Primary Years Programme of Inquiry
***Note: 2020-2021 units are based upon 2019-2020 units and are subject to change***
- Who We Are
- How We Organise Ourselves
- Where We Are in Place & Time
- How the World Works
- Sharing the Planet
- How We Express Ourselves
- Grade 4 Stand Alone
Who We Are
An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human
Preschool
(Preschool completes 4 units each school year)
Central Idea: As I grow and change, I discover new things about who I am and what I can do.
Lines of Inquiry
- What I can do / Who am I?
- My relationship with others The ways that I change
Key Concepts: Form, Connection, Change
Kindergarten
Central Idea: The choices we make affect other people
Lines of Inquiry
- Our responsibilities in relationships
- Fair and peaceful ways of sharing
- The consequences of our actions
Key Concepts: Causation, Responsibility, Perspective
Grade 1
Central Idea: Groups of people work together in different ways to achieve common goals
Lines of Inquiry
- Common goals within communities
- How we work together to reach common goals
- Responsibilities and consequences for members within a group
Key Concepts: Responsibility, Connection
Grade 2
Central Idea: The choices people make affect their health and well-being.
Lines of Inquiry
- Balanced lifestyle
- Our responsibilities to make good choices for our health
- The consequences of our choices
Key Concepts: Perspective, Responsibility, Causation
Grade 3
Central Idea: The human body has many different systems working together to help us function.
Lines of Inquiry
- The body systems
- Functions of the body systems
- Connections between the body systems
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Connection
Grade 4
Central Idea: Culture is a reflection of a people's beliefs and values.
Lines of Inquiry
- How geography impacts culture
- Similarities and differences among cultures
- How perspectives may vary from culture to culture
Key Concepts: Causation, Connection, Perspective
Grade 5
Central Idea: People’s interests, passions, and beliefs can inspire and sustain learning and motivate them to take action.
Lines of Inquiry
- Identifying our passions and related Issues
- Planning for and conducting an inquiry
- Synthesizing results for presentation
- Planning future action based on reflection
Key Concepts: form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection (student chosen)
How We Organise Ourselves
An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.
Grade 1
Central Idea: People develop systems and processes to get the food they need and want.
Lines of Inquiry
- Where food comes from
- Stages foods go through before we eat them
- How the food we eat impacts our health and our environment
Key Concepts: Responsibility, Causation, Change
Grade 2
Central Idea: People work together to develop systems that create well-functioning communities.
Lines of Inquiry
- Needs, wants, goods, and services (form)
- How communities meet the needs and wants of their members (function)
- How systems are connected (connection)
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Connection
Grade 3
Central Idea: Societies make decisions that impact humankind and the environment.
Lines of Inquiry
- How different societies meet the needs of their people
- How our decisions impact humankind
- How our decisions impact the environment
Key Concepts: Causation, Perspective, Responsibility
Grade 4
Central Idea: Society develops systems to organize itself.
Lines of Inquiry
- Different types of systems
- How different organizations operate
- How systems and/organizations change to meet the needs and wants of individuals and society
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Change
Grade 5
Central Idea: Understanding how systems function enables people to make decisions about the use of resources.
Lines of Inquiry
- Interconnectedness of local and global systems (food, natural resources, economy)
- Inequity within systems (wealth/poverty, exploitation, gender inequality, child labor)
- Systems support decision making and problem solving
Key Concepts: Responsibility, Connection, Perspective
Where We Are in Place & 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.
Grade 1
Central Idea: Humans create and change things to improve their daily lives.
Lines of Inquiry
- Products/innovations in our daily lives
- Why people create and or innovate
- How and why have innovations changed over time
Key Concepts: Form, Causation, Change
Grade 2
Central Idea: Exploring how people lived throughout history can help us understand the way life changes.
Lines of Inquiry
- Homes and daily life in the past/present
- Changes to homes and daily life over time
- How your home affects your daily life
Key Concepts: Form, Change, Connection
Grade 3
Central Idea: Exploration may expand our perspective and understanding.
Lines of Inquiry
- Why people explore
- How people record explorations
- How exploration expands our thinking
Key Concepts: Perspective, Form, Function
Grade 4
Central Idea: Human migration can involve challenges, risks and opportunities.
Lines of Inquiry
- The reasons for migration
- How migration impacts countries, cultures and individuals
- The multiple perspectives on migration
Key Concepts: Causation, Change, Perspective
Grade 5
Central Idea: Interactions between different cultures can bring about change.
Lines of Inquiry
- How cultures influence each other (connection and change)
- How technologies impact culture (change)
- Cultural diffusion (perspective)
Key Concepts: Connection, Change, Perspective
How the World Works
An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.
Preschool
(Preschool completes 4 units each school year)
Central Idea: People use different materials and in different ways and for different purposes.
Lines of Inquiry
- Different building materials and their properties
- The structure of buildings, towers and bridges
- The materials and shapes used in making different stable, weight bearing structures
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Causations
Kindergarten
Central Idea: Scientists follow a method to learn new things.
Lines of Inquiry
- Why scientists conduct experiments
- How scientists conduct and record experiments (scientific method)
- How scientists reflect on the results of an experiment
Key Concepts: Function, Change
Grade 1
Central Idea: The solar system has many patterns and connections that affect life on Earth.
Lines of Inquiry
- The position and characteristics of objects in our solar system (planets, stars, moon etc.)
- The cycles of the Earth, Sun, and Moon and how they affect life. (Day/night, seasons, years tides, moon phases etc.)
- How scientists can apply their understanding to new situations
Key Concepts: Form, Causation, Connection
Grade 2
Central Idea: People apply and manipulate forces to solve problems in their everyday lives
Lines of Inquiry
- Forces and how they work
- Simple machines as tools to manipulate forces
- How simple and compound machines impact our everyday lives
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Causation
Grade 3
Central Idea: Humans observe the changing Earth and strive to understand it.
Lines of Inquiry
- The changing earth
- Scientific theories
- The ways humans observe the earth's changes
Key Concepts: Change, Causation, Form
Grade 4
Central Idea: Humans use energy to meet their needs and wants
Lines of Inquiry
- Different sources and types of energy (chemical, kinetic, potential, electricity)
- How energy is converted (energy chains)
- How people use energy
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Change
Grade 5
Central Idea: Understanding the nature of matter allows us to transform it and use it.
Lines of Inquiry
- Structures and properties of matter
- How matter can change
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Change
Sharing the Planet
An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.
Preschool
(Preschool completes 4 units each school year)
Central Idea: Many factors affect how things change and grow
Lines of Inquiry
- Choices have consequences
- How living things change and grow
- Our responsibility towards living things
Key Concepts: Responsibility, Change, Causation
Kindergarten
Central Idea: Individual actions make a difference to living things.
Lines of Inquiry
- The needs and characteristics of living things
- The connection between living things and the environment
- The responsibility of individuals towards living things
Key Concepts: Form, Connection, Responsibility
Grade 1
Central Idea: Plants are complex living things that interact with the environment around them.
Lines of Inquiry
- How plants grow
- Features of plants
- How plants interact with their environment
- The scientific process
Key Concepts: Function, Connection, Reflection
Grade 2
Central Idea: Water is vital to life on Earth and limited for many.
Lines of Inquiry
- Dependence on water (all living things need water to survive) (causation)
- Freshwater limitations (location, systems, conflict, pollution) (causation)
- Ways to conserve water (responsibility)
Key Concepts: Causation, Responsibility
Grade 3
Central Idea: There is a relationship between the characteristics of living things and their environment.
Lines of Inquiry
- Characteristics of living organisms (invertebrates/vertebrates etc.)
- Life cycles
- Relationships among organisms
Key Concepts: Form, Change, Connection
Grade 4
Central Idea: The choices humans make, when using and sharing natural resources, contribute to the state of our environment.
Lines of Inquiry
- How we use resources
- The connection between our use of resources and the environment
- Informed choices that have a more positive effect on the environment
Key Concepts: Form, Connection, Responsibility
Grade 5
Central Idea: Living organisms are dependent on each other and non-living factors in their environment.
Lines of Inquiry
- Causes of balance and imbalance within an ecosystem
- Interconnected elements of ecosystems
- How energy is transferred within an ecosystem
Key Concepts: Causation, Function, Connection
How We Express Ourselves
An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.
Preschool
(Preschool completes 4 units each school year)
Central Idea: People express themselves in different ways.
Lines of Inquiry
- Expression of ideas and feelings
- The ways materials can be used
- Different likes, dislikes, feelings, and opinions
Key Concepts: Form, Perspective, Function
Kindergarten
Central Idea: People express themselves in different ways.
Lines of Inquiry
- The ways we express ourselves
- Different expressions
- What makes individuals unique.
Key Concepts: Form, Perspective, Connection
Grade 1
Central Idea: A powerful story engages the audience, communicates meaning, and invites a response.
Lines of Inquiry
- Why people tell stories
- How people tell stories
- The stories that speak to us
- How people communicate using light and sound
Key Concepts: Function, Perspective
Grade 2
Central Idea: People use their creativity for different purposes.
Lines of Inquiry
- The types of creative expression
- The purpose of creative expression
- The ways creative thinking can help us to solve problems
Key Concepts: Form, Change, Connection
Grade 3
Central Idea: People use different forms of expression to reflect their uniqueness as human beings.
Lines of Inquiry
- The uniqueness of people and their self-expression
- How people express themselves
- How perspective shapes interpretation
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Perspective
Grade 4
Central Idea: Effective communicators make informed choices when deciding on language and tools to express themselves.
Lines of Inquiry
- How our purpose affects our style of communication
- Language and its importance within disciplines
- Our responsibility to our audience when choosing language tools.
Key Concepts: Causation, Connection, Responsibility
Grade 5
Central Idea: (PYP Exhibition) People’s interests, passions, and beliefs can inspire and sustain learning and motivate them to take action.
Lines of Inquiry
- The creative process ways to connect to and engage our audience
- Communicating meaning in diverse ways
Key Concepts: form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection (student chosen)