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Planning in the IB PYP How the World Works: What Concepts Live Here?
Every Unit of Inquiry starts somewhere. For most of us, it starts with content ā€” forces, motion, machines, energy, structures, technology. We picture the activities first, then go hunting for resources, then try to squeeze it all into the planner.
Somewhere in that process, the inquiry itself can get lost.
I want to suggest a different starting point: start with the concepts. If inquiry is the journey, concepts are what propel it forwardĀ and that brings us to the single most useful question you can ask when planning a Unit of Inquiry:
What concepts live here?
Not just the specified concepts already sitting in the planner. What concepts actually live in this theme? That one question can change the way you plan every unit you teachĀ and it's the starting point for a simple, repeatable 7-step pathway I use for concept-based planning, which I'll walk through below using a How the World Works unit on forces, motion and innovation as the example.
