Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose? Class/grade: 2 Age group: 7 to 8

To inquire into the following: School: Niraj International school School code:
Trans disciplinary theme
Title: Plants
Sharing the planet
Teachers : Ms.Nagavalli ,Ms. Prardhana, Mr .Santosh, Ms.Jeena PYP planner

Ms.Vijaya,Mr.Asif,Ms.Malini,Mr.Banu Prakash,Mr.Deepak,Mr.Srinivas.
Central idea: Plants are a life sustaining resource
for us and for other living things. Date:

Proposed duration: 44 hours over number of weeks: 6 Weeks

Summative assessment task(s):
What are the possible ways of assessing students understanding of the central idea? What evidence,
including student-initiated actions, will we look for?

Summative assessment:
Task: Knowing and reflecting more about plants.(Children exhibited this task through
2. What do we want to learn?
a mini exhibition) What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change,
Criteria1: Display different models such as: connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized
Parts of a plant within this inquiry?
Plant products
Life cycle of a plant Responsibility:
How to take care of plant Function:
Save plants (posters)
Different types of plants What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the
Reflect on the stages of learning through a PPT central idea?
Strategies to be followed: The structure of a plant and types of plant.
1) Present your work by acting(saving plants- dance integration) plants products and their uses
2) Describing a plant using adjectives by a song(music integration) Caring for plant life

Criteria2: Imagine yourself as a small, little and sensitive plant. Write 4-5 What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?
sentences mentioning
If I were a plant, I would like to save myself from. From where do we get food?
Creative writing
Criteria4: Re-jumble and write the correct spelling of the given words (The What all things you observe in nature?
names of different types of trees. Children will learn spellings).
How can you keep our environment healthy?
Tools: Parent feedback forms, peer comments, photographs, videos.

What happens if there are no plants?

What do you need to grow a plant? How do plants grow?

What is a healthy plant? What are our responsibilities to keep them healthy?
International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
3. How might we know what we have learned? 4. How best might we learn?
What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to
This column should be used in conjunction with How best might we
encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions?
learn?
Learning engagements:
What are the possible ways of assessing students prior knowledge 1. Circle time discussion about KWL chart. (Knowledge)
and skills? What evidence will we look for?
2. Group activity: Preparing a model (structure of plant) using handmade
Pre-Assessment: Task: Observe the given plant carefully and write
paper and cotton. (creativity)
your understanding seeing the plant in 4-5 lines. (Anecdotes)
Learning outcome: The student will develop to write on their own 3. Collage work on collecting different plant products and making a
observing the given object. booklet informing their uses.
Tool: Anecdotes
4. Global warming (Internationalism)

Task 1: Draw a plant and label its parts 5. Natures walk around the school observing different plants( Based on the
English integration: Unjumble the words to get correct nature walk, observe common characteristics of plants and draw them.)
spelling (Research skills)
Creative writing: Write about your favorite plant using
adjectives. 6. Preparation of manure which is good for plants. Gardening
Math integration: Making patterns using different leaves
7. Create a story mentioning the conditions and responsibilities
and colors.
towards plants. Act it out. (Thinking and creative skills)
Evidence: Activity sheet Tool: Rubric
Task 2: Making a booklet on the plant products and their
8. Posters to bring awareness not to cut trees and plant more trees
uses.
(taking action and community service)
Criteria:
1. Collect the pictures of different plant products and stick
them in the booklet.
2. Mention the use of the product selected. What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the
development of the attributes of the learner profile?
Learning outcome: Collage work, Research on
different products and their uses. Profiles:

Caring - Children took a good care of the plants which were planted by them and still
5. What resources need to be gathered? they are taking care of them.
Reflective: Children reflected very well on the life cycle of a plant by making a model
What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer
software, etc, will be available? and a booklet.
Skills:
A range of books about plants of all kinds. Video of how a plant grows, Research skills: Observing and recording data.
eg YouTube clips. Images of different plants and Thinking skills: acquisition of knowledge and application
garden types.
Materials for experiments and garden planting (including seeds,
containers, soil, sand, stones, etc)
PPT showing the life cycle of a plant and functions of each part of a
plant.
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 What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be
included. develop an understanding of the concepts identified in What do we want to learn?

demonstrate the learning and application of particular trans disciplinary skills?

Students were engaged and motivated throughout the unit. Their
involvement was obvious and this facilitated the learning and develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?

teaching. Students were able to come up with the central idea and In each case, explain your selection.
state it using their own words.
Transdisciplinary skills:
How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more
accurate picture of each students understanding of the central idea.
Research, thinking: Students were recording (writing) in their
The presentations were organized with individual inputs from
journals. They applied their acquisition of knowledge about
the students. We would improve on the summative assessment
plants and their needs when they decided on which plants to
list by adding a new assessment activity (for the first line of
have in their garden. They observed on a daily basis the growth
inquiry): Students will draw a plant with a missing part, and
of the plants, and they recorded growth data in their UOI
then explain the importance of this part.
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the journals.
transdisciplinary theme?
Learner profile and PYP attitudes :
They learned about the needs of plants by brainstorming the
understanding of the theme sharing the planet.
They were caring about the plants and appreciated their beauty
They learned the importance of plants in our daily life and how
the various arts integration supported this aspect. They
to take care of plants.
inquired about their needs to help them grow and keep them
healthy and communicated their findings.

Concepts:

Responsibility: Students were given the responsibility of planting,

taking care of a garden and recording data in the journal. This
extended to action taking by the students as they wanted to ensure
that the garden they had planted was not going to be damaged by
people passing by.

Function: We developed the concept of function with the

students throughout the unit. It was interesting to see how the
students showed interest to know the functions of each part of
a plant. They were interest to know the things required for a
plant to grow healthy.

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.
How does a plant grow?
Why did some of the leaves in our plot turn yellow?
What is a healthy plant?
What are our responsibilities to keep them healthy?
How do seeds become flowers?
How do seeds grow in the soil?
While preparing their unit reflection in the form of an exhibition these
questions were asked by the children:
We eat many fruits with seeds. Will a plant grow in the stomach?
How much deep we need to sow a seed in to the soil?
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.
What student-initiated actions arose from the learning?
Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups
showing their ability to reflect, choose and to act.
They planted many seeds and started taking care of those
plants in the garden.
Children wrote a letter to the admin manager regarding:
They went for a nature walk around the school and found that a
pipe was leaking and the water was directly falling on the
plants. The plants were very small and they were over watered.
They wrote a letter to admin manager to check the place
immediately and save the plants.
International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
9. Teacher notes.
The inquiry extremely went on well. A mini PYP
exhibition was set up after the completion of the inquiry.
Children made many models, charts, posters related to
the concepts learned and inquired during the unit. As a
part of integration children enacted a small drama
showing how to save plants. A beautiful song was
composed by the music department on plants I am a tall
tree my roots are strong..
Children prepared a separate model on desert plants and
gave information these plants can survive with less
water.
The children presented the learning engagements and
their learning in the inquiry through a PPT. The most
interesting part in this presentation was children
questioning their parents.(Questionnaire).
As a part of taking action they had set up a help desk
informing the people how to take care of plants.
Children made posters to bring awareness among the
people saving plants and plant more trees.
Student initiated action:
Children wrote a letter to the admin manager regarding:
They went for a nature walk around the school and found
that a pipe was leaking and the water was directly
falling on the plants. The plants were very small and
they were over watered. They wrote a letter to admin
manager to check the place immediately and save the
plants.