Something from Nothing? One of the Greatest Mysteries of the Universe!

For our Inquiry, we have been thinking about different mysteries of the Universe. We wondered about the creation of the Universe and how something came from nothing. One theory that we thought about was the Big Bang Theory. 

We have been developing our conversation skills. We are thinking about taking turns, building on ideas and staying focused on the question. We have been self assessing and rating ourselves out of 5. 

Here are some of the questions that we came up with after our discussion: 

James: Are there other life forms in the galaxy?
Will, Nye: Do we have multi universes? Does that mean there are multiple versions of us?
Nikora and Hunter: How is the universe infinite?
Pippa: In the future, will there be people that can make a vessel to go to another universe?
Taiga: What kinds of volcanoes or mountains or sculptures are there on other planets?
Chris: How many years until the next big bang?
Archie: How did humans come after the big bang?
Nela: How did all of the small rocks form into planets? How did stars form and what are they made of?
Anastasiya: How was the first person even made?
Leo, Mitchell: What was the old universe like if there was one? What did it look like?
Zac: Why did the big bang happen?
Nuala: What is the universe expanding into?
Leo: How did life get onto earth? Why not Mars?
Ridley, Eloi: What happened in the big bang to enable life? What makes life?
Zoe: After the big bang, how did planets form?
Caspian: How was the first thing created?
Evan: What was there before the big bang?
Lucy: How did life form?
Eloi: What makes the universe, the universe?
Rim: How did people get made? Who was the first person?
Theo: How did atoms create life? How many galaxies are there?
Adam: How did the big bang happen? Are scientists actually working on whether the big bang is real?
Georgia: How did everything get created? What is nothingness?
Raffy, Matilda: What does nothing look like? What was the first thing that happened after the big bang? What did the atoms create? How were all of the planets and stars formed?
Liam: What is the chance of the big bang happening again?
Clem: How did the big bang explode?
Addison: Was the big bang a scam?
Blaze: What came first?
Jasmine: What came before the big bang?
Elliot, Edward? What is dark matter made of?
Lillian: Why does the universe expand? How does it expand?
Alex: Was there an old universe before this universe?
Eva: Why do we not always see the stars?
Emily: How many galaxies are there?
Matthias: Why don’t planets collide?
Mae: How did the scientists develop the theory of the big bang?
Lachlan: What is the biggest planet? (not just in our solar system)
Finley: How was the ball of matter created before the big bang happened?
Griffin: How are religious beliefs linked to the big bang theory? What are the other creation theories?
Finn: What is dark matter? How does the universe expand when there is nothing else/ no space for it?
Sam: What was before the universe?
Kura: How small can the universe get to?
Naomi: Will our universe collapse?
Tommy, Dylan: Are we in a black hole? If we are, what happens when we get out?
Kate: How long can people survive in space?
Jake? How has the universe have no boundaries?
Ruby: If the universe is infinite, how can there be more than one universe?
Joni: Is the universe black? Why is the universe black?
Talia: Is there going to be another big bang?
Sophie: What was the big bang made out of?
Isabella: Was there people before the big bang? Was there life in the previous universe?
Sitara: What are planets made of?
Octavia: How big is the universe?
Lily: How did the planets get their names?
Cleo: What created the old universe (if there was one)?
Marnie: Did the big bang actually take over the whole universe or just a small part?
Katherine: How big was the hot spot of matter that exploded?
Molly and Ben Bi: Was there a universe before the big bang?
Stella: Was there life in the old universe?
Greta: Are there more universes out there? How could we find out?
Ollie: What was it like straight after the big bang?
Charlotte: How could a big bang create the universe?
Cruz: How many atoms are in the universe?
Ben Be, Konrad: If there was life before the big bang, what was it like?
Sabine, Mae: What caused the big bang?
Sammy: If there was a planet that had equal mass as the big bang (before it exploded) how high would the gravity force be?
Thomas: Can there be a universe within a universe?

A Community of Inquiry: Why would you/ would not leave a war torn country?

We watched the music video to the Missy Higgins song "Oh Canada." The art from the clip is drawn by children affected by the crisis in the Middle East narrating the story of the Kurdi family, who left Syria heading for Canada.

The clip is sad and stirred some emotions. We had an in depth discussion about refugees and why people might be forced to leave their home country. Our students generated some great questions to begin with. 

As our Inquiry progresses we will be thinking about how we could welcome new people to our community.

Our students discussing the messages from the clip.

We have created rights and responsibilities for respectful discussion:

The process of discussion is both collaborative and critical, requiring each participant to be willing to:

• offer their own ideas for evaluation
• build on the ideas of others
• bring ideas into the inquiry that no other participant has voiced, but which need consideration
• offer critical evaluations of others' ideas
• accept critical evaluations of their own ideas
• at times subsume their own concerns to the process of the group
• explicitly utilise a range of thinking strategies to refine and advance the inquiry.

Learning about maps through discussion

We have been learning about mapping and coordinates. We have been working in a helping circle so that we can learn from each other and help each other out. We are learning about how to discuss mathematical ideas in a respectful way. 

Some of our discussion...

James and Daisy: We thought it looked like battleships.

Kate: When finding coordinates you need to crawl before you fly!

Charlotte: When finding coordinates you need to crawl before you climb.

Griffin: The map is 11 by 14 or 11 X 14. It is a multiplication grid.

Rim: The area is the inside space.

Lily: Times what is on the side and what is on top (row and column).

Hadley: This is a locating map. For example, " I want to meet my friend at (J, 8) I am at (A, 2). I need to meet up with him by following directions.

We are learning from each other!

Coordinate maps

We drew a map with squares on it (a grid). We drew pictures on it like UFOs, pigs, fences or anything you wanted. We were coordinating for example, the pig is (A, 7).

By Dylan

This is Daisy's map:

Developing Mathematical Thinkers

Our aim is that students will be able to: 

• question 

• challenge 

• agree and disagree

• extend explanations to justification

• use exploratory talk

• accept high levels of cognitive demand

We have used a no hands up rule throughout the whole space. We are asking students to talk to partners and anyone can be called upon to answer a question. This means that everyone is thinking about what the speaker is saying and are listening for understanding.

We have developed rights and responsibilities for discussion: 

We asked some of our students how they feel when they approach to a challenging problem:

Griffin: When I come across a challenging question in maths it makes me feel happy because I love 💖 challenge that makes my brain jump.

Jude: WHEN I COME ACROSS A CHALLENGING QUESTION IN MATHS IT MAKES ME FEEL CONFIDENT AND BRAVE BECAUSE I KNOW I CAN DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ruby: when I come across to a challenging problem I feel excited because then I will be able to work more stuff out and learn a new maths perspective.

Zoe: Sometimes it makes me feel that I should try it, because I want to get better at my maths

Emelia: When I come across a hard question in maths I feel...
I feel confused (sometimes) until it gets explained then I find a way in my head

Flynn: When I come across a challenging question in maths it makes me feel challenged and excited

Nick: When I come across a challenging question in maths it makes me feel challenged and excited to try the question.

Hana: When I come across a challenging question in math it makes me feel like I need to work harder to get the answer because my brain needs to work harder to get the right answer.

Eva: when I come across a challenging question in maths it makes me feel excited because I get to learn new things.

Evan: When I come across a challenging question in maths it makes me feel annoyed or determined. I can be annoyed because I just want to finish the maths question.
I feel determined because I'm excited and I want to learn the answer one day.

Orla: When I come across a challenging question in maths it makes me feel like I need to challenge myself and keep trying even if it is hard or I don't know how to figure it out.