This Tuesday 27 February, the Year 4 students welcomed their parents into school for a Celebration of Learning, related to their ‘Who We Are’ unit of inquiry. This event was rescheduled following the recent school closure, but the enforced delay did little to dent the enthusiasm, skills, and expertise being demonstrated by the students. Despite having only a day and a half to reconnect with their learning after the long break, the students were determined to show off their considerable knowledge, independence, and organisational skills.
The Year 4 students presented their inquiry process into the idea that “Our bodies are made up of interrelated systems, which need to be maintained for healthy functioning”. Throughout the unit, the students were challenged to develop their research skills with a brief to find out how different systems of the body work, how they are connected to each other, and the responsibility they can take to keep their body healthy. They carried out research on different body systems from a variety of sources such as presentations and practical demonstrations, case studies, and a variety of media. During their PE lessons, the students thought about the importance and effect of exercise and its role in a balanced, healthy lifestyle. They then developed a deeper understanding of one specific ailment that affects our bodies, producing a detailed information report and taking action to communicate advice to others on how to avoid their chosen ailment. The students selected from various forms of communication, including comics, posters, slideshows, brochures and websites.
Throughout the unit, students also completed a number of practical experiments related to the body. From these experiments, they collected data and learned to organise and interpret it, and to draw conclusions from the results. The Celebration of Learning represented the culmination of the whole unit, and also an opportunity for the students to continue their experiments, gathering data about their parents’ lung capacity, strength, reflexes, flexibility, and many other attributes in a series of gruelling physical tests. Many thanks go to all the parents who engaged so enthusiastically in the event, being subjects not only for their own children’s experiments but for many others as well.
