An inquiry into: the nature of the self, beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Central Idea: roles and responsibilities change from place to place and over time
• Key Concepts: responsibility, change
• Related Concepts: community, jobs, relationships, family
• Lines of Inquiry: our responsibilities toward ourselves, how roles and responsibilities change from place to place, roles and responsibilities change at different ages

An inquiry into: the nature of the self, beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.

Health

• Central Idea: the health of our mind and body impacts how we function
• Key Concepts: form, function, responsibility
• Related Concepts:body form, identity, senses, physical characteristics
• Lines of Inquiry: what my mind and body needs to stay healthy, personal choices about my health, results of our choices

An inquiry into: the nature of the self, beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.

Similarities and Differences

• Central Idea: there are some ways people are the same and some ways they are different.
• Key Concepts: perspective, form
• Related Concepts: diversity, comparisons, awareness
• Lines of Inquiry: physiological similarities and differences, similarities and differences in emotional reactions, how our similarities and differences make us unique

An inquiry into: orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations; from local and global perspectives.

Preschool students study 4 longer units per year.

An inquiry into: orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations; from local and global perspectives.

Junior Kindergarten students study 4 longer units per year.

An inquiry into: orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations; from local and global perspectives.

Cities

• Central Idea: the location and resources of a city impact its development.
• Key Concepts:connection, function
• Related Concepts:mapping, transportation, weather, climate, geography, landforms, structures
• Lines of Inquiry: the location of cities, available resources in a city, the impact on the development

An inquiry into: ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings and nature, culture beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect, extend and enjoy creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

Junior Kindergarten students study 4 longer units per year.

An inquiry into: ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings and nature, culture beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect, extend and enjoy creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

Music and Movement

• Central Idea: people can use music and movement to express themselves.
• Key Concepts: perspective, causation
• Related Concepts: rhythm, emotion, self-expression
• Lines of Inquiry: reasons to create music, connection between movement and music, reactions to music and movement

An inquiry into: ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings and nature, culture beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect, extend and enjoy creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

Storytelling

• Central Idea: the arts can be used to enhance and tell stories.
• Key Concepts: form, connection
• Related Concepts: literary structures, audience, expression, emotion
• Lines of Inquiry: different ways we can tell stories, the kinds of stories people tell, the elements of stories used to convey ideas

An inquiry into: the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.

Transportation

• Central Idea: different modes of transportation serve different purposes
• Key Concepts: form, function
• Related Concepts: transportation, systems, force, motion, buoyancy, simple machines
• Lines of Inquiry: uses of transportation, how modes of transportation function, the systems needed for successful transportation

An inquiry into: the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.

Materials

• Central Idea: people manipulate and use the natural world and its materials for different purposes
• Key Concepts: function, connection, change
• Related Concepts: transportation, mechanics, history, weather
• Lines of Inquiry: properties of materials, uses of materials, designing and building structures based on the properties of materials

An inquiry into: the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.

Plants

• Central Idea: plants are necessary to life and an essential resource to human well-being.
• Key Concepts: form, function, change
• Related Concepts: growth, process, life cycles, interdependence
• Lines of Inquiry: what a plant is, how plants grow, the ways plants are necessary to support human life

An inquiry into: the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.

Preschool students study 4 longer units per year.

An inquiry into: the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.

Communities

• Central Idea: people in communities work together to provide each other with what they need
• Key Concepts: function, connection, responsibility
• Related Concepts: communication, collaboration, cooperation, exploration
• Lines of Inquiry: components of a community, experience of different communities, how elements and resources of a community are influenced by the people who live there

An inquiry into: the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.

Farm to Table

• Central Idea: different systems are involved in getting food to people
• Key Concepts: function, connection, responsibility
• Related Concepts: systems, transportation, sustainability, equity
• Lines of Inquiry: what foods we put on our tables, what systems get the food to the table, the responsibility for sustaining access to healthy food

An inquiry into: rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

Symbiosis

• Central Idea: humans and animals rely on and impact each other
• Key Concepts: form, connection, responsibility
• Related Concepts: classification, traits
• Lines of Inquiry: ways of classifying animals, relationships between humans and animals, human responsibility toward animals

An inquiry into: rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

Habitats

• Central Idea: living things are dependent on the world around them
• Key Concepts: Form, Function, Connection
• Related Concepts: Habitat, Systems, Living and Nonliving, Survival
• Lines of Inquiry: how living things survive, interconnectedness of living and nonliving things, how living things adapt to their environment

An inquiry into: rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

Waste Management

• Central Idea: humans produce and dispose of waste in a variety of ways
• Key Concepts: function, responsibility
• Related Concepts: waste management, pollution, health
• Lines of Inquiry: the kinds of waste humans produce and how they produce it, the current ways in which humans deal with waste, how we can lessen the impact of waste