or how this is done in class. This week students start by drawing or cutting out pictures to show aspects of their favourite place. Students in an integrated Foundation/Kindy/Prep (unit F.6) and Year 1 class are using their senses to investigate their class and school – what can we see, hear, smell, feel and taste? Some ideas can be found in resources such as My Favourite Sounds and the Teacher Handbook also contains lots of ideas for these investigations. Students in Years 1 (unit 1.2), 2 (unit 2.2) and 3 (unit 3.2) are also discussing how the school and local area has changed through time. The teacher can use old maps, photos or newspaper reports to guide students through these discussions. What information is available in the school? What do local families remember?

Years 3 to 6

Students in Year 3 (unit 3.6), 4 (unit 4.2), 5 (unit 5.2) and 6 (unit 6.2) are continuing to research their explorer. This week year 3 students are focusing on the climates encountered by their explorer. Resources such as Climate Zones of Australia and Climate Zones of the World can help the class to identify these climate areas. Year 4 students examine Environments in Africa and South America, in order to discuss the environments encountered by their explorer. Students in Year 5 can read up about the environment encountered by their explorer in North America, and Year 6 students examine the Environments of Asia. In each case, the student workbook guides the student through this investigation and helps them to isolate pertinent information to include in their presentation. This helps students to gain an understanding of how to research a topic and derive an understanding of what information they need to consider. Teachers can use the workbook to check in and see how students are travelling in their progress towards completing the project, as well as their understanding of the content covered.

This Week in HASS – term 2, week 3

This week all of our students start to get into the focus areas of their units. For our youngest students that means starting to examine their “Favourite Place” – a multi-sensory examination which help them to explore a range of different kinds of experiences as they build a representation of their Favourite Place. Students in Years 1 to 3 start mapping their local area and students in Years 3 to 6 start their research topics for the term, each choosing a different explorer to investigate.

Foundation/Kindy/Prep to Year 3

Students doing our stand-alone Foundation/Kindy/Prep unit (F.2) start examining the concept of a Favourite Place this week. This week is an introduction to a 6 week investigation, using all their senses to consider different aspects of places. They are focusing on thinking about what makes their favourite place special to them and how different people like different places. This provides great opportunities for practising skills of considering alternate points of view, having respectful discussions and accepting that others might have opinions different to their own, but no less valid. Students in integrated Foundation/Kindy/Prep (unit F.6) classes and in Years 1 (unit 1.2), 2 (unit 2.2) and 3 (unit 3.2) are doing some mapping this week, learning to represent school buildings, open areas, roads, houses, shops etc in a 2 dimensional plan. This exercise forms the foundation for an examination of the school and local landscape over the next few weeks.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 to 6 start their research projects this week. Students doing unit 3.6, Exploring Climates, will be investigating people who have explored extreme climates. Options include the first people to reach Australia during the Ice Age, Aboriginal people who lived in Australia’s central deserts, Europeans who explored central Australia, such as Sturt, Leichhardt and others. Students doing unit 4.2 will be investigating explorers of Africa and South America, including Ferdinand Magellan (and Elcano), Walter Raleigh, Amerigo Vespucci and many others. Students doing unit 5.2 are investigating explorers of North America. Far beyond Christopher Columbus, choices include Vikings such as Eric the Red, Leif Erikson and Bjarni Herjolfsson; Vitus Bering (after whom the Bering Strait is named), the French in the colony of Quebec, such as Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain and Pierre François-Xavier de Charlevoix. Some 19th century women such as Isabella Bird (pictured on right) and Nellie Bly are also provided as options for research. Unit 6.2 examines explorers of Asia. In this unit, Year 6 students are encouraged to move beyond a Eurocentric approach to exploration and consider explorers from other areas such as Asia and Africa as well. Thus explorers such as Ibn Battuta, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, Gan Ying, Ennin and Zheng He, join the list with Willem Barents, William Adams, Marco Polo and Abel Tasman. Women explorers include Gertrude Bell and Ida Pfeiffer. The whole question of women explorers, and the constraints under which they have operated in different cultures and time periods, can form part of a class discussion, either as extension or for classes with a particular interest.

Teachers have the option for student to present the results of their research (which will cover the next 4 weeks) as a slide presentation, using software such as Powerpoint, a poster, a narrative, a poem, a short play or any other format that is useful, and some teachers have managed to combine this with requirements for other subject areas, such as English or Digital Technologies, thereby making the exercise even more time-efficient.

This Week in HASS – term 2, week 2

It is hoped that by now all the school routine is shaking back down into place. No doubt you’ve all got ANZAC Day marked on your class calendars, and this may be a good time to revisit some of the celebrations with the younger students. This week our younger students are looking at types of homes and local Aboriginal groups. Students in Year 3 are investigating climate zones and biomes of Australia, while students in Years 4 to 6 are looking at Europe in the ‘Age of Discovery’ (the 15th to 18th centuries).

Foundation/Prep to Year 3

Students in our stand-alone Foundation/Prep class (Unit F.2), in line with the name of the unit “Where We Live”, are examining different types of homes and talking about how people get the things they need (such as shelter, warmth etc) from their homes. Students examine a wide range of different types of homes including freestanding houses, apartments, townhouses, as well as boats, caravans and other less conventional homes.

Students in integrated Foundation/Prep classes (Unit F.6) and in years 1 (Unit 1.2), 2 (Unit 2.2) and 3 (Unit 3.2) are finding out about their local Aboriginal groups, in the area of their school. Students will be considering how the groups are connected to the land and what changes they have seen since they first arrived in that area, thousands of years before. Remember, if you need information about your local Aboriginal group, feel free to contact us and ask.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Year 3, doing the Unit “Exploring Climates” (Unit 3.6) are consolidating work done last week on climate zones and the biomes of Australia. This week they are focusing on matching the climate zone to the region of Australia. Students in Years 4 (Unit 4.2), 5 (Unit 5.2) and 6 (Unit 6.2) are shifting focus across to Europe in the 15th to 18th centuries – the ‘Age of Discovery’.

This sets the scene for further examinations of explorers and the research project students will undertake this term, as well as introducing students to the conditions in Europe which later led to colonisation, thereby providing some important background information for Australian history in Term 3. Students can examine Spain, Portugal and England and the role that they played in exploring the world at this time.

Science!

Did you know: the Understanding Our World™ program also fully covers the Science component of the Australian Curriculum at each year level, integrated with the HASS materials!

In line with the Age of Discovery explorer theme, student start their Science activity: “Ancient Sailing Ships“. A perennial favourite with students, this activity involves making a simple model sailing ship and then examining the forces acting on the ship, the properties of different parts of the ships and the materials from which they were made, examining different types of sails (square-rigged versus lateen-rigged), as well as considering the phases of matter associated with sailing ships.

Some schools set up water troughs and fans and race the ships against each other, which causes much excitement! This activity also helps students understand some of the challenges faced by explorers who travelled the world in similar vessels.

This Week in HASS – term 2, week 1

Welcome to the new school term, and we hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Many of our students are writing NAPLAN this term, so the HASS program provides a refreshing focus on something different, whilst practising skills that will help students prepare for NAPLAN without even realising it! Both literacy and numeracy are foundation skills of much of the broader curriculum and are reinforced within our HASS program as well. Meantime our younger students are focusing on local landscapes this term, while our older students are studying explorers of different continents.

Foundation to Year 3

Our youngest students (Foundation/Prep Unit F.2) start the term by looking at different types of homes. A wide selection of places can be homes for people around the world, so students can compare where they live to other types of homes. Students in integrated Foundation/Prep and Years 1 to 3 (Units F.6; 1.2; 2.2 and 3.2) start their examination of the local landscape by examining how Aboriginal people arrived in Australia 60,000 years ago. They learn how modern humans expanded across the world during the last Ice Age, reaching Australia via South-East Asia. Starting with this broad focus allows them to narrow down in later weeks, finally focusing on their local community.

Year 3 to Year 6

Students in Years 3 to 6 (Units 3.6; 4.2; 5.2 and 6.2) are looking at explorers this term. Each year level focuses on explorers of a different part of the world. Year 3 students investigate different climate zones and explorers of extreme climate areas (such as the Poles, or the Central Deserts of Australia). Year 4 students examine Africa and South America and investigate how European explorers during the ‘Age of Discovery‘ encountered different environments, animals and people on these continents. The students start with prehistory and this week they are looking at how Ancient Egyptians and Bantu-speaking groups explored Africa thousands of years ago. They also examine Great Zimbabwe. Year 5 students are studying North America, and this week are starting with the Viking voyages to Greenland and Newfoundland, in the 10th century. Year 6 students focus on Asia, and start with a study in Economics by examining the Dutch East India Company of the 17th and 18th centuries. (Remember HASS for years 5 and 6 includes History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business – we cover it all, plus Science!)

You might be wondering how on earth we integrate such apparently disparate topics for multi-year classes! Well, our Teacher Handbooks are full of tricks to make teaching these integrated classes a breeze. The Teacher Handbooks with lesson plans and hints for how to integrate across year levels are included, along with the Student Workbooks, Model Answers and Assessment Guides, within our bundles for each unit. Teachers using these units have been thrilled at how easy it is to use our material in multi-year level classes, whilst knowing that each student is covering curriculum-appropriate material for their own year level.

This Week in HASS – term 1, week 9

The last week of our first unit – time to wrap up, round off, finish up any work not yet done and to perhaps get a preliminary taste of what’s to come in future units. Easter holidays are just around the corner. Our youngest students are having a final discussion about celebrations; slightly older students are finishing off their quest for Aunt Madge, by looking at landmarks and the older students are considering democracy in Australia, compared to its early beginnings in Ancient Greece.

Foundation to Year 3

Foundation/Prep (units F.1 and F.6) students are finishing off their discussions about celebrations, just in time for the Easter holidays, by looking at celebrations around the world. Teachers may wish to focus on how other countries celebrate Easter, with passion plays, processions and special meals. Students in Years 1 (unit 1.1), 2 (unit 2.1) and 3 (unit 3.1) are finishing off their Aunt Madge activity, looking at landmarks in Australia and around the world. There is the option for teachers to concentrate on Australian landmarks in this lesson, setting the stage for some local history studies in the next unit, next term.

Years 3 to 6

Ancient Greek pottery with votes scratched into the surface

Older students in Years 3 (unit 3.5), 4 (unit 4.1), 5 (unit 5.1) and 6 (unit 6.1) start looking ahead and laying the foundations for later studies on the Australian system of government and democracy, by comparing democracy as it arose in Ancient Greece, with the modern Australian democratic system. Our word for democracy comes from the Ancient Greek words demos (people) and kratia (power). Students move on from their discussion of Eratosthenes to looking at the Ancient Greek democratic system, which was to lay the groundwork for modern democratic systems around the world. Discussing Ancient Greek democracy leads students to consider the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen, at both the local and international levels. Students also consider who could and could not vote and what this meant for different groups. They can also touch on the ancient practise of ostracism, which can lead to ethical debates around fair election practises. By considering these fundamental concepts, students are better able to relate the ideas around modern democracy to their own lives.

This Week in HASS – term 1, week 8

As we move into the final weeks of term, and the Easter holiday draws closer, our youngest students are looking at different kinds of celebrations in Australia. Students in years 1 to 3 are looking at their global family and students in years 3 to 6 are chasing Aunt Madge around the world, being introduced to Eratosthenes and examining Shadows and Light.

Foundation to Year 3

Our standalone Foundation/Prep students (Unit F.1) are studying celebrations in Australia and thinking about which is their favourite. It may well be Easter with its bunnies and chocolate eggs, which lies just around the corner now! They also get a chance to consider whether we should add any extra celebrations into our calendar in Australia. Those Foundation/Prep students in an integrated class with Year 1 students (Unit F.5), as well as Year 1 (Unit 1.1), 2 (Unit 2.1) and 3 (Unit 3.1) students are investigating where they, and other family members, were born and finding these places on the world map. Students are also examining features of the world map – including the different continents, North and South Poles, the equator and the oceans. Students also get a chance to undertake the Aunt Madge’s Suitcase Activity, in which they follow Aunt Madge around the world, learning about different countries and landmarks, as they go. Aunt Madge’s Suitcase is extremely popular with students of all ages – as it can easily be adapted to cover material at different depths. The activity encourages students to interact with the world map, whilst learning to recognise major natural and cultural landmarks in Australia and around the world.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Year 3 (Unit 3.5), who are integrated with Year 4, as well as the Year 4 (Unit 4.1), 5 (Unit 5.1) and 6 (Unit 6.1) students, have moved on to a new set of activities this week. The older students approach the Aunt Madge’s Suitcase Activity in more depth, deriving what items Aunt Madge has packed in her suitcase to match the different climates which she is visiting, as well as delving into each landmark visited in more detail. These landmarks are both natural and cultural and, although several are in Australia, examples are given from around the world, allowing teachers to choose their particular focus each time the activity is undertaken. As well as following Aunt Madge, students are introduced to Eratosthenes. Known as the ‘Father of Geography’, Eratosthenes also calculated the circumference of the Earth. There is an option for teachers to overlap with parts of the Maths curriculum here. Eratosthenes also studied the planets and used shadows and sunlight for his calculations, which provides the link for the Science activities – Shadows and Light, Sundials and Planets of the Solar System.

Next week is the last week of our first term units. By now students have completed the bulk of their work for the term, and teachers are able to assess most of the HASS areas already.