Grade 5’s journey to the past through the transdisciplinary learning of a Unit of Inquiry

It’s really interesting how a Unit of Inquiry in the IB Primary Years Programme progresses over the course of the unit and lends itself so well to transdisciplinary learning as well as honing the traits of the IB Learner Profile. Grade 5 embarked on their Unit of Inquiry on ancient civilisations through a ‘Wow provocation’ in which they pretended to be archaeologists and in teams, went on a scavenger hunt looking for artefacts in the Primary garden. As the unit progressed over the month of September, they used their creativity to create fossils, practised making 3D structures inspired by ancient monuments in outdoor learning in Maths, explored the process of mummification by experimenting on a tomato, honed their research and communication skills to make presentations about an ancient civilisation of their choice, and finally went on a field trip to the Asian Civilisation Museum for some real-world learning. They concluded their UoI by creating a survival kit for time travel to a past civilisation.