This month’s IDEAS activities
Fewer types of plants and animals is bad news for our future food supplies (page 6–7)
Humans depend on too few species of plants and animals for food. This story explains why this is not good for the world’s ecosystems and what we can do about it.
Our Own Ecosystems — For CCE & Science level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To learn about local ecosystems. Groups unscramble letters to reveal sub-groups of Singapore’s ecosystems.
A Talk on Increasing Biodiversity — For English & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To hone problem-solving and practise public speaking. Each group prepares and presents a speech on how farmers, gardeners, and others can increase biodiversity.
Debate: Can We Save the World? — For English and Science, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To develop the skills for logical scientific arguments. Guidelines for conducting a whole-class debate with the motion “We Can Save the Natural World”.
Floods kill cattle in Australia (page7)
Massive floods have wiped out half a million cattle in Queensland, along with farmers’ livelihoods. However, there is a silver lining.
A Message of Hope — For English and CCE, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To express empathy through letter writing. The student is to write a letter offering condolences and expressing concern to the devastated farmers of Queensland.
Vocab Builder – English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To strengthen vocabulary and syntax. Students (i) examine the use of given phrases in the story, and (ii) use the phrases to construct their own.
The clever technology behind Samsung’s foldable phones (page 8)
The preview of the new foldable phone has excited the tech world into imagining what else might be in the pipeline.
This and That — For English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To increase idiom vocabulary. Students learn to use idioms with the A-and-B structure (e.g. “trial and error”).
Kashmir attack makes life hard for India’s Muslims (page 9)
The recent attack on Indian forces in Kashmir has been exploited to fuel religious tensions in India. Side bars: “What can we learn from this?” and “Protecting secular India”.
Learning about Fallacies — For English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To practice critical thinking skills. Given three examples, students present their own illustration of a fallacy with its relevance to real life.
The Bajau people’s amazing adaptation to the seas (page 14)
Scientists are now able to explain how the Bajau people can stay underwater for so long. A second story about human adaptation, “Adapting to high altitudes”, is about the Andeans and Tibetans.
Can Penguins and Mynahs Swop Places? — For Science, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To examine and investigate the nature of biological adaptations. Based on the evidence provided, students are to compare how two birds from different regions have adapted to their respective environments.
Humans in the Year 10,000 — For Science and English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To encourage creative scientific reasoning. The student speculates what a typical human body might look like in a drastically different future environment.
Fun with Sums — For Math, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To apply mathematics in real-life scenarios. Math problems involving averages and speed.
Don’t trap people in racial boxes (page 15)
In our “Regardless of Race series, this month’s focus is on racial discrimination that is related to low-status occupations associated with some ethnic minorities. Introduces racial literacy.
With Hearts and Minds — For CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To learn about racial literacy. Students are to respond to four reflection questions after viewing a video by two teens about their racial literacy project.
Dignity of Labour — For CCE & Social Studies, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To value all honest work. Each group lists six jobs at school, and finds out more about one of them. PowerPoint slides provided for whole-class sharing of responses. PP SLIDES
Answers to these activities will be emailed to teachers on the IDEAS mailing list. To join the mailing list, please email your name, designation, and school to ideas@whatsup.sg.
