Unit 4 - Sharing the Planet

Central Idea - Sharing what we have increases the quality of life.

Grade 4 started this Unit of Inquiry by preparing for the International Children's Festival, widening their horizons and thinking globally by learning about Scottish culture and preparing displays, games and crafts to inform the school community.

In the unit proper the students looked at the difference between needs and wants, watched videos and read stories and people around the world who lacked basic needs, and prepared presentations for the Celebration of Learning to propose their solution to some of these global social issues.

We also had a lot of fun in maths classes investigating 2D and 3D shapes in a lot of different physical ways!

Unit 3 - Where We Are In Place and Time

Central Idea - Exploring outer space has deepened our understanding of our experience on Earth.

Grade 4 looked at the world outside of our planet during this unit. It was a great opportunity for them to think about their lives in the context of outer space, and understand the value of thinking about and exploring the frontiers of our knowledge. We concentrated on interactions between the Sun, the Moon, the stars and Earth. We learned about how we use various celestial bodies to measure the passing of time including the rotation of the Earth, the orbit of the Moon, and how sundials work, and how the planets in our Solar System have very different environments that help us to understand our own. Finally we made non-fiction books to explain different aspects of space and how it relates to exploration and discovery to the rest of the school.