Starting Unit

Requirement

The IB requires that the interdisciplinary units have a clear sentence that defines the unit: the Statement of Inquiry. The Statement of Inquiry is essentially a thesis that connects the unit together and uses IB terms. Think if it like the IB is making you, the teacher, create a project like an IB student. It is good modeling, but it is VERY specific.

IN THE END, we need a Statement of Inquiry that contains the key words (key concepts and global context) in a statement (not a question).

TO GET STARTED, we need to understand the following terms:

Purpose of Integration
Key Concepts
Global Context

START: Purpose of Integration

This is a statement of why you are having students explore this content using an IDU model. It should be a statement of what you want the students to "do" and "learn."

This is a good starting point. Why are you thinking of combining these subjects? What will the kids do?

SUGGESTED WORDS TO INCLUDE:

- Show, demonstrate
- Explore, research, find
- Combine, connect, create, solution, argument

Purpose: Examples

- Students will create a 2 posters about the women's rights movement and then use statistics to measure which project was more effective in conveying their idea. (History & Statistics)
- Students create an argument about improving their health that combines exercise and nutrition to demonstrate healthy living strategies (Health & Nutrition).
- Students research environmental issues facing the the world and then create a 30 second commercial that uses propaganda to convince people of the need to change their behaviors. (Science & Social Science)

Key Concepts, Related Concepts & Global Context

Key Concepts and Related Concepts are terms that come from the list of "Key Concepts." These are IB terms. You must use these terms.

Both Key Concepts and Related Concepts are used as unique words that will later be used to create the Statement of Inquiry.

1. Key Concept

"Achieve an interdisciplinary understanding about a key concept (click link for the list) using two or more disciplines."

This is the primary term that links the unit together. (It is possible that there are several ways to puzzle this together, but find the best term. )

Think of this as the thesis of why you are making this unit.

2. Related Concepts

The related concepts are pulled from the same list as the key concepts.

Think of them as concepts that support the main key concept. You can also think of them as claims in a body paragraph when the Key Concept is the thesis.

You will regularly pull out two (2) related concepts. One for each subject area. You can pull just one if it works for the unit, but usually two.

3. Global Context

Global Contexts (click link for the list) group learning into 6 groups of inquiry. They are very broad and should be able to be used for any project. Most projects could easily connect to two or more Global Contexts. Just choose one. (Sometimes the Global Context will have the same words as the Key Concept. . . that is OK.)

Statement of Inquiry

Now the hard part. You must take the terms from the Key Concept, Related Concepts and Global Context and turn them into a one or two sentence statement. This statement should tell a reader what students are doing during the project.

Should reflect interdisciplinary synergy
MUST contain at least two concepts
MUST include a global context
Should be a bit broad. It is preferable that the Statement of Inquiry could apply to multiple projects and units. It is a transferable idea. A fairly big idea.
MIGHT need a qualifier (“often”, “may” or “can”). This helps with statements that are not true in all situations but are still important ideas.

Statement of Inquiry: Examples

Key: Key Concept / Related Concepts / Global Contexts

EXAMPLE: By modeling the relationships between key variables, statisticians can inquire into skill development and use logic to predict outcomes. Students will model and predict which world records are likely to be broken at the Olympic Games by orienting the Olympics in space and time relative to current world records and the data about past Olympics (PE & Math).

EXAMPLE: The Personal and Cultural Expression of a given creative text changes with the cultural perspective of the reader. (Foreign Language & Social Science: translate a poem).

EXAMPLE: Our economic systems influence the environment; if one part of the system changes, the whole ecosystem can be disrupted. Students will creatively create a campaign to raise awareness about how the economy affects the Amazon rainforest and explore alternative solutions to address Globalization and Sustainability in their community. (Geography & Economics - Both in Social Science!!)

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