INQUIRY LE ARN ING PL ANN ER

UNIT TITLE: The Circle of Life!

LEVEL
F-2

TEAM
Daniela Granata, Katie
Tran, Gabriel Da Cruz

UNDERSTANDINGS:

TERM
Three

DURATION
Nine weeks

FOCUS QUESTIONS:

Foundation:
Exploring the differences between - What makes things grow?
various patterns in our environment such - What happens during each season (summer,
as the four seasons and the different autumn, winter and spring)?
weather patterns each season brings
and how things grow in each season.
The different types of environments and - What types of special things/features do
habitats throughout the world and animals that live on the land have, and animals
learning about the living and non-living that live in the sea have?
things that reside in these environments
and habitats.
Year One:
There are observable changes that occur - How do we know what season it is?
in the sky and landscape.
Leaves
The sun
Clouds (weather)
Living things live in different places
(environments and habitats) where there
needs are met such as food and water.
Year Two:

- What do you need to live?

- How do you know if something is alive?
- What would a plant need to live/grow?

KEY CONCEPTS:
Patterns, cycles, systems, living and non-living
things, different environments, recycling and
composting.

(All four sections should be completed)

Thinking Processes
Communication Skills
Students develop their
skills in making accurate
observations about people
and events, and they begin
to use a variety of means to
record their observations.

Students will practise the

skills of being attentive
listeners and viewers in
pairs, small groups and as
a whole class.

Personal Learning
Students develop simple
protocols to assist them to
learn effectively such as
listening attentively.

Interpersonal
Development
Students learn to stay on
task and share resources
fairly.

RESOURCES
Relf, P. (1996). The Magic School Bus Wet all Over: A Book about the Water Cycle. (1st ed.).
Scholastic.
Dust, C. (2014). From a Seed to a Flower. YouTube. Retrieved 16 October 2014, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJjNh2pMSB8
Hartmann, H. (2014). The Needs of a Plant (song for kids about 5 things plants need to live).
YouTube. Retrieved 16 October 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUBIQ1fTRzI

TUNING IN
Lesson 1:
Activity One: Planting a Seed
The inquiry unit will begin with an immersion activity: Planting a seed in a small plastic container
and seeing how it grows over time throughout the unit.
Activity Two: Patterns
Class discussion about the differences between the four seasons, with answers to be written on
the whiteboard. What are the four seasons? What types of things do we do in each season?
What types of clothes do we wear during each season?
Students will then write/draw pictures about their favourite season in their workbooks. They will
include: why it is their favourite season, what they like to do during that season, and how that
season makes them feel.
Lesson 2:
Creating rain in a jar:
Students will begin exploring the water cycle. Conduct a mini experiment. Create condensation
(rain) in a glass jar, by pouring hot water in the jar, and then putting a plate full of ice on top of the
jar. This will create a condensation-type effect. Facilitate discussion with the class of what is
happening in the experiment, and what they think this experiment represents in the real world
outside. Introduce vocabulary such as:
- Condensation
- Evaporation
- Cycle
Lesson 3:
The Water Cycle:
Read the Magic School Bus book on the water cycle. While reading the book, emphasise the
cycle of:
- Water evaporating in the clouds
- Condensing into rain
- Falling back into the ocean, with the process starting again.
Students will then proceed to make their own diagram of the water cycle, using arrows to outline
the cycle of how rain is created. Students will be given an A3 sheet of white paper, and will use
coloured paper for each part of the cycle:
- Cotton balls for the clouds
- Yellow paper for the sun
- Blue paper for the pond/lake and water droplets
- Green paper for grass and mountains
Reflection

FINDING OUT

SORTING OUT

How can we: Take students beyond what they already know?
Challenge their ideas, beliefs and attitudes? Enable them to use
skills and knowledge to collect new information? Provide a range
of experiences to develop our understandings?

How will students sort out, organise, represent and present

what they have found out? How can they communicate and
express what they know? How will they use preferred ways to
demonstrate their knowledge, skills and values?

Lesson 4:
Systems:
Watch
From
seed
to
a
Flower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJjNh2pMSB8
to outline the stages of growth for a plant.
Orchestrate a classroom discussion about what a
plant needs to grow and the stages of growth.
Write down and draw students ideas from the
discussion on the whiteboard or poster-paper for
next lessons prompts.

Lesson 6:
Living and Non-Living:
Take students for a guided playground
walkabout with clipboards and pencils to
observe different living and non-living things
they can find in the play area. Encourage the
students to talk about what they are drawing
and writing and what they observe and can
see.

Refer to the Class Plant.

- What stage of growth is the plant at now?
- What did it need to grow this far?
Possible Literacy Follow Up Task:
Procedural writing: How to plant a seed. To cater
for the F-2, the procedural writing can be written
in full sentences or as pictures accompanied with
words or phrases.
Reflection
Watch The Needs of a Plant (song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUBIQ1fTRzI
to reiterate to students the needs of a plant.
Lesson 5:
Living and Non-Living:
Refer to last lessons (Systems) diagram.
- What is alive or living?
- How do you know?
Draw an environment on the white board (such as
the beach) and verbally sort out living and nonliving things as a class.
List different items in the picture and then have
students sort them out into living and non-living
categories in their workbooks. Students have the
option of drawing the picture if spelling a word is
too difficult, after they have attempted it.
As an extension, students can add their own
living and non-living things to their workbooks.

Complete the Living/Non-Living table in the

outdoor working area (if the weather allows).
Encourage students to question whether
certain things are living or non-living, such as
rocks, soil, wood, plants and sand.
Reflection
Gather back into the classroom to share living
and non-living things that were observed in the
play area. Discuss topics such as rocks, soil,
wood, plants and sand: whether they are living
or non-living.

Lesson 7:
Different environments:
Generate a classroom discussion about
different environments, building upon previous
lessons.
Students will be thinking about three natural
habitats:
- the ocean
- the forest
- the arctic
Students will be presented with a selection of
animals and must place them in their correct
habitat. After a whole-class example, students
will work individually, and cut out and paste the
animal into the correct habitat based on
physical attributes and prior knowledge.
As an extension, students can draw any

Reflection
Have students present their work on their desks
for a Gallery Walk for students to observe praise
other students work.

unincluded animal into the appropriate

environment, or even come up with another
environment that was not been included (ie.
desert.)
Reflection
Have students present their work on their
desks for a Gallery Walk for students to
observe and praise other students work.

GOING FURTHER
How can we extend and broaden the unit? What other perspectives or dimensions can we explore? What are the ways which
students can negotiate their own personal inquiries?

Lesson 8:
Different Environments:
The class will go on an excursion to the Royal Melbourne Zoo. During the excursion, students will
be able to observe animal features, habitats, lifecycles, survival needs, as well as living / non-living
things.
This will also serve to present the idea of recycling and sustainability. During the visit, the students
will visit the zoos water treatment and recycling plant, as well as discuss the various informational
green toilet displays found throughout many of the zoos footpaths.

Lesson 9:
Recycling and Composting:
Generate a classroom discussion on what the students think recycling is, and ask why it is done.
Guide conversation towards environments they are familiar with (home, school, recent excursions,
etc.).
Move discussion towards the difference between recycling, rubbish, and compost. After students
have shown a satisfying level of familiarity, they will work on a sorting activity in which they are to
classify items into three distinct groups: recycling bin, rubbish / waste bin, and compost bin.
As an extension, students can draw other items and sort them into their proper group.
Reflection
Have students present their work on their desks for a Gallery Walk for students to observe and
praise other students work. Those who had time to draw additional items can present their
drawings to the class.

ASSESSMENT SUMMARY (ONGOING: FOR, AS and OF learning)

What are the cumulative and summative opportunities for assessment? How can teachers and students monitor progress? What
strategies can we use to cater for variance in learning styles and progress? How can we allow for expected and unexpected
outcomes? How can we provide opportunities for self, peer, teacher, parent assessment?

INQUIRY STAGE
Lesson One

Lesson Two

Lesson Three

Lesson Four

Lesson Five

DESCRIPTION
Teacher
will
facilitate
a
discussion about the seed and
children will infer/predict what
will happen to the seed as it
grows throughout the unit.
Questions to prompt class
discussion: What makes things
grow? How do we take care of
plants and things that grow?
What types of plants grow best
in different seasons?
Student will begin to make
connections
between
the
seasons and the similarities
and differences between each
one.
Teacher will conduct the miniexperiment of creating the rain
effect in a jar. Students will
observe what is happening,
and will discuss/share with their
peers what they can see.
The teacher will facilitate a
class discussion focusing on
what this could represent in the
real world.
Teacher will read the Magic
School Bus book on the water
cycle. Students will engage
with the book by using the
contents of the book to
describe the process/steps of
the water cycle and will have
opportunities to discuss and
share their knowledge with
their peers.
Teacher will present a YouTube
video outlining the stage of
plant growth. Students will then
engage in a discussion about
what a plant needs to grow.
Teacher
will
draw
environment containing

PURPOSE
Developing vocabulary and the
ability to describe each season
using
describing
words
(expanding on vocabulary).

Developing vocabulary relating

to condensation etc. as a small
introduction to the water cycle.
Students will also gain a
general
understanding
of
condensation/rain
and
the
processes that occurs when
condensation is created.
Students will understand the
purpose of reading the book on
the water cycle through the
creation of their diagram of the
water cycle, thus consolidating
their knowledge into the
diagram for future reference.

Students
will
develop
vocabulary relating to plant
growth. Students will gain an
understanding of the stages of
plant growth and what is
required for a plant to live.
an Students
will
gain
an
both understanding of what is living

Lesson Six

Lesson Seven

Lesson Eight

Lesson Nine

living and non-living things.

Teacher will facilitate a class
discussion to allow students to
sort what is living and nonliving in the picture.
Teacher will guide the students
on a playground walk-about
to observe living and non-living
things in their play area.
Students are encouraged to
share their thoughts and
understandings
with
their
peers.
Teacher will guide discussions
about
habitats
and
environments. Teacher will
present pictures of animals as
well as three different habitats.
Teacher
will
then
guide
discussion
about
the
characteristics of an example
animal, and how they may be a
hint at where the animal lives.
Students will then individually
sort out the animals.
Teacher will guide the students
through the zoo, pointing out
the habitats and characteristics
of animals. The students will
also focus on the water
treatment and recycling plant,
as well as the informational
green toilet displays.
Teacher
will
initiate
a
discussion about recycling,
focussing on their immediate
environment.
Teacher
will
present different pictures of
waste (food, paper, etc.) and
will ask students to sort these
into recycle, rubbish, and
compost groups.

INQUIRY EVALUATION

and non-living through class

discussion.

Students will gain a deeper

understanding of what is living
and non-living from observing
creatures / items in a different
environment.

Students will classify an animal

into its natural habitat by
observing its characteristics
and properties, as well as using
their own prior knowledge.

Students will be able to identify

distinct
characteristics
of
animals. Students will be able
to learn in an out-of-school
setting and context.

Students
knowledge
of
sustainable practices will be
observed.
Students
will
strengthen their abilities to
observe
characteristics
in
objects.