Transdisciplinary Theme: How We Organize Ourselves

Central Idea: Transportation connects people.

Lines of Inquiry:

• The ways various modes of transportation move.
• How we stay safe while using transportation.
• Transport connects people.

Concepts: connection, function

Related Concepts: systems, movement

Story #1

We started off with a brainstorm. What do we already know about our Central Idea? Here are some of our initial thoughts.

Our thinking at the BEGINNING of the unit.

 

Next we used a real life object to encourage student wonderings.

 

What the students noticed:

• It is a bike tyre.
• Its broken and its old.
• Its a wheel.
• It has chains.
• The outside part of the wheel is dirty and spiky.
• It has these pieces (spokes), like lines on the wheel.
• Thats a circle (cog wheels)!

They had many questions:

• “What are these lines (spokes)?” – James
• “What is this (cog wheel)?” – James
• “Why is there a chain on it?” – Avery
• “Where is the other part of the bike?”
• “Did you buy it?” – Myrto
• “Where did it come from?” – Alice
• “Did somebody fall down from it?” – Kiara
• “Why does it make a sound?” (He was squeezing the tyre) – Eric
• “Are we learning about bikes?” – Avery
• “Why is the tyre made out of rubber?” – Avery
• “What is this black thing (grease)?” – Mia
• “Did somebody break the bike?” – Vincent
• “How did you take it off the bike?” – Noela
• “Did somebody ride this someday?” – Noela
• “Why is there no air in the tyre?” – vincent

• Avery: Are we going to learn about bikes?
• “Are we going to fix it?”
• Luiza: Everyone can’t ride it if it is not fixed.

Story #2

A MAP?

A map was left on the carpet in the morning. Students noticed it and were quickly exploring the map. One of the students read the names of some of the places on the map and said it was a map of Xian Lin in Nanjing.

They quickly found the school and one housing compound. We talked about the map and why we needed maps. The students shared their ideas and thinking. Here are some of their initial thoughts.

• “A map helps us find things.” – James
• “Some people get lost so they use maps.” – Ezel
• “A map helps us go somewhere when we don’t know the way.” – Stephanie
• “A map helps us find our way back.” – Milo
• “If you want to go in the water you need a map. Maybe a metal map.” – Amun
• “This map is too big.” – Kiara
• “Don’t drive when you are looking at a map. You will have an accident.” – Avery
• “The map helps us find where is the ocean.” – Noela
• “Pirates have maps to find treasure.” – Mia
• “The map has roads.” – Stephanie
• “Its a trail so you know where to go.” – Amun
• We can walk, go in a car, run, go in a scooter, on a bicycle, skateboard, in a truck, in a train, camper-van, aeroplane, helicopter, jet, rocket ship, motorbike or swim.

Some children then wanted to draw their own maps. They included houses, trees and people on their maps.

Students then drew pictures of the different modes of transport they use.

Story #3

A Special Visitor

We had many questions about the tyre and the bicycle and Mr. Rinker, the Design teacher at school helped us understand how a bicycle works. He was able to answer students’ questions and show us how a bicycle works.

The students discussed what they had learned form Mr. Rinker and here are some of their reflections.

• When you press the pedals and the chain is not connected, it won’t move the wheels.
• The brakes help us stop.
• You need to put air in the tyre before you ride it or it can’t work.
• The black thing on the wheel and the bike is like oil;. It helps the bike move.
• If the tyre is made out of metal it might slip. It will make it very bumpy. If you press the brakes it might slip.
• The chain holds the tyre and helps the wheels roll.
• There was no air int he tyre, so when you squeeze it, it makes a squishy sound.
• You can use tools to take pieces off the bike.
• You need a bicycle because you need to get to school faster.
• The bicycle helps us to get to places.
• We come to school by bike, car, motorcycle, skateboard and we also walk and can run to school.

Story #4

Watching a Video.

“What will happen to the bike if there were wooden wheels?”

We watched the video ‘Wooden Bicycle Wheels’ to see if we could find some answers to our questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fk1OyNJP0k

Story #5

“I wonder how a unicycle works?”

Mr. Underwood came in to speak to the students about the unicycle. The students discussed the similarities and differences between the bicycle and unicycle.

https://twitter.com/NISKinder2/status/657441687560585216

The students recorded their observations on paper.

Vincent decided to make a non-fiction book. Bicycle and Unicycle by Vincent

We have more questions…

• Eric: Why do we need to have trains? How do the trains work?
• Avery: Why do vehicles need wheels?
• Joshua: Why did they invent skateboards?
• Myrto: How does the skateboard work?
• Noela: What does the engine in the car look like?

Discussions on the different modes of transportation.

Aeroplanes:

• Joshua: How do planes fly? Why do they have the different country flags on the planes?
• Ethan: How do planes see where they are going?
• Avery: How can they see where the country is because they are so high up?
• Eric: You can look at a map.
• Ezel: If the pilot has to fly a long way like for two days, how does he stay awake?
• Avery: There are two pilots and one sleeps and when the other one is tired the other one drives.
• Amun: What if you are driving and it is raining and the aeroplane falls in the water?
• Milo: The plane has a thermometer and it tells the drivers there is bad weather.
• James: Do planes go in space?
• Amun: Only rockets go to space.
• Ezel: What will happen if the thing (propeller) on the helicopter came off?
• Ethan: Some vehicles don’t have tyres, like boats.

Story #6

Watching a Video.

The students watched a video ‘How Does A Plane Fly?’ to help them find out more about aeroplanes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulcvE-bDyNc

Here are some of our brainstorms! 

Story #7

Creating a Poster.

The students created their chosen mode of transport to include in a poster. They worked together to plan and paint the poster.

The students then pasted their mode of transport on the poster. We discussed how these modes of transport help people connect with each other.

Story #8

Creating with Recycled Materials

The students wanted to create their modes of travel using recycled materials, but they did not have enough materials to complete this task. The students decided to write to their parents to ask for more.

Here is the letter:

Dear Mummy and Daddy,

Thank you for sending the recycling stuff to class, but we don’t have enough. 

Can you please send us some more things so that we can make our vehicles?

We need more:

• cardboard boxes
• bottle tops
• lids
• egg cartons
• clean milk boxes and yoghurt cups

Thank you,

From your children in K2A.

Story #9

What does the engine in the car look like? 

A student wanted to know how a car works. She conducted some research on her own and presented her learning to the class.

https://twitter.com/NISKinder2/status/658565092590546944

Agency: When students are actively involved in discussion, questioning and by being self-directed in their creating (as opposed to passive receiving. When students express their theories of the world and these are honoured in the environment.

Story #10

Making our own books using the @BookCreatorApp

The students created their own non-fiction books using the iPads. They used the app ‘Book Creator’ to make these books. Students shared their learning and helped each other as they looked for information in non-fiction books. They created a new book, a new page, changed the the background, font, the size and colour of the text, took photographs and added sound/voice.

 Story #11

Watching a Video 

We watched a BrainPOP video on ‘transportation’ and discussed the key ideas shared in the video. The students watched the video a second time to think about how they can create some of the different modes of transportation. They decided to use the boxes, bottles and bottle caps to make their creations.

Story #12

The Train Station

The students decided to create a train station in the classroom. They made a list of the things they would need.

• money
• tickets
• seats/beds
• a driver
• food and drinks

Story #13

Creating a safe mode of transport for our ‘buddy’. 

The students were asked to create a vehicle for their buddies (the elephant, bear, koala and duck). The mode of transport had to be safe and travel as far as it can along a number line. First the students made a plan. Then they used recycled materials to build their vehicle. Here is the process.

We made a plan. We used recycled items.We created our vehicles.

We tested our modes of transport.

https://twitter.com/NISKinder2/status/659652225162063872

Here are some of our creations!

Story #14

How do you travel to school? 

Students gathered information from their peers to find out ‘How we travel to school’. The students recorded their information on a graph.

Story #15

A Road Trip!

The students went on a field trip to Yangshan Park. They took the bus to the park and returned on the metro. Parent volunteers helped students gain a better understanding about how the bus and metro work (transportation systems) and how we can stay safe while we travel (safety).

We discussed:

• how transportation connects people
• how we stay safe while using transportation
• why rules are important and what would happen if systems were not followed

Here comes the metro!

https://twitter.com/NISKinder2/status/662106984041222144

 

 

 

Staying Safe When We Travel

 

Our understanding at the END of our unit.