MYP Individuals and Societies

1 MILLBROOK HIGH SCHOOL: MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME MYP Individuals and Societies A companion manual to support Principles to Practice and the Subject Guide 2014-2015 This document provides guidance for teaching and learning in the IB Middle Years Programme. The information in the companion manual is specific to Language and Literature classes. Additional information can be located online at MHS: MYP Individuals and Societies Subject Guide Companion (August 2014) 1 Table of Contents Conceptual Understanding Key Concepts Related Concepts Global Contexts Teaching and Learning Through Inquiry Statements of Inquiry Inquiry Questions Examples Individuals and Societies Learning Objectives Objective A: Knowing and Understanding Objective B: Investigating Objective C: Communicating Objective D.

2 Thinking Critically Assessment in the MYP Assessment Practices Task Specific Rubrics Achievement Levels and Assigning Grades Measuring Student Growth Approaches to Learning Skills unit Planner Guide 2 2 4 13 16 16 16 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 31 MHS: MYP Individuals and Societies Subject Guide Companion (August 2014) 2 Conceptual Understanding A concept is a big idea a principle or notion that is enduring, the significance of which goes beyond particular origins, subject matter or place in time. Concepts represent the vehicle for students inquiry into the issues and ideas of personal, local and global significance, providing the means by which they can explore the essence Individuals and Societies .

3 Concepts have an important place in the structure of knowledge that requires students and teachers to think with increasing complexity as they organize and relate facts and topics. Concepts express understanding that students take with them into lifelong adventures of learning. They help students to develop principles, generalizations and theories. Students use conceptual understanding as they solve problems, analyse issues, and evaluate decisions that can have an impact on themselves, their communities and the wider world. In the MYP, conceptual understanding is framed by prescribed key and related concepts. Teachers must use these concepts to develop the curriculum KEY CONCEPTS Key concepts promote interdisciplinary understanding. They represent big ideas that are both within and across disciplines and subjects.

4 The MYP has chosen 16 key concepts to be explored across all subjects, but 4 have been identified as the framework for Individuals and Societies . As your focus for the year, these concepts will inform units of work and help to organize teaching and learning. unit of study will focus on one to two key concepts and each concept should be addressed at least once in the duration of the course. Aesthetics Change Communication Communities Connections Creativity Culture Development Form Global Interactions Identity Logic Perspective Relationships Systems Time, Place, & Space Change Change is a conversion, transformation, or movement from one form, state or value to another. Inquiry into the concept of change involves understanding and evaluating causes, processes and consequences.

5 For Individuals and Societies , the concept of change allows examination of the forces that shape the world: past, present and future. The causes and effects of change can be natural and artificial; intentional and unintentional; positive, negative or neutral. The subject group explores the role of Individuals and Societies in shaping change. MHS: MYP Individuals and Societies Subject Guide Companion (August 2014) 3 Global interactions Global interactions focuses on the connections between Individuals and communities, as well as their relationships with built and natural environments, from the perspective of the world as a whole. For Individuals and Societies , global interactions focuses on the interdependence of the larger human community, including the many ways that people come into conflict with and cooperate with each other, and live together in a highly interconnected world to share finite resources.

6 Time, place and space The intrinsically linked concepts of time, place and space refer to the absolute or relative position of people, objects and ideas. Time, place and space focuses on how we construct and use our understanding of location ( where and when ). For Individuals and Societies , time is not simply the measurement of years or time periods but is a continuum of significant events of the past, present and future. Place and space are complex concepts, the definitions of which are fluid. Place is socially constructed and can be explored in terms of constraints and opportunities afforded by location. Places have value and meaning defined by humans. Space relates to where and why places and landscapes are located. This concept also includes the social, economic, and political processes that interact through or across space, resulting in patterns and networks arising, such as migration or trade flows.

7 Challenges related to place and space can be understood on multiple scales (including local, regional, national and global). Systems Systems are sets of interacting or interdependent components. Systems provide structure and order in human, natural and built environments. Systems can be static or dynamic, simple or complex. For Individuals and Societies , systems thinking provides a powerful tool for understanding both natural and human environments, and the role of Individuals within them. Social and natural systems rely on a state of equilibrium and are vulnerable to change from internal and external forces .Other key concepts can also be important in Individuals and Societies . For example, culture, development and communities are among the key concepts that often inform studies in the humanities and social sciences.

8 MHS: MYP Individuals and Societies Subject Guide Companion (August 2014) 4 RELATED CONCEPTS Related concepts promote deep learning. They are grounded in specific disciplines and are useful for exploring key concepts in greater detail. Inquiry into related concepts helps students develop more complex and sophisticated conceptual understanding. Related concepts may arise from the subject matter of a unit or the craft of a subject its features and processes. World History Related Concepts GEOGRAPHY Cuasality Causality is the relationship between cause and effect and the internal and external factors that influence this relationship. Geographers understand that behind every geographical phenomenon be it physical or human there is an outlying cause which leads to an effect ; the consequence(s) of which can either be known or unknown.

9 Causes can be direct or intervening, and they can be internal and external. Geographers study causality not only as fixed and end points of geographical phenomena, but also in the events and actions that occur in between these points. An example of which is the causality of plate tectonics; geographers analyse the cause and effects of plate tectonics, but also plate tectonic sub-themes such as disaster management and P and S waves. Causality in geography is inherently linked with the key concept of change and can exist across a wide spectrum of times, places and spaces, another of the Individuals and Societies key concepts Culture Culture helps shape, define and guide civilizations and Individuals and it influences the relationship between them and the environment.

10 Cultures are constituted by learned behaviours and values shared by groups and transmitted through socialization. Geographers study cultural traits of places in terms of language, customs, beliefs, dress, images, music, food and technology. Units that explore the related concept of culture could include issues of cultural diffusion, cultural contestation, and the process of consumerism. Disparity and Equity Equity involves concerns about fairness and justice. Disparity is the uneven distribution of a given quality, indicator or resource and it can be opposed to the concept of equity. Geography is often the study of the condition or fact of being unequal recognizing that the world around us has inequality, disproportionate opportunity and discrepancy, which, creates disparity.