Yr5 Curriculum Update – 01/11/19
Working together to achieve success for every child
Written by Chloe Chun, Jacob Wong, Kobe Wong, Sophia Naveed, and Aryana Budhrani.
Unit of Inquiry
Sharing the Planet
Central Idea
Biodiversity is dynamic and dependent on various factors.
Lines of Inquiry
- the benefits of biodiversity (connection)
- factors that influence biodiversity (causation)
- our responsibility to biodiversity (responsibility)
We have continued to learn about biodiversity. We know that biodiversity’s meaning is ecosystem, species, and genetics combined together. Some classes have already been on a field trip to Eagle Owl with Mr Melsom to find out about hill fires and how that damages biodiversity, plant native trees and collect data to help understand Hong Kong’s biodiversity. We also observed different trees and looked at the variety of biodiversity in the hills. We planted different plants and sowed seeds. Other classes will go on the trip next week and be able to learn from the expert Mr Melsom too.
We have been using Cornell Notes, which is a note taking system, to organise our notes when doing research. We used this to record our thoughts about how the wolves changed the rivers in the Yellow Stone National Park and how one change in biodiversity affects the entire ecosystem.
We have started to look at the different concepts (connection/responsibility/causation) about biodiversity and research more to become an expert about biodiversity and interdependence. The Cornell note taking system has helped us keep track of our notes and organise the key ideas.
For Maths we have been using different strategies like the Jump Line, Bridging to/through 10, Compensation, Place Value, Partitioning, and Known Facts to help solve decimal equations. We have also been learning how to collect and organise data. This will help us on our trip to Eagle Owl.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
WWF Nature Challenge
Linking with Sharing the Planet, we will be taking part in the WWF Hong Kong Inter-School City Nature Challenge to help identify as many species in Hong Kong as possible. During school hours we will be exploring the biodiversity in and around our school campus, taking photos and uploading these via the iNaturalist app. This information is then sorted and classified to help understand more about the species in our area.
We would like to invite you to download the iNaturalist app and login using the USERNAME: kjsbio and PASSWORD: kjsbio. If you are a parent that drops or picks up your child/ren to school, please explore the area in and directly around our school boundaries and help us with the challenge. By logging into the app using our username, it means any photos you upload will go directly to our school project. The boundaries are inside the school and directly outside as well as the grit slope outside the black fence. The challenge runs from November 4 – 11. We appreciate your help.
Click here for more information
Science Museum
The Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui has many great interactive learning activities for students to understand more about biodiversity. If you have a spare morning or afternoon it is a lovely way to spend time as a family and great for all ages.
Year 5 Trip to Eagle Owl Lantau
Please note the dates below for which classes will be attending the field trip to Eagle Owl Lantau.
5E – Friday 01 November
5M – Tuesday 05 November
5P – TBC
Kind regards,
The Year 5 team
Key Dates for the Diary
31 October & 7 November 3 Way Learning Conference (2.15 – 6.30pm)
12 – 15 November School Photos
Friday 15 November Bingo Night
Wed 27 – Fri 29 November Year 5 Camp, Tai Tam
Friday 13 December Last day of term – Half day (finish at 12pm)
