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This Week in HASS – term 2, week 8

This week we are starting into the last stretch of the term. Students are well into their final sections of work. Our youngest students are thinking about how we care for places, slightly older students are displaying their posters and older students are giving their presentations.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Our youngest students doing the stand-alone Foundation/Prep/Kindy unit (F.2) are thinking about how we look after different places this week. Students in integrated Foundation/Prep/Kindy and Year 1 classes, doing Unit F.6, are displaying their posters on an issue in their local environment. These posters were prepared in proceeding weeks and can now be displayed either at school or in a local library or hall. The teacher may choose to invite parents to view the posters as well. Students in Years 1 (Unit 1.2), 2 (Unit 2.2) and 3 (Unit 3.2) also have posters to display on a range of issues, either at the school, in a local place, such as a park, or even a local heritage place. Discussions around points of view and the intended audience of the posters can help students to gain a more in-depth understanding and critique their own work.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 (Unit 3.6), 4 (Unit 4.2), 5 (Unit 5.2) and 6 (Unit 6.2) are in the second of 3 weeks set aside for their presentations. The presentations cover a significant body of work and thus a 3 weeks of lessons are set aside for the presentations, as well as for finishing any other sections of work not yet completed. Year 3 students are considering extreme climate areas of Australia and other parts of the world, such as the Sahara Desert, Arctic and Antarctica and Mount Everest, by studying explorers such as Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, Robert Scott and Pawel Strzelecki. Year 4 students are studying explorers and the environments and animals of Africa and South America, such as Francisco Pizarro, the Giant Vampire Bat, Vasco Da Gama and the Cape Lion. Year 5 students are studying explorers, environments and animals of North America, such as Henry Hudson, Hernando de Soto and the Great Auk. Year 6 students are studying explorers, environments and indigenous peoples of Asia, such as Vitus Bering, Zheng He, Marco Polo, the Mongols and the Rus.

This Week in HASS – term 2, week 7

This week students are starting to round off their main body of assessable work for the term. Older students are completing and starting to present their presentations, while younger students have posters and models to finish off.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Students in our stand-alone Foundation/Prep/Kindy unit (F.2) are continuing to explore with their senses this week. While still working on their model or collage for their Favourite Place, they are using their sense of Smell to consider which aromas they like or dislike. Teachers (and students) can bring in a range of things with different smells to explore in class. Ideas for these are given in the Teacher’s Handbook. An important part of this investigation is considering how one can represent one’s favourite smells in the model or collage – students might try to draw the objects associated with the smells, or see if they can find creative alternatives to represent this sense.

Students in integrated Foundation/Prep/Kindy and Year 1 classes (Unit F.6) and those in Years 1 (Unit 1.2), 2 (Unit 2.2) and 3 (Unit 3.2) are completing their posters to be displayed next week. These posters cover topics of local significance – either local history information, or dealing with issues, such as littering or the need for play equipment. As the students work on the posters, teachers are holding discussions with them on responsibility for different issues. The delegation of responsibility to members of the community, local government, other authorities, people who use the facilities, the school P&C, the students etc. should be discussed in class, so that students start to understand how people have different responsibilities in different situations. The teacher can also revisit issues of responsibility in the classroom – what are the students responsible for? What is the teacher responsible for? What is the school responsible for? These discussions are an important means of allowing the students to interact and practise group discussion skills, as well as helping them to think about responsibilities.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Year 3 (Unit 3.6) are completing their presentation on an extreme climate explorer and may start presenting it to the class this week. Year 4 students (Unit 4.2) are presenting on their explorer of Africa and South America. Year 5 students (Unit 5.2) are presenting on their chosen explorer from North America; and Year 6 students (Unit 6.2) are presenting on their chosen explorer from Asia. The remaining 3 weeks of this unit are allocated to the presentations, to ensure enough time for these to be given in full. The presentations should cover all the aspects raised over previous weeks and answered in the Student Workbook – the environments and geography of the areas explored; sustainability issues, such as extinction of animals and changes in local environments; characteristics of the countries involved in the explorations; reasons for explorations and how these created the background which led to the settlement of Australia and the role of indigenous people, as well as impact on indigenous people and their environments. The presentation is thus a comprehensive body of work.

This Week in HASS – term 2, week 6

This week students doing the Understanding Our World® program are exploring their environment and considering indigenous peoples. Younger students are learning about local history and planning a poster on a local issue. Older students are studying indigenous peoples around the world. All the students are working strongly on their main pieces of assessment for the term.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Our youngest students, using the stand-along Foundation/Prep/Kindy unit (F.2) are exploring the sense of touch in their environment this week. Students consider a range of fabrics and textiles and choose which ones match their favourite place, for inclusion in their model or collage. Students in integrated classes of Foundation/Prep/Kindy and Year 1 (Unit F.6), Year 1 students (Unit 1.2), Year 2 students (Unit 2.2) and Year 3 (Unit 3.2) are starting to prepare a poster on an issue regarding their school, or local park/heritage place, while considering the local history. These investigations should be based on the excursion from last week. Students will have 2 weeks to prepare their posters, for display either at the school or a local venue, such as the library or community hall.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 to 6 are continuing with their project on an explorer. Students in Year 3 (Unit 3.6) are examining Australian Aboriginal groups from extreme climate areas of Australia, such as the central deserts, or cold climate areas. Students then choose one of these groups to describe in their Student Workbook, and add to their presentation. Students in Year 4 (Unit 4.2) are studying indigenous peoples of Africa and South America. They will then select a group from the area visited by their explorer, to include in their presentation. Year 5 students (Unit 5.2) do the same with indigenous groups from North America; whilst year 6 students (Unit 6.2) have a wide range of resources on indigenous peoples from Asia to select for study and inclusion in their presentation. Resources are available on groups from across mainland Asia (such as the Mongols, Tatars, Rus, Han), as well as South-East Asia (such as Malay, Dyak, Dani etc.). This is the last section of work to be included in the presentation, and students will then finish their presentation and present it to the class.

This Week in HASS, term 2 week 5

NAPLAN’s over and it’s time to sink our teeth into the main body of curriculum work before mid-year reporting rolls around. Our younger students are using all their senses to study the environment and local area around them, whilst our older students are hard at work on their Explorer projects.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Unit F.2 for stand-alone Foundation/Prep/Kindy classes has the students continuing to think about their Favourite Place. This week students are considering what they can hear in their Favourite Place and how they will depict that in their model of their Favourite Place. Students can also think about what their Favourite Sounds are and whether or not these would occur in their Favourite Place. Students in integrated Foundation/Prep/Kindy classes (Unit F.6) and Years 1 (Unit 1.2), 2 (Unit 2.2) and 3 (Unit 3.2) have this week set aside for an excursion to a local park or area of heritage significance. If an excursion outside school grounds is impractical teachers can achieve similar results from an excursion around the school and oval. Students are using their senses to interpret their environment, as well as thinking about living and non-living things, natural and managed landscapes and sources of heat and light.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 (Unit 3.6), 4 (Unit 4.2), 5 (Unit 5.2) and 6 (Unit 6.2) are continuing their project on an explorer. This week the focus for most students is on animals which may have been encountered by their explorer. Year 3 students are examining animals from different climate zones and how they are adapted to deal with climate extremes. Students in Years 4 and 5 look at extinct animals from Africa, South America or North America, assessing impact and sustainability issues. Students in Year 4 (and optionally as an extension for Year 3) consider the life cycle of their chosen animal. Students in years 4, 5 and 6 also start to examine the differences between Primary and Secondary sources and some of the OpenSTEM resources contain quotes or copies of primary material, so that students can refer to these in their project. Year 6 students are examining the changing Economies and Politics of Asia through time, in order to place the explorations within a broader context and to gain a greater understanding of the development of the global situation. Students have another 2 weeks to complete their presentation on their explorer (including environment and other aspects), before assessment of this project.

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.