Unit 2: Inside Our Bodies

 This week we kicked off our second unit of the year. Our new unit is under the transdisciplinary theme of Who We Are and is all about Our Bodies and Body Systems.

Central Idea: 

Our bodies are composed of complex systems which are connected

Lines of Inquiry:

- Systems of a human body and their functions 

- How organs and organ systems work together 

- Taking care of our body systems 

Key Concepts:

Function, Connection, Causation

Approaches to Learning:

Research Skills, Thinking Skills

Learner Profile:

Balanced, Knowledgeable

Learning Goals / Success Criteria:

- Students will be able to explain how various organs and organ systems work.

- Students will be able to identify how two or more organ systems are interconnected.

- Students will inform others on ways to take care of their body systems.

Action:

Students will work together to research and create models of different body systems to present and teach to other groups.

Students will monitor if they are working on healthy lifestyle goals.

How to Support Your Child at Home:

Talk with your child about how different organs and organ systems work. 

Encourage your child to find answers to their own questions by working on an independent research project.

Help your child learn new unit related vocabulary in your home language.

Have your child help prepare some meals together. While cooking or eating together, discuss the health benefits of different foods, the importance of eating a balanced diet and limiting the intake of sugars, salts and cholesterol.

Finding Out What Students Know Already

We began the unit with a mystery riddle:

A person was found dead lying face down in the middle of a large field. He was wearing a backpack, but there was nothing else found near him.

How did he die?

To find out more, the students had to be detectives and ask the right questions that could only be answered with a yes or no. It took a little while, but as they put together the hints, the students, with some key questions by Yeonjae and Simran, they finally managed to come up with the right answer.

If you don't already know the answer, try asking your child a series of questions to find out!

This activity led to a good discussion on different causes of death and demonstrated some understandings the students had on how our bodies work.

To show more about what they already knew, students began working with a partner to create a lifesize model showing the inside of the body.

Oktoberfest Celebration

Today the students literally got a taste of Oktoberfest as their lunch boxes were filled with German foods and the PTA provided everyone with a pretzel. At lunchtime, we watched a performance by the school choir.

Meanwhile, during lesson time, the students collected and added survey data about everyone's favourite Oktoberfest foods to a graph. Next,  they did some Oktoberfest themed reading comprehension which also helped prepare them for a fun Oktoberfest Kahoot!