Programme of Inquiry 09-10

The curriculum format for Xara Garden School is derived from the International Baccalaureate Organization's "programme of inquiry."

Each year, six multi-disciplinary themes are explored, "How We Organize Ourselves," "Who We Are," "How We Express Ourselves,"
"How the World Works," "Sharing the Planet," and "Where We Are In Place and Time"

Each year, staff select new Central Ideas for each theme. Students develop the Central Ideas through Key and Related Concepts,
branching into Lines of Inquiry. Each will run 5-6 weeks, and unfold in the sequence set out below.

Xara Garden School 2010-2011 Program of Inquiry
Kindergarten
How We Organize Ourselves	Who We Are	How We Express Ourselves	How the World Works	Sharing the Planet	Where We Are In Place and Time
Central Idea:	Central Idea:	Central Idea:	Central Idea:	Central Idea:	Central Idea:
Making plans lets us have fun, be safe, and create new things	Everyone in the world belongs to one family that walked out of Africa and spread across the whole world.	Our ability to express ourselves helped early people survive, and lets humans work and play in groups.	In nature, one creature's waste is another creature's food.	We share the planet with everything that is alive now, everything that ever lived, and everything that will be born in the future.	The difference between how people live now and how they lived long ago is the difference in what each generation learned and passed down to its children.
Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:
Connection Function Causation	Connection Change Perspective	Connection Form Function	Connection Function Responsibility	Connection Perspective Responsibility	Change Responsibility Reflection
Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:
Systems Cooperation Community	Family Empathy Migration	Communication Cooperation Symbols	Interdependence Perspective Biomimicry	Sharing Empathy Service	Culture Giving Learning
Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:
What is a plan? What is an agreement? How does taking the time to make a plan make more time for work and play? How do we agree on plans?	Who is our family? What did the first people want? How was their life different from ours? How was their life the same as ours?	What are symbols? What are languages? How does communication help us survive? How does communication help us have fun?	What is waste? What do we throw away? Where does it go? What does nature do with waste?	What do we share with other people? What do we share with other living things? What do we share with the past? What do we share with the future?	What were the first inventions? What is technology? What is new in the world since your parents were born? What new things do you want to leave for the future?

1st & Second Grade
How We Organize Ourselves	Who We Are	How We Express Ourselves	How the World Works	Sharing the Planet	Where We Are In Place and Time
Central Idea:	Central Idea:	Central Idea:	Central Idea:	Central Idea:	Central Idea:
In a system, all parts work together for the benefit of all of them.	We are all a collection of the most successful traits of all our ancestors	Different kinds of notation work for different kinds of information (language, math, music, dance, etc.)	Plants and animals breathe in what the other breathes out	Everybody must share the tiny amount of fresh water in the world for all drinking, growing crops, and making things	People are brand-new animals in a very old world
Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:	Key Concepts:
Connection Function Causation	Connection Change Causation	Connection Form Function	Connection Function Responsibility	Connection Perspective Responsibility	Change Responsibility Reflection
Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:	Related Concepts:
Systems Cooperation Community	Family Empathy Migration	Communication Cooperation Symbols	Interdependence Perspective Carbon Cycle	Sharing Empathy Service	Time Process Extinction
Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:	Lines of Inquiry:
What is a system? How are machines, living things, families, businesses, schools, communities, nature, even soil, all systems? What are the systems in our classroom?	Who is our family? What are ancestors? How does a living thing get to be an ancestor? What traits did you get from your parents?	What kinds of information do we need to keep track of? How can we write down different kinds of information? How do we agree what writing means?	What is air? How do animals breathe? How do plants breathe? Why do plants and animals need each other?	Why do we need fresh water? Where is the fresh water? How do we get it? How do we share it?	How old is the world? When did people first come into the world? What was the world like before people came?

	Key Concepts:	Form: What is it like? Connection: How is it connected to other things?	Function: How does It work? Perspective: What are the points of view?	Causation: Why is it like it is? Responsibility: What is our responsibility?	Change: How is it changing? Reflection: How do we know?