Unit+of+Inquiry+(UOI)

Unit of Inquiry (UOI)

We All Have a Tale to Tell

The central idea of this unit was "Messages conveyed are influenced by personal experiences and society." At the beginning we read a book called "Reaching for the Stars" by Lola Jaye which was about her becoming an author. We wrote her an email and asked her some questions and she actually wrote back! (See email.)

I learned that most writers and composers and artists write (or draw) from their past experiences. I also learned that messages come and sometimes they are made. Describing characters in your stories helps put a better picture in the readers' mind. (See reflection.)

One of the lines of inquiry was seeing ourselves as writers. In my reflection I wrote that my writing in Grade 5 is a million times better than it was in Grade 1 for example and all I had to do was describe my characters and setting and it made my stories better. It made me learn when my mum commented on the description that it also made me a better writer.



We also had to write and act out a play. It was really fun. My group and I did "Little Red Riding Hood". Here is a picture. I was Little Red Riding Hood



Nature Unleashed (Natural Disasters)

The central idea of this unit was "People organize themselves to respond to disasters." The SPAT was to make some sort of skit with a partner. My partner was Yannick and we did an interview. I was the interviewee and Yannick was the interviewer. (see script.) We also wrote a poem. (See poem.)

We studied many different natural disasters and at the end of the unit we had a vote to see which natural disaster everyone liked to study the most. We voted for volcano so a few girls wrote a script for a play that we did at assembly. This is the picture of the volcano we made and the volcano makers.



What's the Matter?

The central idea is "Materials undergo changes that provide benefits and pose challenges for society."

In this unit we did lots of experiments. In fact, we went round to all the teachers in Grade 4/5 and rotated. There were different experiments at all the classes. My favourite one was in Ms. Sharlene's class. We mixed vinegar with baking soda and the bag expanded! It almost exploded! It was really wacky!



We also learned a lot about the three R's. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. We learned the cycles of things. It was very interesting. Our SPAT for this unit was to get an experiment and show it to the class. I did an experiment that had to do with condensation and evaporation. (See experiment.)

Oh, I forgot to mention, SOLID, LIQUID and GAS are the three main types of matter. Condensation is when gas turns to liquid and evaporation is when liquid turns to gas.

Body Systems

The central idea is "Body systems work together to keep us alive."

This unit was all about how our body works on the insides. We learned about involuntary and voluntary muscles. The SPAT was to choose a system in the body out of muscular, skeletal, nervous, and many more. I did the circulatory system. (see report).

We sang some really cool raps to the tunes of real songs. It was really fun.

Exhibition

Central idea "All individuals should have the freedom and equal rights to access opportunities to meet their needs and achieve their dreams successfully."

This is the central idea we came up with for the exhibition. We also came up with some lines of inquiry.

Before the exhibition started I was a little bit worried that I wouldn't survive it. But when we got into our groups, I thought that I had a very reliable group. We helped each other when we needed it. Mr. Nigel (our mentor) was really helping lead us up to the display boards. At the time though the teachers wanted us to do our 8 page report so we had to do things for Mr. Nigel as well as our reports. At the beginning you might be saying to yourself "YES!" because there is hardly any homework but what the teachers aren't telling you is that you have to do loads of homework. They are expecting you to do work on your reports at home. I kept that in mind.

When you get up to the display boards, don't start ripping your hairs out. Just think I am doing it for my group. And if you get into an argument, don't get in a huff because then you will fall to pieces.



Barge Trip

The barge trip is when all the Grade 5's go on a trip to Thailand along the Chao Praya river. We get these little journals and without them I would have been bored to death. It really kept me entertained.

The activities also kept me entertained. We had 4 barge crews. One cooked, one made up the games, one cleaned up the deck and one checked the weather. Those crews rotated around. My favourite crew was when we made the games. We played this game called plop. It was really fun watching the barge come round the corner when we were just about to get on for the first time.



After two days on the barge, we swapped round with the other group to go to the temples on land. We spent the other two days there. We went to a temple where we saw three famous Jedi's. At the temples, we made stories about the Burmese attacking Thailand.



Overall, the barge was fun. But before you know it, your on a plane back to school.