INQUIRYLEARNINGPLANNER

UNITTITLE:EducationalResearchProject(ERP)

LEVEL
5/6

TEAM
MaryanneHeeps
MaryBuffon

UNDERSTANDINGS:
Linkingpersonalintereststothefourspecific
learningintentions:
Wearelearningtoplanappropriate
investigationmethodstosolveproblems
Wearelearningtopredict,clarifyand
question
Wearelearningtousedataandgraphsto
representanddescribepatternsand
observations
Wearelearningtoobserve,measureand
recorddata.

KEYCONCEPTS:
Science
Data
Graphs
Personalinterestswithafocusonascience
experiment

TERM
4

DURATION
10weeks

FOCUSQUESTIONS:

Whichlearningintention/sareyoulinking
yourprojecttoo?
Howhaveyoudonethis?
Howcanyourecordandthenshowyourdata?
Whatisyourexperimenttestingfor?

ThinkingProcesses

CommunicationSkills

PersonalLearning

Challengeothersandourselves Presentknowledgeand
Todevelopapositiveattitude
withdeepthinkingand
understandingandengagewith andresilienceespeciallyin
questioning.
arangeofcommunication
timesofdifficultywhile
formssuchasoral,written,
learning.(Wanttosucceed)
visual,diariesandthroughthe
Drawconclusionsabout
useoftechnologyincluding
personalintereststhrough
PowerPointpresentations,
observationandrecordingof
photographsandvideoclips.
informationfrompractical
experiencesandprevious
knowledge/understandings.

Interpersonal
Development
Appropriate,positiveand
effectiveengagementwith
peersinpairsand/orgroups.
Studentscanworktogetherto
identifyandsolveproblemsas
ateam.
Acknowledgethestrengthsin
othersbyplacingonthe
affirmationschart.

RESOURCES

ThinkingHatsOn reflectionactivitysheet
IndividualmaterialsforpersonalinterestandindividualEducationalResearchProjects
Makingcoloursexperiment
o 3torches
o Scissors
o Rubberbands
o Blue,greenandredcellophane
o Darkenedroom
Howdoeslightmakedifferentcoloursreading
Howdoeslightmakedifferentcoloursworksheet

Sequence that flowed from one session to the

Tuning In
Finding Out
Sorting Out
Going Further

TUNINGIN
Lesson1:
Studentsworkacrossthefouryear5/6classroomstolearnanddiscussthefourlearningintentionsassociated
andlinkedtothetopicofscienceforthistermseducationalresearchproject.Scienceisthefocusforterm4s
ERPswiththestudents tryingtolinktheirintereststothesefourlearningintentions:
Wearelearningtoplanappropriateinvestigationmethodstosolveproblems
Wearelearningtopredict,clarifyandquestion
Wearelearningtousedataandgraphstorepresentanddescribepatternsandobservations
Wearelearningtoobserve,measureandrecorddata
Thisgoesoverfourlessons,witheachteachertakingoneofthefourlearningintentions.Theclassesthen
spend1x1hourlessonworkingoneachofthefourlearningintentions.Therefore,intheendeachstudent
wouldhavecompletedeachofthelearningintentionswithfourdifferentteachers.Therefore,thistuningin
lessongoesover4hours/4sessions.
Thingstodiscussineachofthelearningintentions:
Wearelearningtoplanappropriateinvestigationmethodstosolveproblems
Assistinginthedevelopingandbuildingofideasfortheirexperiment.Whatthistestsfor,howthey
willdisplaythedataandhowthiswillassistinbuildingunderstandingforthemselvesandthe
audienceinregardstotheireducationalresearchprojecttopic.
Wearelearningtopredict,clarifyandquestion
Students willlearnoftheimportanceofpredictingatthebeginningandthroughouttheirproject,as
wellastheimportanceofclarifyingandaskingquestionsandhowthisassistwithdevelopingadeeper
understandingforthemselvesandtheaudiencewatchingtheirexhibitontheireducationalresearch
project.
Wearelearningtousedataandgraphstorepresentanddescribepatternsandobservations
StudentsarerequiredtocompleteanexperimentfortheirERPthattests/evaluateanaspectoftheir
topic.Theyarethenrequiredtodisplaytheirdatausingarangeofdifferentgraphsandwaysof
displayingdatatodescribepatternsandobservations.
Studentswilllearnofdifferentgraphsthatmayassistthemindisplayingthedatatheyhavefound.
Wearelearningtoobserve,measureandrecorddata
Studentswilllearnofdifferentwaystomeasureandrecorddatafromtheirexperiment.

FINDINGOUT

SORTINGOUT

Howcanwe:Takestudentsbeyondwhattheyalreadyknow?
Challengetheirideas,beliefsandattitudes?Enablethemtouseskills
andknowledgetocollectnewinformation?Providearangeof
experiencestodevelopunderstandings?

Howwillstudentssortout,organise,representandpresentwhatthey
havefoundout?Howcantheycommunicateandexpresswhatthey
know?Howwilltheyusepreferredwaystodemonstratetheir
knowledge,skillsandvalues?

Lesson2:
Linkscienceunitwithothercurriculumareas.Inthis
lesson,studentswillbelinkingsciencewithwriting.
Asscienceisthetopicfortheireducationalresearch
projects,studentswillbeconductingtwoscience
experimentsduringliteracy/writingandarerequired
towritetheseupasanExperiment.Theclasswill
besplitintotwogroups.Thefirstgroupwillbe
completingtheMakingcolours experiment,whilst
thesecondgroupwillbecompletingthereading
Howdoeslightmakedifferentcolours and
completingthisworksheet.

Lesson4:
Students arerequiredtocomeupwithanexperiment
thatrelatestotheirproject,whichusesthelearning
intentionswhilstpresentingtheirfindingsfromthe
experimentusingdata,graphs,surveysetc.Students
willthenusetheMyExperiment sheettocomplete
theirquestion,theequipmenttheywillbeusing(both
listinganddrawing),themethod(whatdid/willthey
do?)andtheirprediction(whattheythinkwill
happen).Studentsthengoonwiththeireducational
researchproject.

Reflection
Reflection
Come together as a class and participate in
reflectioncircles.
Gatherstudents backtothefloor.Haveoneperson

Havestudentsanswerthequestions:
fromeachgroupreportbacktotheclassaboutwhat
o What is your interest/topic for your
theyhavereadandhowtheirgroupworkedtogether.
EducationalResearchProject?
Askquestionssuchas:
o Haveyoucomeupwithanexperiment
Howcouldyouimproveonthatnexttime?
foryourproject?
Whatcouldyoudodifferently?
o Canyoudescribeyourexperimentto
Canyouexplainwhatyouhaveread?
theclass?
o Whatwillyoubetestingfor?

Lesson3:
Linkingscienceunitwithothercurriculumareaswill
beevidentthroughoutthisterm.Inthislesson,
studentswillbehavingnewreadingbooksforboth
guidedandreciprocalreadingwhichwillallbe
sciencebased,nonfictionbooks.Students complete
avocabchartatthestartofeachlessonbasedona
text.Thisterm,eachofthevocabchartsandtextswill
beassociatedwithscience.Studentswillthenworkin
fourgroupsduringreadinggroupasfollows:
RedGroup:Teachergroupforguidedreading.
GreenGroup:IndependentReading
*RedandGreengroupswapafter15minutes
BlueGroup:Usesciencetextgivento
completereadingstrategyactivity.Forthis
lessonitwillbesummarisingand
paraphrasing.Studentswillreadthetextand
usetheMainideasortsheettohelpwritea
summary.
YellowGroup:Usesciencetextprovidedto
completereadingstrategyactivity.Forthis
lessonitwillbesummarisingand
paraphrasing.Studentswillreadthetextand
usetheMainideasortsheettohelpwritea
summary.
Reflection
Havestudents returntothefloor.Onepersonfrom
eachgroupreportsbacktotheclassaboutwhatthey
havereadandhowtheirgroupworkedtogether.Ask
questionssuchas:
Howcouldyouimproveonthatnexttime?
Whatcouldyoudodifferently?
Canyouexplainwhatyouhaveread?

Lesson5:
Studentswillconductexperimentsthroughoutthis
lesson.Ifstudentscannotconducttheseatschool,
theywillstillparticipateandhavetocompletetheir
experimentpriortoorafterthislesson.Studentswill
thenberequiredtofinishtheirMyExperiment
sheet.Theywouldhavepreviouslycompletethe
question,equipment,method,andtheirpredictionof
whattheythinkwillhappen.Inthislesson,students
needtocompletetheresults,sowhatdidhappenand
whydidthishappensections.Studentsarethen
requiredtogobackthroughtheirMyExperiment
sheetandaddanyequipment,orextrastepstheyhad
developedwhilstcompletingtheexperiment.
Ifstudentsfinishthistask,theywillthenberequired
toputtheirexperiment(video,photos,written,visual)
intotheirproject.Studentsareremindedthatthey
musthaveanexperimentandthismustbetested
beforetheexpo.

Reflection:
Gatherstudentsbacktothefloor.Participatein
reflectioncircleswhereeachstudentshareswhattheir
experimentis,howtheirexperimentwent,theresults
thattheyfoundandwhytheybelievetheyfoundthis.
Encouragestudentsthatthisisagoodtimetopractice
presentingtheirexperimentsbeforetheExpoison.

GOINGFURTHER
Howcanweextendandbroadentheunit?Whatotherperspectivesordimensionscanweexplore?Whatarethewayswhichstudentscan
negotiatetheirownpersonalinquiries?

Lesson6:
StudentstocompleteThinkingHatsOn reflectionactivitysheet.Throughoutthisreflectiveactivity,
students canthinkbackovertheirlearningandanswerquestionssuchas:
Howdoyoufeelaboutwhatorhowyouhavelearned?
Whataresomeofthebestthingsaboutwhat/howyouhavelearned?
Whatweresomeofthechallengesinthislearning?
Whatmightyoudodifferentlyorhowcouldyouimproveyourlearningnexttime?
Whathaveyoulearnedaboutyourselfasalearnerduringthistime?
Havestudents answereachofthesequestions,encouragedeepreflectivepractice.Thiswillprovidean
understandingofhowstudentslearned,positiveaspects,aspectstheycanimproveonandaspectstheyhave
learnedaboutthemselvesduringthistime.
Lesson7:
Therewillbeanexhibition/expoheldonWednesday10thDecemberforstudents topresenttheirindividualor
groupEducationalResearchProject.Initially,students willhavetosetuptheirownareawheretheydisplay
theirprojects.Students projectscanbepresentedinanywayofchoicebuttheremustbeanoralaspectto
theirprojectwheretheyorallypresenttheirproject.Students havepreviouslychosentopresenttheirprojects
usingposters,boardgames,PowerPointsandmanymorecreativeways.Oncestudentshavesetuptheir
personalareafortheirERP,thegrade3/4swillbecomingtowatchtheirpresentations.Studentsstayattheir
projectandpeoplethatareviewingwanderaroundtheclassroomtowatcheach.The3/4sarecomingto
watchtounderstandtheexpectationsinyear5/6,getideasandgainconfidenceaboutthefutureyears.After
themiddleunithavewatchedthepresentations,parents,teachersandspecialguestswillbecomingtoSt
PaulsPrimarySchooltoviewstudents presentations.
Annotation:
ThinkingHatson requiredstudentstoreflectonthestrengthsoftheirlearning,areasoffurtherdevelopment
andstrategiestoachievethisinthefuture.Thelastlessonwasanexhibition/expoheldwherestudentsshow
casetheirlearninginanindividuallydesignedway.Thiswasextremelyeffectiveasitengagedboththe
parents/carersandotheryearlevels,providingopportunitiesforstudentstouseorallanguageinaprofessional
manner,toverbalisetheirlearningandanswerquestionsfromparents,teachersandpeers.

ASSESSMENTSUMMARY(ONGOING:FOR,ASandOFlearning)
Whatarethecumulativeandsummativeopportunitiesforassessment?Howcanteachersandstudentsmonitorprogress?Whatstrategiescanwe
usetocaterforvarianceinlearningstylesandprogress?Howcanweallowforexpectedandunexpectedoutcomes?Howcanweprovide
opportunitiesforself,peer,teacher,parentassessment?

INQUIRYSTAGE

DESCRIPTION

PURPOSE

TuningIn(Lesson1)

Aschildrenareworkingthrough
theiractivities,theeducatoristo
roveandaskthechildrenprobing
questions.

AS

Groupdiscussion/reflectionatthe OF
endofthelessonwillalsoinform
theeducatoroftheknowledgethat
thechildrenhavegained.
FindingOut(Lesson2)

Aschildrenareworkingthrough
theiractivities,theeducatoristo
roveandaskthechildrenprobing
questions.

AS

Groupdiscussion/reflectionatthe OF
endofthelessonwillalsoinform
theeducatoroftheknowledgethat
thechildrenhavegained.
FindingOut(Lesson3)

Groupdiscussion/reflectionatthe OF
endofthelessonwillalsoinform
theeducatoroftheknowledgethat
thechildrenhavegained.

SortingOut(Lesson4)

Aschildrenareworkingthrough
theiractivities,theeducatoristo
roveandaskthechildrenprobing
questions.

AS

Groupdiscussion/reflectionatthe OF
endofthelessonwillalsoinform
theeducatoroftheknowledgethat
thechildrenhavegained.
SortingOut(Lesson5)

Groupdiscussion/reflectionatthe OF
endofthelessonwillalsoinform
theeducatoroftheknowledgethat
thechildrenhavegained.

GoingFurther(Lesson6)

ThinkingHatsOn ActivitySheet
(reflectivepractice).Have
students thinkbackoverlearning
andanswerreflectivequestions.
Encouragedeepreflectivepractice.

AssessmentOFwhattheyhave
learnt,andassessmentFORwhat
needstobetaughtinfuturelessons
regardingthistopic.

GoingFurther(Lesson7)

Exhibition/Expo

Thepresentationisofanyformthe
studentschooseandthisisan
exampleofassessmentOF
learning.