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對于我們所生活的世界，我們應該有怎樣的關注？

在書本之外，我們的孩子們關心蔬菜和糧食，關心國際局勢和氣候，關心文化差異與融合......對這個世界保持著無限好奇與探索，是一件純粹而真摯的事情。

本學年五年級的學生將第一學段探究單元的目光投向了“自然災害”，在各種地理災害、氣象災害頻發的今天，這個話題有著巨大的現實意義。這個單元的中心思想是“人們想辦法應對自然災害并使之成為機會“，學生們會沿著自然災害的形成、自然災害對人類活動的影響、人們如何應對自然災害這三條探究線索循序漸進地對這主題進行探討。

在探究單元伊始，學生們對國內和全球的自然災害進行研究，學生們對自然災害的成因，分布，發生頻率等方面提出了自己的問題，然后通過搜尋網站、視頻、書籍和雜志等各種方式收集所需資料，最終將他們形成的思考與理解分享給全班同學。

在探索階段，學生在已有知識的基礎上，開始探討自然災害對自然環境和生物的影響。他們分成小組，研究各種地貌，例如火山口湖、堰塞湖、彎曲的河道、沙漠和雅丹地貌，并嘗試從自然災害的角度解釋這些地貌的形成。他們還學習了綜合各類型因素評估這些地方是否適宜生物和人類的生存。

在充分了解自然災害之后，學生重點研究了人類如何應對自然災害。他們了解了包括預測、防范、救援、決策在內的不同的應對方式。

在11月初，學生們去到了光明區應急消防科普教育基地進行參觀。他們首先參加了事故災難5D體驗，當中模擬了汶川地震的過程，從中學生學會一些應對地震的生存方法。在自然災害館，學生了解到臺風、雷電、暴雨、山體崩塌、森林火災等自然災害的應對。在消防安全館，學生也學到很多具實用性的防火標志和滅火器的使用方式。學生展現了強烈的好奇心，也能把參觀體驗和已學知識相結合，使學習效果更為深刻。

在接下來的兩周，學生會針對一個自選的地方，分析當地的自然災害和人類的應對措施，敬請期待他們具有洞見的成果分享吧。

正如我們在開頭所說，我們珍視孩子們閃光的好奇心與探索欲，不希望這些寶貴的東西在日復一日的只埋頭接受知識的過程里消亡。在必需的技能與知識之外，我們的教育要讓他們保持好奇，保持思考，保持探索。

The Prep 5 Unit of Inquiry of Quarter 1 is about natural disasters. The big idea of the unit is "People develop ways to tackle natural disasters and create opportunities". Students inquire into the unit under the 3 lines of inquiry:

1. The causes of natural disasters

2. The impact of natural disasters on human activities

3. Human actions to tackle natural disasters

At the initial engagement stage, students researched into different natural disasters that happen in China and around the world. They asked questions about the causes, distribution, frequency of these disasters and searched for information from the websites, videos, books, magazines etc and share their findings and understanding with the class.

At the exploration stage, with the foundation knowledge they had gained, students began to explore the impact of natural disasters on the physical environment and on living things. They worked ingroups and looked into different landforms such as crater lake, dammed lake, meandering, desert and yadan and tried to explain their formation. They also assess whether these places are good for survival for human beings and other living things.

At the investigation stage, student focused on human"s response to natural disasters. They researched into different human approaches such as detection, avoidance, rescue and decision making.

Students had the opportunity to visit the Guangming District Emergency and Firefighting Safety Education Centre on 2 November. During the visit, they experienced a 5D simulation of the Sichuan earthquake and learned different ways of staying safe when earthquake happens. Different natural disasters such as rainstorm, landslides, wildfires were explored. In the fire safety div, students learned about different signage and the use of fire extinguisher. Students demonstrated their curiosity and participated actively at different learning engagements. They were able to connect a lot of their previous learning with what they experienced in the centre to consolidate deep learning.

In the final 2 weeks of this quarter, students will look into a place of their choice and study the natural disasters and human responses that happen there. We look forward to some insightful sharing from our students.