The fourth grade curriculum at IMS centers around leadership, governance, and our nation’s identity. Ms. Tieger, our fourth grade teacher, took a creative look at a relevant topic that ties to the curriculum, as well as the Lower School study theme of “Bright Lights, Big City.” 


“I was looking for a topic that could spark rich conversations about our national community,” says Ms. Tieger, who designed a project in which students compared national census data to demographic data at IMS. 


For the past several weeks, her students have been learning about data analysis, statistical thinking, trend identification, and identity. Not only does this project bridge math and social studies, it “ties into our study theme as we plan to look at how population in cities differs in demographics to other types of communities,” Ms. Tieger shares. 


This work will prepare students for their immigration unit in the spring as they continue to explore our national identity and how it changes over time. Ms. Tieger shares, “The fourth grade has been so invested and interested in data collection, and the project has sparked many conversations and insights. We all have a better understanding of the census as a nation, decennial survey of everyone living in the United States, and how the progress of time changes the questions that are being asked.”


View more photos from the classroom project here.