Units+Of+Inqiries

Units Of Inquiries

We all have a tale to tell

"Messages conveyed are influenced by personal experiences and society" Central Idea.
 * Messages conveyed by writers(function)
 * Personal and societal influences(connection)
 * Seeing ourselves as writers(reflection)

We had to try to write a story at the end of the unit, with one or more, preferably more messages. My story was called //*Jigsaw// and it was about a kid called Jigsaw who got teased a lot for being so smart and for being named Jigsaw. He, along with his mother and father died in an oven explosion when his sister was cooking and his dad was smoking a cigarette. His sister survived and the memory of Jigsaw empowered her to graduate with a degree in cooking. The book was written just after my Mandarin teacher, Mr. Chen got hit by a motorbike and died, so that inspired me to.

Ms. Jo read stories to us like Aesop's Fables and Swordbird from Lola Jaye and showed us creepy pictures and tiny-mini-stories from Harris Burdick. i had to do a #biography of Lola Jaye

We also did a play in different groups. My group did the Pied Piper and I was the pied piper. Here's a picture.
 * see book
 * 1) see biography

=Nature Unleashed=

Hi, in this UOI, we studied the ultimate forces of nature on humane lives and economic statuses. We studied:
 * 1) Volcanoes
 * 2) Earthquakes
 * 3) Tidal Waves
 * 4) Sandstorms
 * 5) Whirlpools
 * 6) Landslides
 * 7) Hurricanes
 * 8) Floods
 * 9) And more!

"People organize themselves to respond to natural disasters." Central Idea Here are our main questions for the unit
 * Different conditions occurring in nature(form)
 * How people are affected by and cope with naturally occurring phenomenons(causation and responsibility)

At assembly, on October the 20th we preformed and did a volcano play and dressed up as vulcanologist s (people who study volcanoes) and made a mini-volcano. We also, for our S.P.A.T., had to write a five page report and do a Voice thread on a natural disaster of our choice. I chose *Landslides and was the only person out of 17 people to do that. I also did a voice thread on Landslides.

= What's the Matter =

In this UOI, we studied about states of matter, e.g., Solids, Liquids, Gases, and Plasmas. "Body systems work together to keep us alive." Central Idea Here are our lines of inquiry:
 * What is a body system?
 * How do body systems depend on each other?
 * Why do we need to care for/protect our body systems?

There are three separate molecular forms for Solids, Liquids, and Gases l l   l  l     l
 * 1) Gases. The molecules just float around and expand to the size of the container.

2. Liquids. The molecules stay in the shape of the container and if the container spills, they spill out everywhere.

l l l  ll   l l    l

3.Solids.Solids have atoms, which are unlike mollecules because atoms stay in place, while molecules go everywhere, like gases and liquids. Most of the time they stay in near- perfect columns and rows.

At the end of the unit we had to do an original experiment. I tried to see what would happen if I used a machine that separated the oxygen and hydrogen atoms from water, well I tried to do that with butter. Guess what happened? Absolutely nothing. I'm not sure what went wrong, whether it was the homemade hydrolysis machine. anyways we made this slimy stuff with water and corn starch. At first it was a liquid, then it turned into a really hard solid that was like cement.

Body Journeys In this UOI, we learned about the: "Body systems work together to keep us alive " Central Idea
 * 1) skeletal system
 * 2) nervous system
 * 3) digestive system
 * 4) respiratory system
 * 5) muscular system
 * 6) circulatory system
 * 7) body diseases


 * What is a body system?
 * How do body systems depend on each other?
 * Why do we need to care for/ protect our body systems?

Those are our main questions for Body Journeys. 'What is the nervous system?' I have heard someone ask me once. Well the nervous system is your brain and nerves and they send messages around your body with little useful things called **neurons** throughout **nerves** leading from your brain. neurons are like the messengers telling your body to do simple little things like keep your heart beating and keep breathing. nerves are what the neurons go through to reach other part of your body. The brain is constantly working and producing new neurons, even as you're sleeping. Why am I giving you this information? Because I had to do a report on any system I liked and guess what I chose? The Nervous System. Without it you wouldn't be able to feel any emotions, or be able to move, think, hear, taste, feel,see, or even smell.

Exhibition

Welcome to the Exhibition!

"All individuals should have freedom and equal rights to meet their needs and achieve their dreams successfully. " Central Idea. In the Exhibition, we had to choose a topic out of :
 * 1) Corruption
 * 2) Food security
 * 3) Law Enforcement
 * 4) Teacher training
 * 5) Poverty
 * 6) Gender Discrimination
 * 7) Shelter
 * 8) Child Labor
 * 9) Orphans
 * 10) Energy Resources
 * 11) Basic Health Education

We also had to do a report with 7-8 pages including a table of contents, a title page, two persuasive pages, and two or three fact pages. I chose to do Corruption for my main topic and was put in another group with Sami, Darren, and Jimi, the other kids who chose Corruption for their Exhibition. The Grade 5's and Grade 4's were separated for this unit and the Grade 4's were doing Peace and Conflict while we were doing the Exhibition.

We also went on a __barge trip__ for 1 week in Thailand (we flew) and I was in a group with Jimi, Max, Daniel,Alexi, Sami,and others. We slept in the hull of the ship. One night we got to by our own dinner (to share though). the rest of the group got back on the plane to Cambodia. I went to Austrailia soon afterwards.