We started our second semester with the Unit of Inquiry (UOI) Where We Are in Place and Time. The class delved into what the central idea meant to them - The Earth below reveals our past. As real-life archaeologists, doing conservation work or uncovering artefacts in confined spaces or caves, the students get to experience the role of an archaeologist first hand, by uncovering hidden 'artefacts' with curiosity and care. While we took turns to read aloud Archeologist Dig for Clues, we also wrote down some of the possible roles of an archaeologist. From the book, we learned that when archaeologists excavate a site, they are not looking for treasures but are looking into signs of life and studying how people used to live. Dark spots in the soil is usually a sign of activity and life. Through that, archaeologist looks through 'ancient garbage' to learn about their diet and their way of life. Recreating Ancient Garbage - Ancient PooWe added in food scraps to recreate what an archaeologist may learn about a person's diet. The class had a lot of fun creating dough and then hiding food scraps in them for the Grade Ones to uncover. Maths - Maps and Position, Problem Solving StrategiesWe revised some of the concepts we learned in the last semester and started with a game of throw, aiming and throwing objects into buckets in order to make up specific sums. "Down the corridor, up the stairs", is an easy way to remember the process of reading coordinates. It is a new concept to all of us and we took the first few weeks to learn it and put it to practice by rounding up sheep on coordinates using our shepherd dogs. We picked up our map-reading skills pretty quickly and was even able to read a map of our classroom to locate the treasure pieces that had been hidden. Some of us required reminders to reposition our maps, but we were all able to put our newly acquired skills into practice and locate the hidden pieces! Four weeks in, we are now able to draw up our own maps using map keys to represent what we see in our physical space. Individually, we drew up a map of our classroom as well as a map of the playground for us to hide the Ancient Poo that we had created. Position and DirectionsWe designed a path to take our friends around the primary village, using 'left', 'right', 'forward' to direct them. We learned that we needed to first describe the position we were starting from before we could direct them to where we wanted them to be. Taking the lead from one of our classmates, we were excited to find a new garden around the primary village. The Earth - Its land and seaLooking into the line of inquiry, The Earth - Its land and sea. Most of us were unsure of the number of continents, oceans, where they are located or what the shapes of the different continents were. We worked together to piece together a puzzle of the world map and then another jigsaw piece that included the oceans of the world. We are building upon our general knowledge and will keep learning more about the world around us. LiteracyTyping skills, working on inference and report writing skills are what we are practising as a class. Some of us have even started the process of writing to a new friend in the United States as pen pals. Reading and comprehension - We took turns to read aloud to both Grade One and Two in class. Organising an archaeological site exploration for the Grade OnesUsing the knowledge we learned in this unit and in Maths, we were able to organise an archaeological dig experience for our learning partners in Grade One.
As a class, we decided on where to bury the 'artefacts' and mark them on the playground map that we had created. We were excited in being able to take the lead in creating a fun experience for them to be fellow archeologists to uncover the ancient poo and Dinosaur eggs that we had hidden.
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AuthorWe are Grade 2 students at ISS International School. Archives
March 2022
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