On route to Johannesburg from Pretoria you will find a small village called Irene (pronounced I-re-nee). This village is a favourite among us Gautengers. It is an oasis of sophisticated rural peace and quiet in South Africa’s most densely populated province.
Initially a diary farm with a small shop where you could go to fill up your 5 liter bucket with milk, it has now blossomed into an establishment with a deli and two restaurants.
The greatest appeal is the fact that after a hearty meal, the family can go for a leisurely stroll among some ol’ ancients; giant oaks, poplar, eucalyptus and white stinkwoods, to name just a few. These trees create welcome green canopies in summer and orange wonders in autumn. It even looks appealing in winter as you look past bulbuls, red headed barbets, cape white eyes and robins busily hopping from bare branch to bare branch to the bright clear blue sky above.
Our little one found the flowing streams and ponds with giant koi fish in it fascinating and whenever a break was needed there were cows to feed, sand pits to play in or tractors to climb on.
We are taking Inquiry Based Learning very seriously at the school where I teach. Is is in fact our mid year exam for our Gr 4-9s.
This means a whole lot of planning and putting our heads together, because we need to take the project apart to find all the subjects in it.
We are trying to break the mold while following the conventional rules. This is no easy task.
This year’s project was to design a bird and insect friendly garden for our school grounds. The garden had to be in the shape of a regular hexagon, with each side being 10 m long.
This is how we spread the project among the subjects:
Mathematics:
1. They had to explore different ways of dividing a hexagon, using a triangular grid.
2. They had to recreate the life size hexagon and the sections on the soccer field using nails and wool. This they then used to calculate the circumference of the hexagon as well as the area of the various sections within their hexagon.
3. After they have researched a variety of indigenous plants (more about this under Natural Sciences) , they had to calculate how many of their chosen plants would fit into the section they have allocated for it.
Natural Sciences
1. They were given two South African plant websites; one with a list of indigenous plants and another where they had to find the information about the plants from the first site.
2. Students had to summarise the i formation they have in tables.
3. They then had to describe some of the biodiversity that they were hoping to attract.
History
1. They were tasked with researching how industrialization has impacted soil quality and biodiversity
Geography
1. They had to create plan views of all their gardens.
First additional languages (Zulu/Aftikaans)
1. They had to find the common names in the additional language and write a short paragraph on how these plants were used traditionally by these language speakers.
English
1. They had to write short daily reflections.
2. They had to create a PowerPoint and present their garden designs to the school’s landscaping team.
They completed their project in six days and presented it on the seventh day to the whole school and the head of the landscaping team.
The students were working in groups of five which consisted of either Gr 4s and 5s or Gr 6s and 7s. The group work with students they did not know was quite a challenge for some, but overall they have drastically increased their awareness of their environment and created some very interesting garden designs, which the two best groups will see come to life in two months time.
I always wonder what drives me to take on the responsibility of organizing outings for my students. I always vow never to do it again, but with the joyful noise of 11 year old exuberance still ringing in my tired ears, I am already looking for the next place to take them.
I took my Grade 5s and 6s to Maropeng and the Sterkfontein Caves. It is a UNESCO listed site and more commonly referred to as the Cradle of Humankind. It is a site of very important fossil finds, relating to the origin of the human species.
An elephant in the room
The experience starts in the Caves, with excellent guides taking the students down for a tour through the caves. On route they cover topics ranging from the formation of caves, through to Little Foot and Mrs Pless, to sundials and blind cave shrimps. The students see samples of fossil excavation sites, a underground lake so still that it they had to touch the water to believe that it was not a massive block of glass and crystals growing on the cave walls. They experienced absolute silence apart from dripping water and the total darkness of not being able to see your hands 1 cm away from your face. They loved it!
The already exhilarated students then were treated to a sensory boat ride taking them through the four classic elements (water, earth, fire and air) into the exhibition centre. Most of the exhibitions there are completely interactive.
My students had the time of their life and best of all, I can hear how much they have learnt when I eavesdrop on their current casual conversations!
I do wish that all topics could either be kicked off or concluded with such an experience!
We have load-shedding in South Africa because of massive demand and challenges with the supply of electricity. This means that at, depending on availability we have periods where we have scheduled power-cuts , lasting 2-4 hours once, twice, three or in extreme circumstances, more times a day. We begrudgingly learn to live with this schedule, but being deprived of your daily Paw Patrol episodes with your 3-year is generally not fun!
Yet today it provided me with a special evening which I want to cherish!
If we had electricity tonight, me, my son and my husband would not have spent time on this icy winters evening, laying snugly under piles of fluffy blankets on the trampoline, watching starts.
Without load-shedding, my son would not wriggled his lovely soft, warm head under my arm to rest on my shoulder while the three of us chatted happily.
Thanks load-shedding, the three voices under stars became two and the head on my shoulder heavier.
It was one of those moments that you want to hold on to!
I laid and I waited long for a shooting star. My wish was ready when it came💫
Mom&Teacher Thoughts 