Our first PYP Unit of Inquiry is entitled ‘Web of Life’, with the central idea of, ‘All living things function in an ecosystem with complex inter-relationships. The students have been learning about what constitutes an ecosystem and the interdependencies of the living things found in different ecosystems.
It is an inquiry into:
the parts of an ecosystem
how organisms are inter-related in an ecosystem
how humans impact all living things
As part of our unit, the grade 4 classes will be baking weekly nature walks in the forest beside the school. Over the course of the three (4 if scheduling allows) walks, we will be looking to see what the forest ecosystem contains, as well as food chains and food webs in the forest. We will also take a closer look at the pond/wet area and we will spend our final walk learning how the forest prepares for winter. Your child's teacher will communicate the forest walk days to you in advance. On the days of the walks, please make sure your child comes to school with good walking shoes (preferably rain boots or hiking shoes, please). Each walk will last approximately one hour.
To make this a truly rich learning experience for your child, we encourage you to discuss this unit at home. Some things to try are:
Explore Moscow! Visit different parks around the city and discuss the types of plants and animals that can be seen. Discuss with your family how humans have impacted the ecosystems here, both in positive and negative ways. Read books about ecosystems and habitats with your child in his/her mother tongue. Take a walk around your neighborhood. Notice the insects, birds, plants, and animals. Consider how they all work together, even in an urban environment like Moscow. As always, if you or someone you know is an expert on any area of this unit, or could share a slide show or contribute in some way, we would love to have you join our classes for an hour, a day, whatever! Having first-person resources makes for practical and authentic learning experiences.
Here is some vocabulary your students will be learning and using in this unit:
General information for all groups:
habitatsgreat resource for all biomesanother great resource for allbiomes and ecosystems Deserts:plants and wildflowersdesert plantsdesert animals Rainforests: Rainforest -lots of informationGrasslands: All about prairies
Activities for your free time:
make a variety of food webs
make an arctic food web
animal habitats quizBuild a fish!
Dear Parents,
Our first PYP Unit of Inquiry is entitled ‘Web of Life’, with the central idea of, ‘All living things function in an ecosystem with complex inter-relationships. The students have been learning about what constitutes an ecosystem and the interdependencies of the living things found in different ecosystems.
It is an inquiry into:
As part of our unit, the grade 4 classes will be baking weekly nature walks in the forest beside the school. Over the course of the three (4 if scheduling allows) walks, we will be looking to see what the forest ecosystem contains, as well as food chains and food webs in the forest. We will also take a closer look at the pond/wet area and we will spend our final walk learning how the forest prepares for winter. Your child's teacher will communicate the forest walk days to you in advance. On the days of the walks, please make sure your child comes to school with good walking shoes (preferably rain boots or hiking shoes, please). Each walk will last approximately one hour.
To make this a truly rich learning experience for your child, we encourage you to discuss this unit at home. Some things to try are:
Explore Moscow! Visit different parks around the city and discuss the types of plants and animals that can be seen.
Discuss with your family how humans have impacted the ecosystems here, both in positive and negative ways.
Read books about ecosystems and habitats with your child in his/her mother tongue.
Take a walk around your neighborhood. Notice the insects, birds, plants, and animals. Consider how they all work together, even in an urban environment like Moscow.
As always, if you or someone you know is an expert on any area of this unit, or could share a slide show or contribute in some way, we would love to have you join our classes for an hour, a day, whatever! Having first-person resources makes for practical and authentic learning experiences.
Here is some vocabulary your students will be learning and using in this unit:
biomebiodiversityecosystemecologyenvironmenthabitataquaticproducerconsumerdecomposer
herbivorecarnivoreomnivoreinsectivorenocturnalbehavior conserveconservation
preserve
preservation
observe
observation
domestic
enclosure
breeding
threatened
vulnerable
rare
endangered
extinct