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This Week in HASS – term 3, week 8

This week our younger students are putting together a Class Museum, while older students are completing their Scientific Report.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Students in Foundation/Prep/Kindy (Units F.3 and F-1.3), as well as those in Years 1 (Unit 1.3). 2 (Unit 2.3) and 3 (Unit 3.3) are all putting together Class Museums of items of historical interest, either found at school or brought from home. Since the activity is similar (although explored to different depths by different year levels), there is the option for teachers to combine efforts across classes, and even across year level to make a more substantial Museum display. The Class Museum is an activity designed to assist students to consider how life has changed and what aspects are similar and different. Students should consider which items are easily recognisable and which are harder to identify. They can practise different points of view by imagining themselves using these objects and living in the past. Teachers can link this back to the stories read in the first weeks of term and allow students to compare their own lives with different types of past experiences of daily and family life. Museum Labels and a resource on Museums are provided to gain an understanding of how and why objects are displayed in museums.

Years 3 to 6

Older students are completing their main term research projects by finishing their Scientific Reports. This week students are concentrating on finishing their reports, drawing their Conclusions, making sure that their Bibliography is correct and formatting their report, including images, graphs and tables. For Year 3 students (Unit 3.7), the report will cover an aspect of the history of their capital city or local community. Year 4 students (Unit 4.3) are reporting on an investigation into Australia at the time of European contact and the start of European settlement. Students in Year 5 (Unit 5.3) are examining topics from Australian colonial history, and students in Year 6 (Unit 6.3) are researching topics from Federation and early 20th century Australian history. There is plenty of scope for incorporating digital technologies into the final version of the scientific report, especially for students in the upper year levels. Formatting a document correctly is an essential skill and addresses many aspects of the digital technologies curriculum, adding the possibility of another curriculum section for the teacher to mark as done for the term.

OpenStem’s Understanding Our World program ensures that student’s work for assessment is completed well before the end of term, decreasing the rush to get everything assessed in the final weeks of term. It is our aim to support teachers and facilitate the processes involved in both teaching and assessment.

This Week in HASS – term 3, week 7

This week students are starting the final sections of their research projects and Scientific Reports. Our younger students are also preparing to set up a Class Museum.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Our youngest students (Unit F.3) also complete a Scientific Report. By becoming familiar with the overall layout and skills associated with the scientific process at a young age, by the time students reach high school the process will be second-nature and their skills fine-tuned. This week teachers discuss how Science helps us find out things about the world. Teachers and students are also collecting material to form a Class Museum. Students in integrated, multi-age classes (Unit F-1.3) and Years 1 (Unit 1.3), 2 (Unit 2.3) and 3 (Unit 3.3) are undertaking a similar set of activities this week, however, in increasing depth as appropriate for each year level, and with different subject matter, according to the class focus. By Year 3 (Unit 3.3), students are writing full sentences and even short paragraphs, focusing on a topic in the local history of their community or capital city, in their Scientific Report.

Years 3 to 6

Students in integrated Year 3/4 classes (Unit 3.7) and those in Year 4 (Unit 4.3), 5 (Unit 5.3) and 6 (Unit 6.3) are concentrating on analysis of data this week, for the final stages of their Scientific Report. It is expected that students have gathered information on their chosen research topic on an aspect of Australian history for the term by now and are analysing this information in order to answer their research questions and start to draw conclusions about their topic. This week’s lessons focus on pulling everything together towards a a full, final report. Teachers are able to quickly identify which students need extra guidance by referring to the Student Workbook, which tracks each student’s progress on a weekly basis. Thus feedback, intervention and additional support can be offered timeously and before the term marks are collated, allowing each student the chance to achieve their best.

Each year level focuses on a different aspect of Australian history and enough topics are supplied to ensure that each student is working on new information, even in multi-age classes. Instead of finding a continual stream of new, novel HASS units, or repeating material some students have covered before, OpenSTEM’s Understanding Our World® program allows teachers to tailor the same units to look different for each year level, thus ensuring that students are practising their skills on new material, as well as covering year-level appropriate skills and content. By the time students are in Year 6, they will have covered the full suite of Australian History up to the 20th century, as well as having studied each continent in turn. Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business for part of this integrated whole and do not have to be taught separately. They will be ready to enter high school with a full suite of honed research and problem-solving skills, as well as having covered the core material necessary.

This Week in HASS – term 3, week 6

This week all our students are hard at work examining the objects they are using for their research projects. For the younger students these are objects that will be used to generate a Class Museum. For the older students, the objects of study relate to their chosen topic in Australian History.

Foundation / Prep / Kindy to Year 3

Students in Foundation/Prep/Kindy (Unit F.3) are examining items from the past and completing their Scientific Report by drawing these items in the Method section of the report. We also ask students to analyse their Data by drawing a picture of how people would have used that item in the past. Students in combined Foundation/Prep/Kindy and Year 1 classes (Unit F-1.3), as well as students in Year 1 (Unit 1.3), 2 (Unit 2.3) and 3 (Unit 3.3) are also addressing the Method, Data and Analysis sections of their report by listing, describing and drawing the sources and information which the teacher has helped them to locate. The sources should include items which can be used to make a Class Museum, as well as old photographs, paintings, books, newspapers etc. Teachers can guide class discussions around how items were used in the past – which are familiar, and which are not and compare with the stories read in the first weeks of term.

Years 3 to 6

Older students are expected to analyse their Data in increasing detail relevant to their year-level, as well as listing sources in the Method section of their Scientific Reports. Students in Year 4 (Unit 4.3) are researching a topic from Australia at the time of contact with Europeans, which includes topics in Aboriginal and early colonial history. Students should consider each source and what information they can get from the source. In addition students should think about how objects, pictures and texts were used in the past and what inherent biases might be present. Students in Year 5 (Unit 5.3) are researching a topic from Australian colonial history. Teachers should guide students through the process of determining whether they are dealing with a primary or secondary source, as well as how to use that source to learn more about the past. Inherent bias in different sources should be discussed. Students in Year 6 (Unit 6.3) are researching a topic surrounding Federation and events in Australia in the early 20th century. Many of the sources available contain both primary and secondary information and students should be starting to develop an understanding of how to use, analyse and reference these sources. In preparation for the requirements of high school, teachers should guide these students through the process of building an interpretation of their analysis which is substantiated through reference to their sources (listed in the Bibliography of their report). Students should be able to show where they got their information and how they are interpreting that information. For students in Year 6, the Student Workbook is more of a guide for writing a complete Scientific Report, which they are expected to compile more or less independently.

This Week in HASS – term 3, week 5

This week students in all year levels are working on their research project for the term. Our youngest students are looking at items and pictures from the past, while our older students are collecting source material for their project on Australian history.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

The focus of this term is an investigation into the past and how we can find out about past events. For students in Foundation/Prep/Kindy (Units F.1 and F-1.3), Years 1 (Unit 1.3), 2 (Unit 2.3) and 3 (Unit 3.3) it is recommended that the teacher bring in sources of information about the past for the students to examine. Teachers can tailor these to suit a particular direction for their class. Examples of possible sources include old toys, old books, historic photographs, texts and items about local history (including the school itself), images of old paintings, old newspaper articles which can be accessed online etc. OpenSTEM provides resources which can be used for these investigations: e.g. Historic Photographs of Families, Modes of Transport 100 Years Ago, Brisbane Through the Years, Perth Through the Years, resources on floods in Brisbane and Gundagai, bush fires in Victoria, on the different colonies in Australia etc. Teachers can also use the national and state resources such as the State Library of Queensland, particularly their Picture Archive; the State Library of NSW; the State Library of South Australia, particularly their images collection; the National Archives of Australia; Trove, which archives old newspapers in Australia; Museums Victoria, and many similar sites. Students should also be encouraged to bring material from home, which can be built up into a Class Museum.

Years 3 to 6

As students in Years 3 (Unit 3.7), 4 (Unit 4.3), 5 (Unit 5.3) and 6 (Unit 6.3) move into the period of gathering information from sources to address their research question, teachers should guide them to consider the nature of each source and how to record it. Resources such as Primary and Secondary Sources and Historical Sources aid in understanding the context of different kinds of sources and teachers should assist students to record the details of each source for their Method section of their Scientific Report. Recording these sources in detail is also essential for being able to compile a Bibliography, which is required to accompany the report. OpenSTEM resources are listed for each research topic for these units, but students (and teachers) should feel free to complement these with any additional material such as online collections of images and newspaper articles (such as those listed in the paragraph above). These will help students to achieve a more unique presentation for their report and demonstrate the ability to collate a variety of information, thus earning a higher grade. Using a wide range of sources will also give students a wider appreciation for their chosen topic in Australian history.

This Week in HASS – term 3, week 2

This week older students start their research projects for the term, whilst younger students are doing the Timeline Activity. Our youngest students are thinking about the places where people live and can join together with older students as buddies to Build A Humpy together.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Students in stand-alone Foundation/Prep/Kindy classes (Unit F.3), or those in classes integrated with Year 1 (Unit F-1.3) are considering different types of homes this week. They will think about where the people in the stories from last week live and compare that to their own houses. They can consider how homes were different in the past and how our homes help us meet our basic needs. There is an option this week for these students to buddy with older students, especially those in Years 4, 5 and 6, to undertake the Building A Humpy activity together. In this activity students collect materials to build a replica Aboriginal humpy or shelter outside. Many teachers find that both senior primary and the younger students get a lot of benefit from helping each other with activities, enriching the learning experience. The Building a Humpy activity is one where the older students can assist the younger students with the physical requirements of building a humpy, whilst each group considers aspects of the activity relevant to their own studies, and comparing past ways of life to their own.

Students in Years 1 (Unit 1.3), 2 (Unit 2.3) and 3 (Unit 3.3) are undertaking the Timeline Activity this week. This activity is designed to complement the concept of the number line from the Mathematics curriculum, whilst helping students to learn to visualise the abstract concepts of the past and different lengths of time between historical events and the present. In this activity students walk out a timeline, preferably across a large open space such as the school Oval, whilst attaching pieces of paper at intervals to a string. The pieces of paper refer to specific events in history (starting with their own birth years) and cover a wide range of events from the material covered this year. Teachers can choose from events in Australian and world history, covering 100s, 1000s and even millions of years, back to the dinosaurs. Teachers can also add their own events. Thus the details of the activity are able to be altered in different years to maintain student interest. Depending on the class, the issue of scale can be addressed in various ways. By physically moving their bodies, students will start to understand the lengths of time involved in examinations of History. This activity is repeated in increasing detail in higher years, to make sure that the fundamental concepts are absorbed by students over time.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 to 6 are starting their term research projects on Australian history this week. Students in Year 3 (Unit 3.7) concentrate on topics from the history of their capital city or local community. Suggested topics are included for Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, Perth and Canberra. Teachers can substitute their own topics for a local community study. Students will undertake a Scientific Investigation into an aspect of their chosen research project and will produce a Scientific Report. It is recommended that teachers supplement the resources provided with old photographs, books, newspapers etc, many of which can be accessed online, to provide the students with extra material for their investigation.

Students in Year 4 (Unit 4.3) will be focusing on Australia in the period up to and including the arrival of the First Fleet and the early colonial period. OpenSTEM’s Understanding Our World® program encompasses the whole Australian curriculum for HASS and thus does not simply rely on “flogging the First Fleet to death”! There are 7 research themes for Year 4 students: “Australia Before 1788”; “The First Fleet”; “Convicts and Settlers”; “Aboriginal People in Colonial Australia”; “Australia and Other Nations in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries”; “Colonial Children”; “Colonial Animals and their Impact”. These themes are allocated to groups of students and each student chooses an individual research topic within their groups themes. Suggested topics are given in the Teacher Handbook, as well as suggested resources.

Year 5 (Unit 5.3) students focus on the colonial period in Australia. There are 9 research themes for Year 5 students. These are: “The First Fleet”; “Convicts and Settlers”; “The 6 Colonies”; “Aboriginal People in Colonial Australia”; “Resistance to Colonial Authorities”; “Sugar in Queensland”; “Colonial Children”; “Colonial Explorers” and “Colonial Animals and their Impact”. As well as themes unique to Year 5, some overlap is provided to facilitate teaching in multi-year classes. The range of themes also allows for the possibility of teachers choosing different themes in different years. Once again individual topics and resources are suggested in the Teacher Handbook.

Year 6 (Unit 6.3) students will examine research themes around Federation and the early 20th century. There are 8 research themes for Year 6 students: “Federation and Sport”; “Women’s Suffrage”; “Aboriginal Rights in Australia”; “Henry Parkes and Federation”; “Edmund Barton and Federation”; “Federation and the Boer War”; “Samuel Griffith and the Constitution”; “Children in Australian History”. Individual research topics and resources are suggested in the Teachers Handbook. It is expected that students in Year 6 will be able to research largely independently, with weekly guidance from their teacher. OpenSTEM’s Understanding Our World® program is aimed at developing research skills in students progressively, especially over the upper primary years. If the program is followed throughout the primary years, students are well prepared for high school by the end of Year 6, having practised individual research skills for several years.

This Week in HASS – term 3, week 1

Today marks the start of a new term in Queensland, although most states and territories have at least another week of holidays, if not more. It’s always hard to get back into the swing of things in the 3rd term, with winter cold and the usual round of flus and sniffles. OpenSTEM’s 3rd term units branch into new areas to provide some fresh material and a new direction for the new semester. This term younger students are studying the lives of children in the past from a narrative context, whilst older students are delving into aspects of Australian history.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

The main resource for our youngest students for Unit F.3 is Children in the Past – a collection of stories of children from a range of different historical situations. This resource contains 6 stories of children from Aboriginal Australia more than 1,000 years ago, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Ancient China, Aztec Mexico and Zulu Southern Africa several hundred years ago. Teachers can choose one or two stories from this resource to study in depth with the students this term. The range of stories allows teachers to tailor the material to their class and ensure that there is no need to repeat the same stories in consecutive years. Students will compare the lives of children in the stories with their own lives – focusing on different aspects in different weeks of the term. In this first week teachers will read the stories to the class and help them find the places described on the OpenSTEM “Our World” map and/or a globe.

Students in integrated Foundation/Prep/Kindy and Year 1 classes (Unit F-1.3), will also be examining stories from the Children in the Past resource. Students in Years 1 (Unit 1.3), 2 (Unit 2.3) and 3 (Unit 3.3) will also be comparing their own lives with those of children in the past; however, they will use a collection of stories called Living in the Past, which covers the same areas and time periods as Children in the Past, but provides more in-depth information about a broader range of subject areas and includes the story of the young Tom Petrie, growing up in Brisbane in the 1840s. Students in Year 1 will be considering family structures and the differences and similarities between their own families and the families described in the stories. Students in Year 2 are starting to understand the differences which technology makes to peoples’ lives, especially the technology behind different modes of transport. Students in Year 3 retain a focus on local history. In fact, the Understanding Our World® units for Year 3, term 3 are tailored to match the capital city of the state or territory in which the student lives. Currently units are available for Brisbane and Perth, other capital cities are in preparation. Additional resources are available describing the foundation and growth of Brisbane and Perth, with other cities to follow. Teachers may also prefer to focus on the local community in a smaller town and substitute their own resources for those of the capital city.

Years 3 to 6

Opening of the first parliament — First Australian Parliament

Older students are focusing on Australian history this term – Year 3 students (Unit 3.7) will be considering the history of their capital city (or local community) within the broader context of Australian history. Students in Year 4 (Unit 4.3) will be examining Australia in the period up to and including the first half of the 19th century. Students in Year 5 (Unit 5.3) examine the colonial period in Australian history; whilst students in Year 6 (Unit 6.3) are investigating Federation and Australia in the 20th century. In this first week of term, students in Years 3 to 6 will be compiling a timeline of Australian history and filling in important events which they already know about or have learnt about in previous units. Students will revisit this timeline in later weeks to add additional information. The main resources for this week are The History of Australia, a broad overview of Australian history from the Ice Age to the 20th century; and the History of Australian Democracy, an overview of the development of the democratic process in Australia.

The rest of the 3rd term will be spent compiling a scientific report on an investigation into an aspect of Australian history. Students in Year 3 will choose a research topic from a list of themes concerning the history of their capital city. Students in Year 4 will choose from themes on Australia before 1788, the First Fleet, experiences of convicts and settlers, including children, as well as the impact of different animals brought to Australia during the colonial period. Students in Year 5 will choose from themes on the Australian colonies and people including explorers, convicts and settlers, massacres and resistance, colonial animals and industries such as sugar in Queensland. Students in Year 6 will choose from themes on Federation, including personalities such as Henry Parkes and Edmund Barton, Sport, Women’s Suffrage, Children, the Boer War and Aboriginal experiences. This research topic will be undertaken as a guided investigation throughout the term.