Primary three students of Sekolah Tunas Bangsa were learning a unit of inquiry under the transdisciplinary theme of Sharing The Planet. The central idea is: Our planet has limited resources that are unevenly distributed. Water is one of the resources that the earth has. It is very important for the living organisms like humans, animals and plants. We can’t live without water. The amount of water in the earth remains the same because of the water cycle. Unfortunately, some areas on earth do not have enough water because it is unevenly distributed or because of human activities. This is the enduring understanding that the students need to learn in this unit of inquiry.

To get the prior knowledge of the students, they need to answer the teacher’s question: How does water get into the water tap? On a piece of paper, the students drew what they think they know about how water can get into the water tap. They came up with different ideas during class disussion. To find out how it really happens, the students and teachers agreed to have a field trip to the Water Supply Plant (PDAM) of Pontianak city. There, the students observed the process of water purification from the Kapuas river to become the clean water that is ready to be distributed to the citizens. They were very excited to find out the processes by observing the phases and by asking questions to the officers there. Once again, when they returned to school, they were asked to draw the process of water purification and distribution on a piece of paper. They also wrote a report based on their observation and presented it in front of the class.

Using ‘Before and After’ strategy, the teachers asked the students to write what they think they know and what they know now about how water can get into the water tap. The students now realize that water is really precious that they need to use it efficiently.