Early Societies through Science and Art

An integrated unit for Grade 4

OVERALL GOALS FOR THE UNIT

Integrated SOCIAL STUDIES SCIENCE – PULLEYS & VISUAL ARTS
GEARS
Subjects
All early societies have Pulleys and gears make it Elements of design can
differences and similarities. possible to use a small relay various messages and
KNOW

amount of force for a much ideas.

more significant outcome.

Investigate and explore the Experiment by changing Communicate your

daily life of people in leads/force of machines messages and ideas
Ancient Egypt and the that use pulleys and gears. visually, using elements of
Middle Ages. design studied in class.
DO

Respectful. The way you
live is not the only or best
way to live.
BE
Resilient! Learn from Creative and brave during
challenges in the process hands on activities.
and work through them.
Precise, in considering the

forces and weights used.

Curriculum Expectations:
Social Studies – Heritage & Identity Early Societies, 3000 BCE to 1500 CE: A1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4) A2 (2.1, 2.2)
A3 (3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 3.6, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10)
Science – Pulleys & Gears: (1.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.6)
Visual Arts: D1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3 1.4, 2.1), D2 (2.1, 2.2, 2.3), D3 (3.1, 3.2)

Culminating Activity
Part 1: Building
 Social Studies, Science & Technology, Visual Art
 Consider a problem faced by the society (Ancient Egypt & Middle Ages) and use pulley’s and gears to
solve this problem. Incorporate 2D and 3D parts to create the design.
Part 2: Poster to Advertise Solution
 Social Studies, Science, Visual Art
 Considering the society’s need (audience members of the poster), write 3 sentences about why your
solution is effective. Be aesthetic! Include 3+ elements of design.
Part 3: During Gallery Walk
 Social Studies, Science, Visual Art
 Provide an explanation of what problem is being solved. Explain how / why the pulley or gear was
incorporated in the design. Be able to communicate which three elements of design are used in the
poster.
 SUB THEMES FOR UNIT
SUB THEMES INQUIRY QUESTIONS
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN How can we use the Elements of
Design to communicate feelings,
themes, experiences and
relationships?
WHAT ARE “SOCIETIES”? What role do you play in your
society? Can you be in multiple?
LIFESTYLE / DAILY LIVES OF Consider challenges faced by
EARLY SOCIETIES societies. Which do you consider
most problematic?
WHAT ARE PULLEYS AND What parts are incorporated in
GEARS? pulleys and gears and how are they
used to make forces easier to move?
Which one is more efficient?
PULLEYS AND GEAR IN How were simple machines used in
EARLY SOCIETIES AND IN Early Societies, and how do the
MODERN TIMES designs differ today? Do they differ?
PROCESS
Consider images of people in early
societies and identify Elements of
Design.
Consider art from early societies and
identify Elements of Design.
Consider architecture in early
societies and identify Elements of
Design.
Consider what makes up a society
using examples from Ancient Egypt
and the Middle Ages. Make a Venn
Diagram.
List societal roles in present day.
Consider the resources available to
the early societies and what
limitations they had in obtaining
these resources.
Investigate different forms of media
that portray life in early societies,
including Magic Tree House, Magic
School bus, Non-Fiction, Comics Etc.
Free play with weight sets. How can
we move it with little force?
Provide students with experiments
that use toy cars, ramps, strings of
various lengths, paper clips, etc., to
complete simple machine
challenges.
Look at designs of pulleys and gears
in Early Societies. Investigate what
problems they were used for and
what they were made out of.
Bring in a construction worker from
today and have them talk about the
pulleys and gears they use during
their work day.
 ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES FOR UNIT
SUB THEMES FOR LEARNING
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN Plickers (technology that allows
anonymous collection of real time
assessment data without the need
for student devices), testing
students’ knowledge of the elements
of design and how they are used in
photographs, art and architecture.
WHAT ARE “SOCIETIES”? Students submit an in class Venn
Diagram depicting societal roles in
Ancient Egypt and Middle Ages.
LIFESTYLE / DAILY LIVES OF Write a paragraph journal entry
EARLY SOCIETIES describing a summary of the media
reviewed in class.
WHAT ARE PULLEYS AND Teacher observes the outcomes of
GEARS? the experiments and records notes
on problem solving skills and
understanding.
PULLEYS AND GEAR IN See AS 1st
EARLY SOCIETIES AND IN Class wide thank you letter to
MODERN TIMES construction worker (using their self-
reflections) about what they learned
and how they will apply it in their
final projects.
AS LEARNING
Physical Exit Ticket where students
tap which emotion depicts how they
felt the lesson went. Teacher
observes to get general feedback.
Plickers (anonymous) opinion-based
quiz. Students respond to
statements about roles in society
using, Strongly Agree, Agree,
Disagree, Strongly Disagree.
Adding to the same journal reflect
upon the problems in your daily life
and compare them to what you
discovered in class. What questions
do you still have?
2 Stars and A Wish Exit Ticket: What
are 2 things you did well during the
class and 1 thing you want to
improve on for future
experimentation classes.
Students reflect individually on what
they learned from the guest speaker
and what they are still interested in.
 RESOURCES FOR UNIT
SUB THEMES RESOURCES
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN Elements of Design Article (Hume 2008)

http://kidcourses.com/lessons-on-elements-design-coloring-sheet/
(Art for Kids – Elements of Design)

“StARTing with…” textbook, purchased by teacher candidates for CURR389

WHAT ARE “SOCIETIES”? Nelson Social Studies Strand 4A: Early Societies by Cairo, Mary & Luci Soncin

Ancient Egyptian Jobs (People in the Past) by John Malam

Social Studies for Kids

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/history.htm

LIFESTYLE / DAILY LIVES OF Magic Tree House – “Knights At Dawn” & “Mummies in the Morning” by
EARLY SOCIETIES Mary Pope Osborne

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history//ancient/ (multiple links to Medieval &

Middle Ages)

Everything Ancient Egypt, National Geographic For Kids

WHAT ARE PULLEYS AND https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/simple-
GEARS? machines/#.wtt8w9pwynv (Learning about Simple Machines in all contexts)

Pulley’s and Gears by David Glover

PULLEYS AND GEAR IN http://www.medievaltimes.com/teachers-students/materials/science-and-

EARLY SOCIETIES AND IN technology/index.html (Simple Machines in the Medieval Era)
MODERN TIMES
http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/simple_machines/facts.cfm (Simple
Machines in Ancient Egypt)