INQUIRY BASED LEARNING/HUMANITIES PAGE
Who's Got The Power?
Our topic of inquiry this term has a Civics and Citizenship flavour.
Students began this unit by brainstorming who they see as having power. After receiving the obvious answers: politicians, parents, teachers ... students began to look at themselves as having power. Within our mentor group we have campus leaders, sport and house leaders, SRC leaders, StandOut group leaders, BluEarth leaders and the list goes on.
Keeping in mind our mentor groups are made up of students from grade 6 - year 8 we needed to ensure we were catering to their needs and interests.
We began by focusing on current events:
We selected a text to read: Parvana.
We selected a song to discuss: From Little Things Big Things Grow.
The students indicated they were particularly interested in learning about Laws, the Court system and the role of the Police. We organised for a Police officer to come in and chat to the kids about:
We discussed the different types of Government, including ancient vs modern.
We organised to visit the Magistrates Court, The Old Geelong Gaol and the Art Gallery.
Students began this unit by brainstorming who they see as having power. After receiving the obvious answers: politicians, parents, teachers ... students began to look at themselves as having power. Within our mentor group we have campus leaders, sport and house leaders, SRC leaders, StandOut group leaders, BluEarth leaders and the list goes on.
Keeping in mind our mentor groups are made up of students from grade 6 - year 8 we needed to ensure we were catering to their needs and interests.
We began by focusing on current events:
- The Nobel Peace Prize 2014 awarded jointly to Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education"
- ISIS
- The impending November election
- The passing of Gough Whitlam
We selected a text to read: Parvana.
We selected a song to discuss: From Little Things Big Things Grow.
The students indicated they were particularly interested in learning about Laws, the Court system and the role of the Police. We organised for a Police officer to come in and chat to the kids about:
- Enforcement of the law
- Most common laws the police are involved with
- Problems encountered in enforcing the law
- Police role in the court system
- Who the police are answerable to (who has power over the police)
- And anything else he thought relevant
We discussed the different types of Government, including ancient vs modern.
We organised to visit the Magistrates Court, The Old Geelong Gaol and the Art Gallery.
Investigation ...
Students working at level 6-7
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Students working at level 8
Task 1: Investigate one of these Mediterranean societies in depth: Greece or Rome.
![Picture](/uploads/3/8/3/8/38384797/7719781.jpg?828)
Task 2: Parvana – comparison of text to real world events.
Afghanistan is a country that has been wracked by war at several periods throughout its long history and continually since 1978 when the Soviets invaded from the north.
Briefly research the British and Soviet invasions of Afghanistan. Consider why such a country would be targeted. How were the British repulsed? Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” illustrates some aspects of the British defeat. Under what circumstances did the Soviets leave the country?
On a map of Afghanistan identify its geographical features such as its landlocked situation, bodies of water, regions, major cities and bordering countries. Discuss the effects of these features on the people who live there.
How does the author perceive Afghans in Australia?
How does her language reveal her attitude?
Discuss the following statements:
- Australia’s response to the Afghan refugees has been inhumane and lacking in compassion.
- Reporting of the refugee situation by the media has been biased.
- The novel also raises important issues about the status and rights of females.
- Discuss women’s status and rights today in Australia and in other western societies.
- Examine the opportunities that are available to women and girls in relation to such things as education, work, marriage, children, movement in society, economic independence.
- Speculate as to how you might respond to a world in which women (or men) were denied these rights. How would you feel if you were denied the freedom to move around the world unless accompanied by a person of the opposite sex?
Imagine a world in which one sex (either male or female) was totally controlled by the other. How the dominant sex would justify their position and how they would maintain or enforce it.
Would you like to live in such places? Explain.