Where+We+Are+in+Place+and+Time

An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives. || Subject focus Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Art
 * ** Where We Are in Place and Time **
 * ** Me on the Map **

Standard # 3. Students will understand the concepts of geography and demography and how geography and demography influence and are influenced by human history. Maps link people and places together. || Form Function connection || What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central idea? What evidence, including student-initiated action, we will look for: 1. Needs for maps 2. Purpose of maps 3. Types of maps
 * Strands
 * a. Understand the concept of location.
 * b. Use maps and geographic graphs, tables, and diagrams to read and display geographic information.
 * c. Locate and distinguish among landforms and geographic features.
 * e. Know ways (e.g., recycling, travel, transportation) in which people from different cultures think about and respond to the physical environment.(AERO) ||
 * ** Central Idea **
 * ** Concepts: **
 * Summative assessment task(s): **
 * Summative assessment task(s): **
 * Evidence:
 * Students will demonstrate their understanding of how maps link people and places together by creating a diagram of their bedroom, drawing a map from their home to school, describing its location, and constructing a physical representation of the place using mapping skills.
 * Use of vocabulary acquired throughout the unit. (ex. types of landform, symbols, )
 * Presentation of their physical representation of an imaginary place. ( teacher's observations and students questions)
 * Students looking for maps, drawing maps or reading maps.
 * Lines of Inquiry: **
 * Lines of Inquiry: **

**What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?**

 * 1) How do maps help us to understand the world?
 * 2) How do we use maps to communicate?
 * 3) How do we use maps to organize information?
 * 4) How do maps bring people and places together?

**How might we know what we have learned?**
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and skills? What evidence will we look for?

[Please begin typing here]

What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?

[Please begin typing here] What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile? ||
 * 4. What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions?
 * 1) To access prior knowledge and generate questions, teacher will provide a variety of maps such as globes and atlases.
 * 2) Discussion by reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction literature.
 * 3) Students will conduct a treasure hunt.
 * || Instructional Strategies || [[image:file://localhost/Users/karenalvia/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_image001.png width="18" height="18"]] ||
 * 1) Students will look through a variety of maps and categorize them by type, using an organizational tree map. (research and communication skills)
 * 2) Students will look through a variety of maps to compare the use of symbols found on maps and how they communicate understanding.
 * 3) Students will take a walking tour of the school and make a map of what they observe. Students will compare that map to an actual of their school. (research)
 * 4) Students will explore possible routes to common destinations.

What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available Non-fiction books, videos, Google earth, Time for kids magazine[]
 * What resources need to be gathered?**

How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
 * DVD videos
 * library
 * discovery streaming

Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students’ understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included. How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each student’s understanding of the central idea.
 * 1) **To what extent did we achieve our purpose?**

What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme?


 * 1) To what extent did we include the elements of PYP?

What were the learning experiences that enabled students to: In each case, explain your selection.
 * develop an understanding of the concepts identified in "What do we want to learn?"
 * demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills?
 * develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?
 * Map reading and map writing are lifelong literacy skills.
 * Many map symbols are the same as environmental signs. Learning the meanings of environmental symbols and icons is a first step in confident citizenship and community participation. To read these signs is also a part of safety awareness.
 * Many young children, or older students who are struggling with English, can communicate visually (using maps and symbols) before they can express the same information in words and sentences.
 * A map is a more economical, practical, clearer and more memorable way of giving directions and expressing spatial relationships than writing the same information using only words and sentences.
 * Maps are not just for "doing geography". We use maps in all study areas, in our daily lives, in finding our way about town, in planning and in decision making. We can even draw [|**//Body Maps//**].

All the books mentioned on this page are part of the series **InfoActive**, a visual literacy series of books for K-3.