Sharing the planet... with worms!

Our first unit for this new year is on Sharing the Planet.

Grade 3 and 4 are exploring the Central Idea that living things impact the ecosystem of which they are a part.

Our first two lines of inquiry with this Transdisciplinary Theme are into what makes up an ecosystem and the interconnectedness of living things in an ecosystem.

For this unit we are going to be scientists.
We began by asking 'how do we think like a scientist?'. We learned that scientists are curious and ask questions. Scientists look closely and take careful notes. Scientists discuss their thinking with others.


Then our scientists got their hands dirty as they has began working to rejuvenate the school garden in preparation for this year's Gardening Club.

Gardening set the scene for our next project - the preparation of two vermicomposting boxes. 

As learners explore producers, consumers & decomposers they will be able to see their own real life ecosystem project develop. The worm castings will be great for our garden too!

Grade 3 used a thinking routine to come up with a definition of an ecosystem - the blue is individual learner's ideas based on 'clues' from what we have been exploring so far.  

We then distilled these all into the green whole class definition.

As we dig deeper into the interconnectedness of living things in ecosystems, we are learning about food chains and food webs.

The first step for Grade 3 learners in this phase was to plan just HOW we could FIND OUT MORE about these ideas:

While we weren't able to connect with an eco-scientist this time, we were able to curate many books, websites and tap into the knowlage of the wider school community. 

Grade 3 learners shared their new insights on a collaborative poster:

We also collaborated on a food web display in the hallway which made our understanding visible. 

Half the class served as researchers - using ICT resources to gather information.

The other half served as creators - using strings and pins to make a food web.