Sharing the Planet

Program of Inquiry: Sharing the Planet

Plans Overview: An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

Ages 18 months-3years
Central Idea: We need to share our space and resources to be happy and healthy.
Key Concepts: Causation, Connection
Lines of Inquiry:

  1. How we share
  2. How we take care
  3. How we clean up 

Ages 4-5 years
Central Idea: Animals are alike and different having unique characteristics that enable them to interact with their environment.
Key Concepts: Form, change, connection
Lines of Inquiry:

  1. Observing live animals and pictures
  2. Demonstrating how animals change over time
  3. Comparing habitats, movements, and structure

Ages 6-8 years
Central Idea: The needs of organisms are met through their interdependence within an environment.
Key Concepts: Causation, connection
Lines of Inquiry:

  1. Patterns in the basic needs of organisms
  2. Similarities and relationships between humans and other organisms

Central Idea: All living things have a lifecycle that have similarities and differences.
Key Concepts: Change, form
Lines of Inquiry:

  1. The structure of life cycles
  2. The importance of life cycles
  3. Understanding of the similarities and differences of life cycles

Central Idea: Living things must share resources for growth and survival.
Key Concepts: Change, connection
Lines of Inquiry:

  1. Understand properties and components of soil and how it affects plant growth
  2. Basic needs for plant survival
  3. Worms play an important role in composting
  4. Flowering plants are pollinated in different ways

Ages 9-11 years
Central Idea: Over time, living things need to adapt in order to survive.
Key Concepts: Change, connection
Lines of Inquiry:

  1. Concepts of adaption
  2. Circumstances that lead to adaptation
  3. How plants and animals adapt or respond to environmental conditions

Central Idea: Living and non-living things in an ecosystem are interconnected and impact each other.
Key Concepts: Function, connection, form
Lines of Inquiry:

  1. Components of an ecosystem
  2. Interactions within the ecosystem
  3. Human affects on an ecosystem