By using Micro:bits, students from Grade 9 are doing a Physics project called Energy Awareness at SEK International School Qatar. Students have been inquirers by using their thinking skills and developing research questions that allowed them to investigate how much light energy is used in our daily lives in different school learning environments such as our Library, PYP, MYP, DP Classrooms, administration offices, big common areas, etc. The goals of the investigations are, firstly to evaluate if SEK-Qatar would be able to contribute to the 2030 Sustainable Development Global Goals proposed by United Nations regarding Climate Action and secondly to communicate through Service and Action how the SEK-Qatar community could be more reflective and caring regarding energy consumption in their daily lives.
Author: sharmainetalento
Olympic Contest 2022
On Monday the 28th of March 2022, two teams of Grade 5 and Grade 6 students will be representing SEK Qatar in the “Olympic Contest 2022″. This contest is a cultural competition on both Summer and Winter Olympic games, with the participation of eight other schools belonging to the SEK Education Institution Group.
Massive shoutout to our Grade 5’s: Leen Odeh, Rafael Issa, Rawan Fadul and Sara Guarin; and to our Grade 6’s: Josh Ngozi-Nwankwo, Leon Valencia and Marshal Perkins for putting in extra time to train in order to represent SEK International School Qatar. We wish you the best of luck in the competition!
Watch out, soon, there will also be a link available for everyone to stream the event live – we will tweet the link as soon as we have it.
Wellness Week at SEK-Qatar
Our PYP Student Council have been working hard behind the scenes to bring you some excitement for the last week of school before the term break.
Each day this week was titled with a special theme.
PYP kicked off with a “Crazy Hair Day” on Sunday, hair styles you have never seen before!
As SEK-Qatar has over 60 different nationalities across all grades, the following day was all about different countries and cultures. Students were invited to dress up in their traditional outfits from their homes culture or country. Special for not wearing school uniform for once.
Keeping up the dress up spirit, on Tuesday, students came as their favourite book or movie character, it almost felt like Hollywood in our school building. We also saw many students dressed up in purple to celebrated International Women’s Day as a call for equality and a symbol of women’s social, economic, cultural & political achievements.
How can you have a week of dressing up without digging out that animal costume you love so much? We encouraged students to especially dress up as their favourite endangered animal to raise awareness. Students talked about why they wanted to share this animal, and how they could stop it from going extinct.
On the last day the theme was “Trashion” – Trash and Fashion! Students were asked to make the best outfits out of trash or recycled materials. This was to visualise how much waste we create each day. Maybe we can even reuse our collection of bags from your local supermarket in a creative way!?
Such a fun way to close this term by focusing on different topics each day. Thanks to all staff and students who contributed.
SEK-Qatar wishes everyone a great term break and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again for our 3rd term.
MYP Outdoor Lab
Our 8th grade students took an experiment outdoors to investigate the Earth’s albedo effect on how the surface of the Earth influences its ability to reflect or absorb heat. They used temperature probes inside of soda cans covered in brown paper and white paper and took measurements of each can over a 15 minute period and compared the changes in temperature for both under direct sunlight. The importance of this lab was for students to understand that the albedo effect has a significant impact on our climate. The lower the albedo, the more radiation from the Sun that gets absorbed by the planet, and temperatures will rise. If the albedo is higher, and the Earth is more reflective, more of the radiation is returned to space, and the planet cools. On average, the Earth has a global albedo of about 30%, which means it reflects about 30% of the sun’s radiation. However, deforestation and the melting of ice sheets have on large scale started to change the global albedo.
Saving Animals with Grade 1
Transdisciplinary Theme
Sharing the Planet
Central Idea
Many factors might lead species toward endangerment or extinction
Lines of Inquiry
- Factors leading to endangerment
- From endangerment to extinct
- Our responsibility toward endangered species
During our unit of inquiry ‘Saving the animals’, our students learned about extinct and endangered species. Through this unit, students learned their responsibilities towards endangered animals as well as how to help them. Students chose to raise awareness and create posters that show ways of protecting endangered species as part of their action plan. Here are some examples of their posters. Congratulations G1 for helping us know about animals that are close to extinction.
Energy with Grade 5
Transdisciplinary Theme
How the World Works
Central Idea
People use, store and change energy for different purposes.
Lines of Inquiry
Forms of Energy
The storage and transformation of energy
Conservation of energy
The Grade 5 students applied their knowledge of the lines of inquiry from their current unit of inquiry to show new ways to use, store and save energy by building a model of their choice using recycled materials. They demonstrated their conceptual understanding of sustainability and energy, and used their thinking and research skills to create the models seen below. The students presented their learning through videos and live presentations to their peers.
Welcome to the Personal Project Exhibition for the MYP Class of 2022
Congratulations to our Grade 10 students! They have been working very hard over the last seven months on their Personal Project journey. Our students have created an amazing range of products, from building 3D objects, creating recipe books, and visual art works.
The Personal Project is an important part of the MYP and for preparation for the DP. Students have to bring together skills they have learned in order to be successful. They are called upon to use subject specific skills as well as their ATL skills – in particular time management which is also an essential for doing well in the DP. We have been pleased by how well students have balanced all their commitments this year, despite the pandemic. Students are continuing to work hard and explore their interests which is evident in their PP exhibition Microsoft Sways.
Although we cannot gather in person, we hope you enjoy this virtual gallery showcasing the Grade 10 students creativity, hard work, and growth as MYP scholars.
You can also use your VR glasses to walk through it!
Follow the link to visit the virtual space 👉🏻https://bit.ly/3HkMT5V
Grade 3 and the Fruit Bowls
Transdisciplinary Theme
How We Express Ourselves
Central Idea
People express their ideas, feelings and culture through the arts.
Lines of Inquiry
- The different ways artists interpret what they see, think and believe
- How artists use technique to convey a message
- How audience members appreciate art and perceive messages
If you had a bowl of fruit, what would it look like? Would it hold just one kind of fruit or many different kinds? Would the fruit be whole or chopped? What would the bowl and basket look like? How would you choose the fruits to add in your bowl?
To introduce our new unit of inquiry, How we express ourselves, Grade 3 created their own piece of art with the title, Fruit Bowl. After following a short video tutorial on how to draw a fruit bowl, the students were encouraged to create their own artwork. This was an opportunity for them to be creative and explore different materials in their environments.
We saw so many interpretations of a fruit bowl which led to fantastic discussions about what is art and how does different art make us feel.
Here are some of the great fruit bowls that were created by Grade 3. We hope you enjoy them!
Who we are with Grade 4
In grade 4, during our second unit of inquiry ‘Who we are’, students investigated the relationship between mechanical and chemical digestion. They conducted an experiment using biscuits or crackers to understand the difference between the two types of digestions that take place in the mouth. We kept all COVID protocols in place while conducting our experiment, to keep our students safe and healthy.
Grade 4 students were engaged, motivated, and excited for this experiment are looking forward to the upcoming ones!
Balance with Grade 3
Our grade 3 students inquired into the central idea ‘Balance ensures organism survival within an ecosystem’. They worked collaboratively to learn more about different ecosystems around the world, using posters and PowerPoint presentations to share their work.
Students shared their understanding of food webs and food chains knowledge was shared through posters and an art activity.
Class discussions and concept based strategies such as 4 corner debate and cross comparison charts allowed students to build and share their conceptual understandings that were then refined by further case studies.
To end the unit of inquiry, students created a report about an ecosystem of their choice. They researched information, shared their findings in their own words, edited and published their work. They also created a model of their ecosystem by creating a diorama or a Minecraft world. They then presented their work to their peers by creating a video on Flipgrid.
During the unit of inquiry, students developed a good understanding of the actions they could take at home that could make a difference. These included cutting mask strings to prevent animals being trapped, turning lights, recycling papers and abstaining from eating meat. They developed their understanding that through their choices, they can make a difference to ecosystems around the world. We are so proud of their actions and we look forward to seeing how they progress over time.