Planning the inquiry
7 1. What is our purpose?
Class/grade: Grade 1
Subject
Focus:
PSPE, Science, Maths
Gems
World
Academy
School:
Gems World Academy
Age group: 6-7
School code:
Transdisciplinary theme : Sharing the Planet


An inquiry into the rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share
finite resources with other people and with other living things;
communities and the relationships within and between them; access
to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.
central idea
Title: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
PYP planner
Teacher(s): Randa, Niki, Amanda
Date: 24 May 09 – 23 June 09
Proposed duration:
over number of weeks 4
Everyone has a responsibility to minimize their waste impact on the
environment
2. What do we want to learn?
Summative assessment task(s):
What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central
idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?
causation, responsibility, change
Investigate the trash in the classroom. Examine quantity of plastic bottles/styrofoam cups they
throw away and develop a classroom reuse/recycle system in an effort to reduce volume of plastic
bottles and sty foam cups.
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
Students implement and evaluate the effectiveness of their action plan. Students determine /reflect
on how their action will help care for the Earth.
Assessment: Do students reflections indicate that each have attempted however
small to take action by reusing, reducing, recycling and /or respecting our planet
earth.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
1.
2.
3.
Resources that we waste
How waste effects the environment
How do we minimize our impact on the environment – reduce, reuse, recycle
What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is waste?
What happens to resources when we no longer use them?
What is reuse, reduce, recycle?
How can we conserve natural and man- made resources?
What can we do to minimize the impact of waste on our environment?
Planning the inquiry
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?
Create a mind map to define ‘waste’
What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the
lines of inquiry?
Students clearly understand :
1.
the meaning of the terms REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE
2.
the difference between the terms REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE
3.
the need for waste management. For waste that can't be avoided can be
reused or recycled
5. What resources need to be gathered?
*Tuning in students collect and keep their garbage in a zip bag for a day.
*Class estimate and then figure out the total weight of the garbage in the class for the day. Categorize the
waste in the bags. Record the total class waste once or twice each week on a class graph
* Watch Garbage and Recycling DVD [from school library]
*What do we throw away at school and at home? How could it be reduced?
* Understand the concept of reducing, reusing and recycling trash. *Define the words “reduce”, “reuse”
and “recycle”. Brainstorm ways to reduce, reuse and recycle trash in their school and home.
*Review the term “respect”. Define the three-arrow recycling symbol.
*To recognize the importance of caring for the Earth investigate the kinds of trash they throw away in the
classroom and the cafeteria. Develop a classroom reuse/recycling system and posters about food waste in
an effort to reduce their volume of trash.
*Sort trash that can be recycled and reweigh trash left over. Decorate recycling with environmental
messages on them.
* Class recycles for a fortnight within the classroom. Discuss effectiveness of our recycling. Changes to be
made? Look at the rubbish produced at the school. What happens to it and how is it dealt with? What
solutions can be developed for these problems/issues? What possible actions could be chosen?
Reflect on the findings.
*Collect waste from home. Sort and group items in different class rubbish bins, ie. types of rubbish.
* Reuse some of the trash collected to make art work/musical instruments.
*Create an environmental logo to display around school
*Write a letter to Ashely about the styrofoam cups consumption concern and provide an alternative
solution.
* Create individual face masks and invite parents to decorate with recyclable materials collected from
home.
Attitude: respect, commitment Profile: caring, reflective Skills: thinking, self management
for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner
profile? Attitudes: appreciation, creativity Profile: knowledgeable, open minded Skills: research
thinking
What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available?
http://www.thinkgreen.com/recycle-world; http://www.thinkgreen.com/second-life-rec, http://www.thinkgreen.com/recycling, http://www.thinkgreen.com/gma-video,
How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
Reflecting on the inquiry
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:


develop an understanding of the concepts identified in “What do we want to
learn?”
In each case, explain your selection.
Key concepts:
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.
Students’ self verbal and written reflections of
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea
and the transdisciplinary theme?
Causation: students began to note that our careless actions have resulted in over flooded waste landfills,
polluted oceans and skies.
Responsibility: students took responsibility for the school environment by participating in cleaning up
litter from the school grounds.
Change : students became aware of the amount of styrofoam cups wasted between the KG, Grades, 1,2
and 3 floor level and how and why it should be reduced

demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills?
Thinking Skills: students brainstormed ways to recycle trash in their school and homes.
Students started bringing their own drink bottles and filled these up at the
water fountains instead of using a new paper cup each time.
Students also independently collected rubbish from home and re-used this
rubbish on their masks instead of throwing it out. They also wanted to
start a recycling programme at school but due to limited time available we
were not able to do this.
Some students began picking up rubbish in the playground and some
parents reported that students at home were much more conscious of
recycling. In some classes students made a conscious effort to turn off
lights when no one was in the classroom.
Self management Skills: students demonstrated with confidence management skills working
collaboratively with parents decorating face mask using recyclable waste materials.

develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?
Attitudes:
Respect: students gained conscientious awareness of their own actions and would highlight throughout
the unit related reading discussion, homework journals and environmental logos created.
Commitment: learned about the importance of caring for our Earth by creating less waste , reusing
household/classroom items when they can, and recycling. This was evident during mask making.
Profiles:
Caring Express a view on an environmental issue and justify it talking about waste and recycling and
why it's important to recycle and reduce waste
Reflective : students reflected on the concepts of reducing, reusing and recycling waste and why it’s
important.
l
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Reflecting on the inquiry
8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning?
Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any
that were incorporated into the teaching and learning.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Why do we waste a lot of things?
What happens to waste once it is thrown away?
Why should we recycle?
What can we do with furniture, toys, clothes and machines we don’t need
anymore?
What is compost?
Why don’t some people recycle?
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.
1. What happens to resources when we no longer use them?
2. What is reuse, reduce, recycle?
3. What can we do to minimize the impact of waste on our environment?
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.
Came up with alternative ways to reduce the amount of paper and other trash we use at
school, or at home
Created/designed environmental logo
Wrote a letter highlighting concerns about excessive styro foam cups waste and came
up with alternatives
Collected waste from home and came up with ways to reuse some waste e.g. cereal box
as book box
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
9. Teacher notes
Due to lack of time on this unit we didn’t cover all the teacher questions in detail however the students
grasped the main concepts. Next year we will have more time to develop the unit and look further into
minimizing our impact on the environment. Students enjoyed defining what waste is by looking at it in
different ways. For example waste that we don’t use again and how we waste food, clothing etc at home
and school. We were able to group recyclable items into groups according to their materials and discuss
what they can be changed into. The DVD on Recycling reinforced this idea and gave students a clear
understanding on how different items can be recycled into new items. Burying rubbish in the desert and
going back to observe the changes was very beneficial. The children’s predictions on what items would
look like after several days were quite different from the actual result. The children also learnt that
different items don’t just take a few days to decompose but many years. To conclude the unit the students
made recycling masks with their parents. This was a huge success as the children were in charge of
bringing to school their own recycling items and displaying them on their masks creatively. This
assignment will definitely be repeated for next year’s assessment. [Amanda]
Students collected and brought waste from home. We sorted waste into these groups [paper, glass,
plastic, cans]. Students came up with creative ways to reuse waste such as cereal box. It was reused as a
book box, small plastic ice-cream cup as eraser holder. We buried different types of waste including fruit
and vegetables. Students observed the changes after a 3 week period and concluded that food waste
decomposed within a short period and the other waste will not be decomposing anytime soon.
Parents/students mask making event using waste collected from home was a fun and creative experience.
We collected for 1 day the disposed Styrofoam cups used by the KG, grades 1,2 and 3. The cups disposed
totaled to 109. We added the quantity used 5 schools days later. Students were stunned with the results.
We discussed waste and the amount of years it takes for a Styrofoam cup to decompose. We discussed
alternatives. Students took individual actions and stopped using the cups and brought a reusable water
bottles from home and if they needed to use a Styrofoam cup to drink water they reused the same cup
throughout the day. In addition, it was highlighted we waste plenty of paper and discarded it with all sorts
of waste. To help solve the school epidemic the class took action to write a joint letter to Ashely
requesting paper recycling bins to be placed in every elementary classroom.
It is recommended next year we introduce the unit to coincide with ‘Earth Day’ and the academy’s
‘Week Without Walls’ to provide students with the opportunity to take part in making an environmental
difference to the local community of Dubai. Book resources suitable to grade level are lacking.
Recycling school DVD was perfect and age appropriate. Students summative assessment self reflections
highlighted their empathy for our planet. [Randa]
This unit was fantastic although time was just too short. The kids loved this unit and really got involved
with it and we would’ve all liked to have done more but time just did not permit. We enjoyed burying the
rubbish to see how long it takes for things to decompose but with the end of the year nearing we just did
not get time to go back out and dig up the rubbish. The children loved counting the cups and paper left by
the printers and we would’ve liked to have done a presentation in assembly to show how many cups our
school goes through in one week. We were aiming to bring in drink bottles for everyone in the school and
to eventually get rid of the plastic cups. I would’ve liked to have taken the children to a recycling centre
so they could see the whole process in action. Next year I would also like to look more into the side
effects the rubbish has on our environment and visit a rubbish tip. Cambells camel campaign is another
project I would like to look more into. The recycling DVD in the library is fantastic and if you search
well enough there are plenty of resources on the internet. The masks were loads of fun and were a great
way to get kids thinking about re-using. Involving the parents was a fantastic idea and they had just as
much fun as the children did. Next year it would be great to get the children to come up with a name etc
with their parents and a short reflection to share underneath the mask.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007