The Unit

We had some time to sit down as a third grade team and plan a unit of study.  Our school is going to be an International Baccalaureate School, which I'm excited about.

Our unit will focus on the economy.  My mind is awhirlin' with ideas.  I want to learn more about fair trade and teach about that.  I also want to learn about water as a resource that greatly impacts the economy and vice a versa.  Did you know that Indiana University almost left Monroe County for wetter pastures because of our history with water shortages?  Thus the building of Lake Monroe.

I've also spent an hour looking at blogs about living in tiny houses.  In the NYT today, there's an article about the most expensive house on the market right now.  It costs 195 million dollars.  It's fun to watch the slide show and then check out some of the tiny house photos.  Would you rather live in a mansion on 25 acres, with its own Turkish spa, 2 kitchens, 12 bedrooms and a bowling alley?  Or would you rather live in a tiny house of about 400 square feet with a compost toilet?  These are the things I'm thinking about today.  Fair trade.  Tiny houses.  Water.

In conclusion, I've got a lot of work to do on the IB unit.