PYP Classes Explore the Golden Cane

Classes 3,1 and 3,2 spent our Wednesday morning at the Golden Cane. We explored the organization and had the opportunity to use the knowledge from our current unit: How We Organize Ourselves.

Our central idea for this unit is: Organizations exist to assist our community. In our previous exploration of our unit, we have learned a lot about different types of organizations as well as their various structures, purposes and features. We know that organizations can be for profit or non-profit and that they should help a community.

The purpose of our field trip was to build upon our prior knowledge by exploring an organization at work and putting into practice our understanding of these three lines of inquiry:

– The features and structures of an organization

– The purpose and function of organizations

– Evidence that shows how organizations assist a community

At the Golden Cane, we began by learning about the purpose, structure and features of the organization. First we were introduced to the setup of the community and how the Golden Cane fits in. Next the students were divided into groups and taken on a tour of the facility and shown all the resources and rooms available for the residents. After that the students had the chance to interview on of the staff members of Golden Cane to find out additional information that they could not answer. During this whole time the students had a worksheet that they needed to complete. Finally, the students ate lunch with the residents of Golden Cane. After the field trip the students completed a Venn diagram to compare the Golden Cane to an organization that they had previously researched.

Our students and teachers really appreciated the opportunity to experience seeing an organization at work. We were able to make significant connections from our classroom learning to the outside world. In addition, visiting an organization in the real world will help prepare our students for their Summative Assessment task.