Grade 2 Students Inquire About Systems of a Community
Grade 2 students have engaged in a valuable Unit of Inquiry where they research and learn how communities work – what are the systems in place to make a community function well?
“Students have learned about the different systems of a community such as the transport system and what are the consequences of such a system breaking down. This led to the children inquiring into e.g. medical care, education, news reporting and security. The children learned so much and became risk takers and true inquirers.” – Melanie, Grade 2 Teacher
“If a traffic light system has broken down, it will be a problem. It would cause problems as people would not be able to get to their destinations and there might be crashes.” – Milo, Grade 2 student
For their own personal inquiries, students first wondered about professions and how individuals play a role in society. They learned about careers and had the opportunity to job-shadow professionals for a day to learn how to perform their roles. A group of students learned from our Facilities Team about how the school uses energy and even had the opportunity to tour ISA’s geothermal system, green roofs, and solar panels. Another group inquired about how to interview people, write news and design visuals from our Communications Department. Some students also worked with Pre-Kindergarten children as they were teachers for a day! There were also students involved with the Nurses’ Station and Security Team to help protect and care for our community.
“I like interviewing people and being interviewed. So maybe I could learn how to share stories with the world! I wonder what it would be like if I was an actual news reporter!” – Monte, Grade 2 student
As they took a further look into their object of inquiry, they wondered how community leaders make decisions. For the first time in their lives, two students wrote an email. But who to? The mayor of Amstelveen, Mayor Poppens! But what they didn’t expect was to receive an answer right away! They had the privilege to welcome Mayor Poppens to the ISA campus and ask questions about how he impacts the betterment of the collective.
“Just like you have a student council, Amstelveen has a city council! Members of this council are elected by the citizens and they make decisions about where to place budgets – schools, trees, pollution. As a municipality, we have people who help us brainstorm how we can make roads cleaner, incentivise electrical vehicles, and lower our energy expenses. We try to be more environmentally friendly and prevent more climate crises.” – Mayor Poppens
Finally, students translated their ideas of what their communities would look like into physical maquettes. They displayed their creations in the foyer for all ISA families to appreciate.
