OACS UNIT ADAPTATION

Inquiry-Based Unit Development

EDU 338

The

is

on

power of an inquiry-based
approach to teaching and learning
its potential to increase intellectual
engagement and foster deep
understanding through the
development of a hands-on, mindsand research-based disposition
towards teaching and learning.

OACS Unit Adaptation: Ancient Farming Communities

(Grade 5)
Ministry of Education Grade 4 Social Studies
Heritage and Identity: Early Societies, 3000 BCE 1500 CE
Inquiry-Based Unit Development
Laura Dieleman
Ancient Farming Communities: Early Societies
Introduction
Educators are called to the challenging task of engaging students in learning so that they have the skills
to function and flourish in todays world. In order to develop the skills and knowledge to function, flourish, and
thrive in the world, both students and educators alike must question. Humans are created to be curious beings
with a natural curiosity that should not be diminished over time. As a future Christian educator, I believe part of

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman

our task as stewards of Gods creation is to question, to gain knowledge, and to think deeply about matters and
subjects with which we are presented. According to Watt and Colyer, learning through inquiry is both a
teaching method and a skill for students that harnesses natural curiosity and wonder (2014). Inquiry-based
learning is a pedagogical approach that puts questions at the centre of the learning process. It is also an
approach which seeks to engage students to ask deeper questions, think critically, and to communicate clearly,
honestly, and respectfully the answers which they have developed.
As a Bachelor of Education student at Redeemer University College, I have analyzed the Ontario
Alliance of Christian Schools (OACS) Creation Studies unit entitled, One Body, Many Parts: Ancient Farming
Communities developed for grade five. With the help of Watt and Colyers textbook A Practical Guide to
Inquiry-Based Learning (2014), I have adapted this unit to fit an inquiry-based approach learning plan. My
learning plan incorporates specific Ministry of Education curriculum expectations from grade four social studies
section A: Heritage and Identity: Early Societies, 3000 BCE 1500 CE. According to the Ministry of Education
(2013), students in grade four will use the social studies inquiry process to investigate ways of life and
relationships with the environment in two or more early societies (3000 BCE 1500 CE), with an emphasis on
aspects of the interrelationship between the environment and life in those societies (p. 98). Therefore, it is
evident that the Ministry of Education, too, is pushing for an inquiry learning process to take place in
elementary social studies classes today.
In this inquiry learning plan and unit outline, students will investigate the influence of the natural
environment on the development of various early civilizations around the world. They will examine changes in
the ways human needs were met as a result of technological advances. Students will also investigate the
significant innovations of early civilizations and assess their continuing relevance to modern society. Through
the use of an open-ended final product, students will learn how to develop their own inquiry questions and
create a grade four-level research project out of their question and present it to the class. It is my hope that this
inquiry-based unit adaptation will encourage students deep thinking and engagement in learning about early
civilizations and communities.
Curriculum Connections

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman

Ministry of Education Curriculum Expectations

Grade Four Heritage and Identity: Early Societies, 3000 BCE 1500 CE
98 101)

(p.

By the end of Grade 4, students will:

A1.1 compare social organization (e.g. social class, general political
structure, inherited privilege, the status of women) in two or more early
societies
A1.2 compare aspects of the daily lives of different groups in an early
and explain how differences were related to the social organization of that

society,
society

A1.4 compare two or more early societies in terms of their relationship

with the environment and describe some key similarities and differences
environmental practices between these societies and present-day Canada

in

A2.1 formulate questions to guide investigations into ways of life and relationships with the environment in
two or more early societies, with an emphasis on aspects of the interrelationship between the environment and
life in those societies
A2.5 evaluate evidence and draw conclusions about ways of life and relationships with the environment in
early societies, with an emphasis on aspects of the interrelationship between the environment and life in those
societies
A3.2 demonstrate the ability to extract information on daily life in early societies from visual evidence
A3.5 describe the importance of the environment for two or more early societies, including how the local
environment affected the ways in which people met their physical needs (e.g. for food, housing, clothing)
A3.8 describe the social organization of some different early societies (e.g., a slave-owning society, a feudal
society, an agrarian society, a nomadic society) and the role and status of some significant social and workrelated groups in these societies (e.g., women, slaves, peasants, nobles, monarchs, etc.)

Inquiry Overview

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Laura Dieleman

Course Inquiry
Questions

Unit of Study Inquiry

Questions

Core Concepts

Critical Content

Why are early

societies worth
learning about?

How can we better

understand the people
of the past?

-perspectives
-analyzing the past to
better understand the
present

-recognizing
similarities &
differences; conflict &
cooperation in early
societies

Investigate how the

environment had a
major impact on daily
life in early societies.
Does it have the same
impact on Canadian
society today?

Are you a good steward

of Gods creation,
specifically with the
environment around
you? How does it
impact your daily life?

-interrelationships
-identity
-significance

-environment and
human
interrelationships
-stewardship &
sustainability

Why would one early

society be better than
another early society?
Is todays world a place
you want to be in
comparison to early
societies?

-continuity and
change; perspective

-how social
organization works
-aspects of daily lives
in early societies
-caste system in India
-hierarchy of classes

If you were to live in

an early society,
which group would
you want to be a part
of? And why?

Reminder for Teachers:

Here are some criteria for a deep inquiry questions if you wish to add/make changes to the inquiry overview
above:

An invitation to think (not recall, summarize, or detail). You cant find the answer through a simple
Internet search.
Requires support and justification, not just an answer.
Open-ended: typically there is no final, correct answer.
Arises from genuine curiosity and confusion about the world.
Makes you think about something in a way you never considered before.
Invites both deep thinking and deep feelings. Asks you to think ethically.
Leads to more good questions.

Adapted from A Practical Guide to Inquiry-Based Learning(Watt & Colyer, 2014)

The Final Product

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman

It is important for not only the teacher, but students as well, to develop their own inquiry questions
throughout this unit adaptation. Throughout the unit, students should practise creating and revising possible
inquiry questions arising from sources such as websites, photographs, quotations, media, and print texts
throughout all stages of the inquiry process, not just in the beginning. Throughout an introductory lesson in this
unit, the teacher will display a sample of images or videos of early farming communities or early civilizations.
Make sure students frequently have time throughout the presentation to turn to partners around them and ask
each other questions, which will then be recorded. Provide students with the Asking Questions about
Photographs handout as well as Asking questions about sources (see attached). This technique can be used
throughout various times in the unit. After students have a variety of questions written down and learn more
about the inquiry process, they will have a chance to create and revise their own inquiry question. Furthermore,
they will use their inquiry question (after being approved by the teacher) and present a research project to the
class based on their own inquiry question at the conclusion of the unit. This final product is very open-ended,
leaving an opportunity for students at a grade four level to create their own research project based on a question
of their choice. Students may choose to creatively answer their question through a comparison/contrast chart, a
drawing, a piece of artwork, etc. as long as they are able to present it to the class and explain their process of
choosing a question to research and think deeply about.

General Unit Overview/Learning

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Plan
Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

OACS Unit Adaptation

Introduction
Why are early
societies worth
learning about?
-using visual
evidence to
extract
information on
daily life in
early societies
-formulating
some early
questions
-K-W-L chart
introduced for
unit (what I
know, want to
know, what I
learned)
Lesson 6
Roles in early
civilizations;
social
organization

Laura Dieleman
Lesson: key
aspects of life in
early societies

What are
inquiry
questions? How
do you develop
them? Leading
vs. neutral
questions lesson

-Structure of a
society lesson;
cooperation vs.
conflict

-development of
inquiry
questions as a
class

-student
response
journals
-add to K-W-L

-placemat
strategy/activity
at conclusion of
lesson

-complete
lesson on the
daily life of
early societies,
key aspects of
each society

Lesson 7

Lesson 8

Lesson 9

Lesson 10

The importance
of religious
beliefs in a
society: early
societies vs.
Canada today?

Conclusion of
unit complete
K-W-L chart as a
class;
concluding
discussion on
early societies
vs. Canada today
and the
importance of
learning history

-culminating
project based on
inquiry question &
presentations

-how do early
farming
societies differ
from presentday Canadian
society?
-continuity and
change;
perspective

Environmental
stewardship &
sustainability:
how can we be
proper stewards
-think-pair-share of Gods
activity used
creation? Were
early societies
-roles in todays generally
society in
stewards of the
comparison to
environment?
roles in early
civilizations
-land is Gods
gift to people to
-which early
provide for their
society would
needs:
you want to be a discussion
part of? Why?
-exit card
-student
-revising inquiry response
question
journals

-short lesson
guided by
student
discussion
-religious
beliefs
worksheet
-student
response
journals

-graphic
organizers

chart as a class
-listening to a
passage being
read from a
journal

-Looking at the
past to understand
the present:
reflection back on
first introductory
lesson what have
we learned so far?
-looking at more
visual evidence to
extract
information; this
time artefacts and
masks
-the importance of
art and an oral
history throughout
the past

interrelationship
s
-open time for
questions about
last minute
revisions
-discussion exit
cards

Assessment
Assessment is extremely important even for an inquiry-based unit as it is true evidence that we gather of
student learning. Therefore, the purpose of assessment is to aid students in improving their learning. Assessment

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman

also provides critical information for teachers on how best to support students in the process of furthering their
learning. For this particular inquiry-based unit outline, I would suggest following Watt & Colyers (2014)
Reproducible 2: Inquiry Rubric as a background and underlying framework for both assessing and evaluating
the evidence of student success in the inquiry. The rubric can also act as a starting point for co-constructing
specific success criteria with students. An inquiry-based unit rubric would generally contain four categories:
inquiry skills and processes; application of thinking skills in proposing a course of action; communicating new
understandings; and learning what is currently known about the topic/problem. The final product for this unit
will be evaluated separately and should be announced at the beginning of the inquiry for the interest and
motivation of students. Below is a sample of a rubric which could be used for this adapted inquiry-based unit
plan:

Success Criteria Categories

High Degree
of
Effectivenes
s

Considerabl
e
Effectivenes
s

Some
Effectivenes
s

Limited
Effectivenes
s

Inquiry skills and processes

The student will
-ask and refine relevant questions that
further social studies investigations
-gather and analyze multiple sources
critically
-evaluate evidence and make valid
conclusions
Application of thinking skills in proposing
a course of action
The student will
-transfer critical, creative, and disciplinebased thinking skills when proposing an
answer to the inquiry question or proposing a
course of practical action
Communicates new understandings
The student will
-communicate clearly
-communicate persuasively
-engage the audience
-use the vocabulary and terminology of the
discipline
Learn what is currently known about the
topic/problem
The student will
-demonstrate knowledge and understand of
content important to the inquiry

+ Final Product/Assignment

Asking Questions about Photographs

Adapted from A Practical Guide to Inquiry-Based Learning (Watt & Colyer, 2014)

Further
Support
Required

OACS Unit Adaptation

Name_________________________

Laura Dieleman
Date__________________________

Work collaboratively through the following steps to try to create deep questions based on your thinking about
the photograph.
1. Have a discussion about what you observe is happening and what you infer is happening.
2. Each person in the group should create 3 to 5 questions based on your curiosities arising from the
photograph.
3. After everyone has a list of preliminary questions, collaborate to choose 3 of these initial questions to
perfect them into deep inquiry questions.
4. For each of your perfected questions, list 2 or 3 additional questions that arise from the perfected questions.
1. This is what we see in the photograph (observations):
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
This is what we infer from what we see in the photograph (inferences):
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. My question about the photograph:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Our top 3 deep inquiry questions
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Additional Questions that arise from the deep inquiry questions:

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman

Asking Questions about Sources

Adapted from A Practical Guide to Inquiry-Based Learning (Watt & Colyer, 2014).
Name_______________________________

Date__________________________

Source____________________________________________________________________________________
Answer the following questions individually:
1. What is your purpose in asking questions of this person or source?__________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What are your questions?___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What types of questions have you asked?_______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer the following questions in a group.

4. Compare your questions with those of other students. What points of view and assumptions do the questions
reveal?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. How do the questions link to important concepts and content that we have discussed?___________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
6. How could you improve one of your questions?_________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman

Possible Cooperative Learning Strategies:

Placemat
Placemat is a cooperative strategy that allows students to work alone and with a group.
1. Distribute one large piece of paper to each group and instruct students to draw a square or oval in the middle
of the page and then divide the remaining space into sections based on the number of people in the group.
2. Pose a question or topic that you want the group to
explore.
3. After 60 seconds of think time, ask students to write
their ideas in one of the spaces on the placemat in point
form. Providing a specific time period, e.g. three to five
minutes, as well as encouraging students to work in
silence, will result in more focused work.
4. Students will share their ideas with their group.
5. Students collaborate together as a group and decide on a response that they can all agree with and that they
are willing to share with the class.

Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share is a simple strategy promoting complex thinking skills.
1. Think: After a question or problem is posed, students think about everything they know that relates to the
question.
2. Pair: With a partner, students take turns listening and speaking as they share and compare their ideas. How
are they the same? How are they different? What is most important about their combined ideas?
3. Share: One partner shares a summary with the whole class, or the teacher can ask two to three groups to join
with a spokesperson to share the groups ideas.
These concepts are then used to proceed deeper into the lesson concepts.

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman

Possible Early Societies to Study: (taken from Hands-on Social Studies:

http://www.portageandmainpress.com/lesson_plans/plan_508_1.pdf)
Mesopotamia
The name Mesopotamia comes from the Greek meaning between the rivers. It refers to an ancient area
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Today, most of what was Mesopotamia is in Iraq. Starting around 7500
BCE, people began to settle in Mesopotamia and became some of the earliest farmers. Various cultures lived
and flourished there, most notably the Sumerians, Akkadians, and, later, the Babylonians and Assyrians.
Mesopotamia is sometimes referred to as the cradle of civilization for advancements from the early Sumerian
period, including the domestication of animals and agriculture, the practice of irrigation, the establishment of
citystates, and writing. Later inventions include the wheel, used for transportation and pottery making, various
medicines, and the creation of bronze from tin and copper. The division of time into sixty seconds and sixty
minutes is a Mesopotamian invention, and reflects the advanced mathematics and astronomy of a great
intellectual culture. The Code of Hammurabi, 282 laws written by the king of Babylon around 1800 BCE, was
one of the first set of written laws in the world. Mesopotamia began its decline following the Persian invasion of
550 BCE.

Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptian civilization lasted almost 3000 years, from about 3100 BCE until 332 BCE. Geography
played a key role in the societys development. With the Mediterranean at its northern border, it spread south
through the Nile Valley. A series of cataracts (waterfalls) along the Nile River made travel difficult, but provided
protection from enemy attacks, as did deserts to the west and the east. The Niles annual deposit of silt in the
spring provided rich soil for farming. Egypt was ruled by pharaohs, considered to be descendants of the gods.
Most Egyptians were farmers, but there were also governors and nobles, as well as a middle class, which
included doctors, merchants, and scribes. Egypt is known for its advancements in medicine, embalming, its
hieroglyphic writing system, the Sphinx, and its pyramids, which began to be built around 2700 BCE as tombs
for pharaohs and other important people. The Egyptians developed advanced tools for building, papyrus (for
writing and for constructing boats), advanced mathematics for architecture and surveying, and an accurate 365day, 12-month calendar based on astronomy. The civilization came to an end with its conquest by Alexander the
Great in 332 BCE.

The Indus Valley

Although a civilization flourished in the Indus Valley of Pakistan and northwestern India, less is known about it
than Mesopotamia and Egypt, due to few written sources and difficulty uncovering artifacts due to flooding.
People began moving to the region around 2600 BCE, settling along the Indus and Riva rivers. They built cities,
with well-planned and constructed drainage and sewage systems, as important commercial and religious
centres. Mohenjo Daro, the largest, was home to as many as 40,000 people. The Citadel, or upper level, housed
government, religious, and other buildings, as well as a granary and Great Bath. Writing developed as the
society became more complex, and it is believed to have been governed
by a priest king and strong central government. Most people in the Indus Valley lived in small farming villages
near the river floodplains, with mixed farming the basis of its economy. The farmers there were possibly the
first to cultivate cotton. They taught the Chinese how to grow rice around 2000 BCE. People were also active
traders, importing copper, turquoise, and gold, and exporting cotton and other agricultural products. The Indus
Valley civilization began to decline around 1900 BCE.

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Laura Dieleman

Minoans and Mycenaeans

The Minoan civilization was a maritime culture that flourished on the island of Crete from around 2000 BCE to
1500 BCE. Minoans were fishermen, farmers, and traders, exporting an abundance of natural resources,
including timber, farm produce, and cloth; they imported metals and precious stones. Artifacts uncovered in the
early 20th century show the extent of its trade with Egypt, Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), and Mesopotamia.
The Minoans are often called the first European civilization. Around 2000 BCE, kings started to rule the
civilization from large palaces, such as that at Knossos, which acted as administrative centres. Society was
divided into classes of nobles and peasants. It is not known what caused the decline of the Minoan civilization
a natural disaster, such as an earthquake,
and invasion are both theories. Around 1600 BCE, power in the Aegean shifted to the Mycenaeans from the
Pelopponese in southern Greece. Its wealth came from agriculture, trade, and piracy, for Mycenaean
ships sailed the eastern Mediterranean from Italy to Asia Minor. Trade made Mycenae a wealthy culture, where
kings ruled over farmers, craftspeople, tradespeople, and slaves. The Mycenaeans worshipped goddesses and
gods of Greek myth that became so fundamental to the later Greek culture. By 1150 BCE, the Mycenaean
civilization had collapsed. Historians are not sure why.
Ancient China
China is a very old civilization that, unlike others, has developed continuously over many centuries, even during
times of occupation by foreigners. The Chinese have given many innovations to the world, including the
wheelbarrow, paddlewheel boat, gunpowder, paper, and silk production. Chinese history is divided into
dynasties, with the Xia (2000 BCE to 1766 BCE) the first known one, and the Shang dynasty (1766 BCE to
1027 BCE) the earliest dynasty known to use writing. Ruled by a king, also the religious leader, the society was
highly stratified, with nobles (warriors) at the top, craftspeople and merchants next, farmers below, and slaves
the lowest. Craftspeople made bronze weapons and tools, and also worked jade, wood, and bone. Qin Si Huang,
whose Chin dynasty ruled from 221 BCE to 206 BCE, and from which the name China comes, had perhaps
the longest lasting effect on China. He united many states in the area, declaring himself the first Emperor,
setting standards for writing, weights and measure, money, and the law. During his reign, the Great Wall of
China, Grand Canal, and terra cotta warriors were built. The last dynasty in China, the Ching, ended in 1912
CE.
Ancient Greece
The Dorians overtook the Mycenaeans in southern Greece around 1100 BCE, moving in from the north. The
Ionians settled in Athens and on the islands of the Aegean. Eventually, the Ionians began to farm and establish
permanent settlements. From these rose citystates such as Athens, Sparta, and Corinth. Though loyal to their
own citystates, all citizens also spoke the same language, worshipped the same deities, and believed in the
same myths Homers Odyssey and Iliad were known to all Greeks and became central to Greek culture. Athens
became the centre of democracy, with citizenship awarded to men over 20, allowing them to participate in
government. The Greeks gave the world western philosophy, drama, mathematics, the Olympic games,
scientific method, and democracy. After the Peloponnesian wars in the fifth century BCE, Athens lost much of
its influence. However, the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great would extend the empire through Egypt,
Persia, Asia Minor, and Turkey, carrying Greek philosophy, ideals, and culture with him. Its influence continued
until the rise of the Romans beginning about 168 BCE.

Other early societies could be studied as well, such as Ancient Rome, Phoenicia, The Maya, and the Persian
Empire.

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman

Exit Card for Students to Fill Out:

Consider all the questions that were formulated by the class.
1. Which do you consider the two most relevant/important questions concerning the relationship between the
environment and the ways of life in early societies? Explain your thinking.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why do the questions meet the criteria for effective, open-ended questions?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

OACS Unit Adaptation

Laura Dieleman