What’s happening in Year 5
05 CORE 1 – Sustainable Development
During the term Year 5 has been learning about the UN Sustainable Development goals through which they developed interest in ocean conversation and ending poverty. They worked in groups to design a product or technology that would help work towards meeting their chosen UN goals. This required them to exercise their skills in problem solving, teamwork and research, as they worked on proposing solutions that threaten vital ecosystems and social cohesion around the world. This collaboration gave students an opportunity to appreciate how global contexts impact their local community. The students enjoyed the project, which sparked their curiosity and interest in how they can contribute to solving the challenges of our world. They also had fun and strengthened relationships as they worked together.
Alison Di Ciaccio
Year 5 Teacher
05 CORE 2 – Philosophy
Throughout this term Year 5 have been discussing the Problem of Personhood in Philosophy. The students created a set of criteria defining what makes a person. The criteria they developed and used were:
A Person…
- Shows emotions or feelings
- Belongs to a community
- Is able to communicate
- Has a personality/identity
- Has the ability to think and reason.
Many images were used to apply this criteria to and discuss, including Sophia the Robot. Students watched an interview with Sophia the Robot. Below are examples of two students’ thinking.
Sophia the robot is a person. I know this because she communicates by using verbal communication. Sophia is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, this means she is part of a community. Sophia can experience emotions because when she was sad she showed a sad face. Sophia has her own personality because she made jokes in the interview.
Ava Wany
I think Sophia isn’t a person because she is man-made and programmed by a human. Robots opinions can be unfair and unjust as the person controlling them may use this Artificial Intelligence to project an opinion of their own. She can communicate but has no family. Although she has the ability to project emotions these have been programmed into the computer. Therefore Sophia the Robot is not a person.
Marley Seeto
Year 5 has enjoyed engaging in Philosophical dialogue on this topic and challenging each others thinking.
Wendy Anetter
Year 5 Teacher
05 CORE 3 and 05 CORE 4
As Year 5 comes to the end of their Interdisciplinary unit ‘Australia: Our Past, Present and Future’, students in 5Watkins were focusing on the United Nations Global Goals and how countries are meeting these goals. Students discovered that there is much around the world being done, however were shocked to hear how far some of these goals were from being achieved. Students were faced with the challenging task of designing a product or system which helped achieve these goals by 2030. They came up with incredible inventions and systems that included robots that transformed rubbish into compost, using the planet Mars’ heat from the sun to generate solar energy and much more! The students enjoyed working collaboratively to undergo the design process and present their ideas to the class.
Bryony Watkins and Tayla Kostakis
Year 5 teachers
