Civilizations

Our current Unit of Inquiry has explored the influence of past civilizations reflected in modern-day societies.

Our lines of inquiry are:
- An inquiry into past civilizations.
- An inquiry into how tools influence developments in societies.
- An inquiry into connections between past and present.


We begun our inquiry with a provocation task:

Can you peel a 'mikan' using the provided tool and no hands?





An interesting discussion ensued on our first concept - FORM.
We discussed why some of the tools worked better than others (the team with 4 rubber bands had a tough time opening their mikan!). We also discussed what features would be desirable in a tool which peels/cuts.

Later, learners brought in modern tools from home and shared on their form.



Our second concept for this UoI is CONNECTION.


We took a trip to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools museum to discover the history of woodworking tools and see how they have evolved over time.





Our third concept for this UoI is CAUSATION.

Here we begun to look at specific tools within the context of ancient civilizations. 
Why did they use the tools they did?
How did these tools help shape their culture?




BIG preparations are currently underway for our final project:



Grade 3 & 4 will be hosting a Museum of the Ancients
on March 4th
(time tbc)

Watch the Updates and Announcements section of the blog for a detailed invitation to our learning showcase.




Jun helping Tina with her 'shuji' as she compares Chinese and Japanese writing systems


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