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 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.

school iconFoundation/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.