Planning the inquiry
1. What is our purpose?
Class/grade: 4
To inquire into the following:
School:YUSR School code:
Transdisciplinary theme :“How the World Works”
Central idea: Energy may be converted, transformed and used to support
human progress.
Science conceptual understanding: Using their sense and observations
students determine different forms of energy, their sources, usage, and
show responsible reactions to conserve them.
Learner profiles: knowledgeable, thinker and caring
Attitude: commitment and appreciation
Concepts :form, causation, responsibility
Age group: 9-12
Title:“How the World Works”
Grade 4 homeroom teachers:
Ms. Nohaalhakim. Mrs.Mumtaz, Ms.Hind, Ms.Salwa,
Mr.MusaabAbdulrazzaq, Mr.TareqJareed, Mr.Aziz ,Mr.Emran,
Specialist Teachers :
Mr.Mrs.Sara, Mr.Hassan, Mrs.Ghadighafori, Mrs.LamaBaessa,
Mr.MohammadRasheed , Mrs.abeer Mira ,Mr.Majed, Mrs. HazarKhoyled ,
Mr.Mahmoud, Mrs. HebaBahamdin, Mr.Ekrami,
ProposedDuration:
Related Concepts: conservation,
Skills:
Communication skills: speaking and writing
Social skills: accepting responsibility, cooperating
Thinking skills: application , acquisition of knowledge
summative assessment task(s):
Students will take turns in a Role-play as it is a great way for them to
present their findings and achievements of what they have studied during
the unit. According to the enclosed rubric. Students focus and include the
following points:
 What form of energy are you presenting?
 Where did this form of energy come from?
 How do you use this form of energy in your life?
 How could you preserve this form of energy using the 3Rs ( reuse
, reduce, and recycle).
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central
idea?



Different forms of energy sources (renewable and non-renewable) form
How energy is used (transformation) causation
Sustainable energy practice. Responsibility
What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?




What are the different forms of energy sources that are both
renewable and non-renewable?
How is energy used, transformed or conserved?
Why do we need to conserve energy?
What is our role in promoting sustainability?
3. How might we know what we have learned?
4. How best might we learn?
This column should be used in conjunction with “How best might we
learn?”
What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to
encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving
questions?
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and
skills? What evidence will we look for?
-Students brainstorm their ideas on the following ‘’?
– Students complete a KWL chart showing their understanding of energy.
-Energy detectives: what is energy? Students go around the classroom in
groups to find items that use energy. On their detective worksheet they
explain how they know it uses energy and which source of energy is being
used.
What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of
the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?
- Students write a research report about one form of energy. They
research based on the inquiries that they have on that form of energy.
-
-
-
- Transformation of energy STEM activity.
Students use their yardstick kits to create an electric circuit. They identify
the forms of energy used in the different components of the electrical
circuit. They identify energy transformations in a range of circuit setups
and draw energy diagrams to show the transformation of energy
.
-
-
-
-
English: Students will read ‘Energy Island ‘and identify the form of
renewable energy and renewable energy mentioned in the story. They
reflect on renewable and non-renewable energy sources in their local
area, how they can use the renewable resources to produce energy and
save the non- renewable resources.
Students compare and contrast renewable and non-renewable energy
Science: Student in groups draw Venn diagram to demonstrate the
similarities and differences between parallel and series circuits as one
way of transforming electrical energy to other form of energy to
support human development.
Students create a word wall with terms that appear during the theme
and are connected to the central idea and lines of inquiry.
Students identify intense forms of energy that create natural disasters
through a matching activity. Students draw diagrams that show the
form of energy that causes natural disasters.
In groups students categorize a series of pictures in groups according to
which type of energy they produce. They then have to label the pictures
as renewable and non-renewable.
Students play the energy game that introduces them to the idea of
conserving energy. They identify and reflect on one way that they
conserve energy.
Students watch videos about different forms of renewable energy and
create small projects which reflecting sustainable energy practices in
the real world.
Students use discarded materials from the environment to create signs
for display around the school to conserve energy and water resources.
Specialist Links:
Art
,line 1:students in groups sort different forms of energy by drawing pictures
and label them according to the form of energy they are using or producing
after watching a video about these different forms.
Line 2: each student draws a selected machine or a resistor (lamp, fan…..), to
demonstrate how energy is transformed or converted.
Line 3: Each student will draw a picture story to demonstrate practices of how
to sustain the energy (renewable and non- renewable) after watching a video
and sharing some pictures.
Islamic , Line 3: ‫كتابة‬."‫مناقشة حديث الرسول "ال تسرف في الماء حتى لو كنت على نهر جار‬
‫اإلجراءات الالزمة للحفاظ على الماء كمصدر متجدد للطاقة‬
ICT Line 1: converting energy in the battery of the robot to kinetic energy to
enable the robot to move.
Students will program the robot using the Mindstorm software to reset the
robots’ motors powers and notice their different actions and speed.
PE line 1:student write their reflection on how energy is transforming from
one form to another on an A4 papers.
French:students use different ways (web organizer, mind map, drawings) to
show how solar energy affects the weather in the four seasons.
Arabic line 2: ‫الطالبات فيديو عن اقالع وهبوط الطائرة وكل طالب يقوم بكتابة‬/ ‫يشاهد الطالب‬
‫انواع الطاقة الموجودة في الهبوط او اإلقالع مع ذكر كيفية تحولها‬
H& Gline 1: ‫مشاهدة فيديو عن الجمل يقوم بعدها الطالب بكتابة أشكال الطاقة المستفادة‬-
5. What resources need to be gathered?
What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available?
Energy detective: www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_energy2_lesson01_activity2
Energy Island: McGraw hill :Reading wonders unit 6.
Energy transfer diagrams: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/energy_future/energy_transfer_efficiencyrev2.shtml
Categorizing energy practices and energy game: SciencesustainableenergyactivitiesEnergypastandpresent.pdf (available on the shared folder)
How does electricity transfer energy? :interactive science grade 4 ( Pearsonrealize.com)
Transformation of energy (STEM)- Yardstick.co.in
Learning objectives for fraction video in YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swVRVAVHsXE
Dr binoculars – What is energy? www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0LBegPWzrg
Suuistanable energy practices projects: SciencesustainableenergyactivitiesEnergypastandpresent.pdf (available on the shared folder)
www.brainpop.com/science/energy/solarenergy/
www.brainpop.com/science/energy/conservingenergy/
www.brainpop.com/science/energy/windenergy/
ICT: MINDSTORM software ,www.youtube.com, right click book.
How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
●
●
●
●
The library to gather primary and secondary resources on energy.
Trip to the beach to observe different forms of energy.
National Geographic online in classroom.
All in one smart board to research in the classroom.
6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?
7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?
Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students’
understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved
in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included.
What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
 When unpacking the central idea, students were able to brainstorm






different forms of energy, how are they used, and how are they
transformed.
Students understanding of the word “transformation” in the central idea
were taken for “how energy is changing” rather than “the movement of
energy from one form to another’.
During the energy hunt students were able to identify different forms of
energy found around the school. As well as identify how transformation
occurs between energy forms before going through the word
transformation.
Students were able to identify the parts of the circuit and explain how the
circuit started with one form energy and ended with three different forms
Students watched a video about nonrenewable resources. The question
that was asked for the students to reflect upon was “what if there are no
more nonrenewable resources?
Students found this unit interesting because they got to learn about all this
different types of circuits and also got to build them. The part they found
more interesting was learning and building the different circuits because
they had to connect an amount of wires to the bulb and the battery, or the
switch, or the A meter/Voltmeter and even to metal wires, buzzer and etc.
Children were able to identify the energies that cause a natural Disaster.
● Develop an understanding of the concepts identified in “What do
we want to learn?”
Students viewed energy through the 3 concepts highlighted in the theme. In
groups they used form to name the different forms of energy and describe
how they are used. They created Venn diagrams to compare contrast energy
from renewable and non-renewable sources. Through causation students
made connections between human energy practices and its effect on the
environment. Hence global issues such as climate change and global warming
were discussed. Students used the concept of responsibility to discuss
actions that they will take in their daily lives to conserve energy.
Students portrayed the learner profile knowledgeable by developing an
understanding of different energy practices both globally and locally. They
were able to identify how they and their peers use different forms of energy.
They were also introduced to energy practices in foreign countries and within
their local area. They were thinkers as they reflected on alternative ways that
they will use energy to help conserve it. Throughout the theme students
attitudes on how they use energy changed. As they began to show
appreciation and were caring about energy. Students reminded each other to
turn off the lights, to use more of the daylight during lessons and to turn off
projectors and Air conditioners and any other devices that were not in use.
● Demonstrate the learning and application of particular
transdisciplinary skills?
How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have
a more accurate picture of each student’s understanding of the central
idea.
Communications skills: Students communicated their thoughts on energy
through speaking and writing. They spoke and wrote about the ways that they
- The stem project was considered one of the enjoyable activities the kids
use energy in their homes, how items they use change energy from one form
had done. One problem we faced was that it took more time than
expected. We recommend that the next time we do the circuit activity we to another and how best to conserve energy. In writing students wrote
show the students a video from the company before starting with the
research reports about different forms of energy based on inquiries that they
activity. Another way to improve the assessment is instead of giving
each student her/his on kit they could have worked in group work which
-
-
-
-
will save much more time. We should have made a reflection worksheet
other than the one provided by STEM.
In the second formative assessment about research we should have
written resources provided more about different energy forms. * It is
suggested for students would start their work in groups to be coached by
their teacher until they get the work done.
The summative task assessed all the lines of inquiries covered during this
theme. The summative allowed students to creatively show their
understanding of the theme in the form of a role play. The task was
guided by inquiries which students had to refer to and incorporate within
their plays. Although the task was structured round specific inquiries
students had the autonomy to perform the summative task using their
own ideas and choosing their own roles, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
In order to improve the summative task in future students should be
allowed more time to plan and rehearse their ideas.
A challenge that they faced during this unit was building some of the
circuits without clear instructions, they had a little struggle to learn how
to put together some of the circuits. If they did this again, students
should be given much time
I would add another task. This task would involve them looking at solar
energy panels and how they work. Some students have them on their
roofs so visiting places of where solar panels are used would really be a
way of them to be more engaged.
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central
idea and the transdisciplinary theme?
-
-
We made connections with some of the concepts and ideas included in the
description of this theme. We were able to inquire into the natural world
as we looked at how non renewable and renewable energy comes from
resources in nature such as the sun, wind water and fossil fuels.
Connections were also made with the idea of technology and scientific
advances on the environment as students related current energy practices
that do not help in conserve energy lead to problems such as air
pollution, global warming and climate change which impacts the
environment.
Students distinguished between what can be sustainable energy in the
long term and short term and how humans can benefit more if they
switched to cleaner energy such as solar and electric vehicles.
had.
Social skills: Students were cooperating with one another in group tasks
weather they were comparing and contrasting renewable and non-renewable
resources or developing ideas together to plan for the summative task. As
students worked together they accepted responsibility of the role that they had
during the summative and any other group tasks given during the theme. In
addition students accepted responsibility as they understood their role
globally in conserving energy.
Thinking skills: students applied their thinking skills when critically
thinking about alternative ways of using energy. They applied their
knowledge of transformation of energy during the STEM activity as they
identified which part of the circuit transformed energy from one form to
another.
Appreciation and commitment: Students showed commitments during the
unit while reducing using the different sources of energy and natural
resources .E.g.: putting off the light before leaving the class, reduce using
papers and reuse them.
demonstrating many good practices in conserving energy in their summative
assessments
Boys:
 Concepts Form – developed through the exploration of materials, video
of structures, and research of non-fiction books Causation – How energy
is used (transformation). Responsibility- Sustainable energy practice
Learner profile Thinkers: this was a great unit to develop this attribute.
The students engaged in lots of thinking through designing structures and
coming up with solutions to each of the challenges. There was ongoing
reflection and changing of plans. The summative assessment challenge
really showed each students thinking process. Knowledgeable: students
become knowledgeable about structures of particular materials.
Transdisciplinary skills Thinking skills: synthesis – creating and
designing electrical circuit; evaluation – making judgments or decisions
about their work. Social skills: Accepting responsibility for tasks,
respecting other's ideas, cooperating, resolving conflict if there is a
problem, group decision making. Communication skills: listening,
speaking, reading, writing, presenting.
 The students grew as thinkers and inquirers. At the beginning of the unit
they asked basic questions but dug deeper to learn more about the forms
of energy.
 They communicated through writing and discussion and curiosity was
evident as they researched information. They were mostly engaged in
their projects, enjoyed their presentations, and seemed excited about
participating. As always, there were some who had difficulty keeping on
task.
8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning?
9. Teacher notes
Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and
highlight any that were incorporated into the teaching and learning.
There were many inquiries that were highlighted on the wonder wall in the
class due to time constraints not all were incorporated within the teaching.
Some inquiries were highlighted as they were connected to the lines of
inquiries and the central idea of this theme. Students inquired about the
relationship between energy and natural disasters. In order to the inquiry
students were shown videos and which showed how global climate change is
due to burning fossil fuels which can lead to natural disasters. Students also
asked why Saudi Arabia was famous for its oil. after discussions and
independent research by some students came to realize that Oil is used for
many things and is a non-renewable resource that all countries need to
produce energy. Here are some of their inquiries:








What do you call scientists who study energy forms?
Can we find energy on the moon?
How do you use different forms of energy sources in life?
How can energy be calculated?
In what way does energy transform from one form to another?
Why does the world become hot?
Where does energy come from?
Is all energy good for us?
At this point teachers should go back to box 2 “What do we want to
learn” and highlight the teacher questions/provocations that were most
effective in driving the inquiries.
The most effective question that helped to drive the inquiries were ;
A. ICT:
students lost time control, to plan and organize themselves into groups.
- Teacher should decide or uses Hi TEACH to avoid this problem next
time.
- Student didn’t recognize the importance of group work ,didn’t show
collaborative group working.
- Students should work in turns to perform the group work, and stop watch
can be used to motivate them and to control the time.
B. Summative assessment:
- Some students didn’t include all the questions answers in their plays, they
added a presentation, foam boards posters to complete the missing
answers, and some just used question and answers after the play for this
purpose.
- Some didn’t work collaboratively to meet the given rubrics.one or two
students did most of the work, the rest just acted. Without sharing ideas
or searching information.
- Students should have decided and planned by the end of the fourth week
to be guided by their teacher in how to include the answers for all
questions and to reach the best scenarios for their paly to give each
student equal parts in the play ,have enough time to practice
-
-


What are the different forms of energy sources that are both
renewable and non-renewable?
Students were able to identify many forms of energy that they use in
their lives and were able to explain if the form of energy was from a
non-renewable or renewable source. They were also able to identify
-
C. Learning experience:
For more differentiation in comparing parallel to series circuit, lower
achiever students can get the answers from the different areas in the class
to put them in under the right place in Venn diagram.
Science experiment promoted opportunities to see how energy
is used, transformed or conserved.
Students were given guidance to help develop positive attitudes and
behaviors in order to meet challenges, make healthy lifestyle choices, and
become successful learners.
For more differentiation in comparing parallel to series circuit, lower
achiever students can get the answers from the different areas in the class
to put them in under the right place in Venn diagram.


forms of energy in stories and natural disasters
How is energy used, transformed or conserved?
Students were able to describe how they use energy and explain the
transformation of energy in items in their home, electric circuits and
in natural disasters. In addition students were presented with many
ways that people locally and globally are conserving energy. They
were introduced to conservation through videos, articles and stories
and they themselves thought of ways they would conserve energy.
Some students took the initiative to do more research on their space topics at
home, and then shared the information at school. Students researched the
basic things that are related to energy.
What student-initiated actions arose from the learning?






Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups
showing their ability to reflect, to choose and to act.
Some student took pictures of conserving energy practices before we
start this line of inquiry.
Others were practicing them in the class .e.g. telling the teacher to put
the smart board off after finishing the lesson to save some energy.
Using papers more than once to reuse and save trees.
Projects of steps taken to save different types of energy and natural
resources that represent their understanding and application of what
they learn.
Students decided to switch off their electronic appliances at home
when not in use. Wasting energy was something we agreed upon and
was necessary. Students also decided to choose to use their AC at
home on “saving energy mode” which they decided would keep the
planet cooler in the long term.
- Some students didn’t include all the questions answers in their plays, they
added a presentation, foam boards posters to complete the missing
answers, and some just used question and answers after the play for this
purpose.
(teachers next time should emphasize on answering all question with in
the play not by adding any other strategies)
- Some didn’t work collaboratively to meet the given rubrics.one or two
students did most of the work, the rest just acted. Without sharing ideas
or searching information. They should come up with a plan or a scenario
that gives equal parts to each one of them in the play.
- Students should have enough time to practice and avoid distraction by
changing major part sin the play.
- Students should be given a whole period to decide and plan by the end of
the third week to be guided by their teacher in how to include the answers
for all questions and to reach the best scenarios for their paly to give each
student equal parts in the play ,have enough time to practice
Language conceptual understanding :




Reading and thinking work together to enable us to make meaning.
Checking, rereading and correcting our own reading as we go enables us to
read new and more complex texts. Identifying the main ideas in the text
helps us to understand what is important. Knowing what we aim to achieve
helps us to select useful reference material to conduct research
Taking time to reflect on what we hear and say helps us to make informed
judgments and form new opinions .Thinking about the perspective of our
audience helps us to communicate more effectively and appropriately. The
grammatical structures of a language enable members of a language
community to communicate with each other
Writing and thinking work together to enable us to express ideas and convey
meaning .Asking questions of others and ourselves helps to make our
writing more focused and purposeful. The way we structure and organize
our writing helps others to understand and appreciate it. Rereading and
editing our own writing enables us to express what we want to say more
clearly.
Visual texts have the power to influence thinking and behavior. Interpreting
visual texts involves making an informed judgment about the intention of
the message. To enhance learning, we need to be efficient and constructive
users of the internet
Summative assessment rubric:
Criteria
Knowledgeable
Collaboration
Presentation
Organization
Commitment
1
We have very limited
knowledge
2
We have very basic
knowledge.
3
We attained a good
mount of knowledge in
the field of study.
We contribute and share
ideas when we are
allowed or encouraged.
4
We showcased an
extensive variety of
knowledge.
We always contribute
activity and share our
ideas.
We choose to
participate. We don’t
like to contribute.
We sometimes need
encouragement to complete
and share ideas.
We were somewhat
enthusiastic, the
audience showed
disinterest. Purpose
wasn’t achieved.
We were enthusiastic and
kept the attention of the
audience for the most part.
Most of the purpose was
achieved.
We kept the attention of
the audience for the
allotted time, achieved
the purpose.
We sustained the interest
of the audience and
achieved the purpose of the
presentation.
Not all tasks were
completed, and we could
have used some effort
on organization.
Presentation of ideas was
mostly neat, but we could
have shown more
originality and/or
creativity.
Our presentation of
ideas was neat, but we
could have shown more
originality and/or
creativity.
Our presentation of the
idea was creative, neat, and
showed originality.
We did not take on our
role in the group
responsibly and our
work was missing a lot
of information.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2011
Some of us did not take on
our role responsibly so our
work was not complete.
Most of us took on our
roles responsibly and
our work was complete.
We all took on our role in
the group responsibility so
we can deliver our work on
time perfectly.