Preschool

Central Idea: Understanding our social responsibility within the natural world

Lines of Inquiry:

• Living and non-living things
• The significance of the natural world for living things
• Our roles as part of the natural world

Key Concepts: Form, Connection and Responsibility

Learner Profile Attributes: knowledgeable, caring and principled.

Living and non-living things

The classes each approached this line of inquiry in different ways; using Venn diagrams, nature walk with magnifying glasses and iPads for photography, a tray of material and magazine pictures to sort. This also incorporated discussion on our Religious Education unit, God's Creation. 

The children defined living and non-living things and the characteristics of living things ie does it breathe air? does it grow and change? does it need food and water?

The significance of the natural world for living things

The preschoolers attended an excursion to the National Zoo and Aquarium as a provocation into animals and their habitats, diet and how to approach animals with respect. This was an excellent platform for further questioning and learning. 

The preschoolers also explored our own natural environment in Curtin, looking for bees and what flowers bees are attracted to. This interest evolved into the importance bees, their role, classifying them and the parts of the bee and designing a bee hotel.

We had the hatching chicks program over two weeks, caring for the chicks and ducks and designing a playground for them.

The children did observational drawings, wrote a prayer of thanks for God's creation and hosted a Father's Day liturgy.

Our role as part of the natural world

The three classes took this in different directions. The Rock Wallabies focused on drought and water conservation in our bathrooms and outside play as well as learning about where our rubbish goes and keeping our waterways pollution free.

The Ground Parrots have focused on recycling, including the Lids for Kids campaign, collecting soft plastics for Coles and a renewed interest sorting rubbish, including feeding our worm farm with their food scraps.

The Black Cockatoos have been sprouting seeds for planting in our newly established vegetable gardens to attract bees, sorting rubbish and avoiding single-use plastics.

All classes acknowledge aboriginal people as the original custodians of the land, each day in our class prayer times.