This week we brought an artifact to school which we thought would provide clues about life in 2021 if it was discovered by someone in the future. We focused on the concepts form, function and perspective to answer questions about the artifacts. We then used these to write clues describing each artifact. The next day we laid out our objects on a grid and everyone took turns to read the clues. We had to listen carefully work out which item was being described and note down the coordinates of where the artifacts were located on the grid. At the end we discussed two items of rubbish which were on the grid, a banana peel and a coffee pod. We discussed the fact that archaeologists find rubbish interesting to find as it also gives clues about the past. We made some predictions about what might happen to the peel and coffee capsule if they were buried for a long time and then covered them with soil. We will check on them every couple of weeks to see what changes are occurring and find out if any of our predictions were correct.
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For one of our STEAM week challenges we had to make a map of the classroom or the school. First we had a look at some books about maps. We noticed how they are laid out, that they have a key and that they use symbols. We also discussed that maps are a ‘birds eye view’. Next we made a list of materials we would need and planned the steps we would take to make our map. We decided we would need to look carefully at the area and carefully count windows and doors. Then we got to work drawing our maps. When we were finished we shared our maps with the rest of the class and had some discussions about ways to improve them even further. The next day we made some lego models of rooms that we would like to draw maps of. Looking down on the model helped us further understand the idea of a birds eye view and we drew maps of the Lego models we had built.
Our last line of inquiry ‘preserving the past’ required us to use our thinking skills as well as focus on the concept of causation. After watching a video about UNESCO world heritage sites we brainstormed how the past is preserved in many different ways. We then sorted them on a continuum of what we considered to be the least to most effective where we used comparing and contrasting. We then discussed our decisions with a partner where we had to justify and analyse our choices. These thinking routines helped us share our understanding of the causation concept in relation to preserving the past.
To continue our work on planning an new sustainable community for a part of reclaimed land in Singapore we different loose parts to build models of some of our ideas. Some tree houses as well as a large condo with all open windows at the front featured in the model. We then added play parks and some farms for animals and growing vegetables to eat.
As part of our work on addition with two digit numbers we learned a new strategy this week called partition addition. We used our knowledge of how numbers are composed of tens and ones to add the one, the tens and then combine these two totals together. First we practiced by using the base then manipulatives and then moved on to recorded our work with equations.
Our Sustainable Development Goal focus for this unit is SDG 11 ‘Sustainable cities and communities’. Grade One were presented with a challenge...plan what could be included in a new community space in Singapore. We brainstormed some ideas together before getting to work on a large piece of paper. Some of the children were so enthusiastic they took action and decided to do some planning of their own at home!
This week as part of our mapping work we made our own treasure map and wrote instructions for how to get to different locations. We then swapped our sheet with a friend and followed the clues to find out where different treasure was located. We had to remember left, right, forward and backwards.
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May 2021
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