Every Child is Special - Character Development Part B - Unit 1

In this unit, students become Amazing Animal Researchers at CurioQuest, a playful Animal Research Lab where scientists use curiosity, self-discipline and reflection to discover new information about unusual animals. Students learn that curiosity makes them want to explore and ask questions, self-discipline helps them stick with something even when it feels tricky and reflection helps them think about what happened, what they learned and how to make their ideas stronger next time. 

Across Lessons 1 to 6, students practise these traits through hands-on animal missions that help them think, explore, try again, and improve, just like real researchers. The CurioQuest theme keeps the learning playful and engaging while preparing students for Lessons 7 to 10, where they choose one Amazing Animal to investigate more deeply through small-group and independent work. 

By the end of the unit, students have the knowledge, confidence and resources they need to share their learning with someone at home.  

• Learn to be curious and ask ‘I wonder’ questions about what we see. 
• Learn steps for how to be reflective. 
• Learn how to have self-discipline. 
• Learn how curiosity, reflection and self-discipline help us learn new things. 
• Learn how curiosity, reflection and self-discipline work together to strengthen our learning. 
• Pick an animal to ask ‘I wonder’ questions about. 
• Practise self-discipline with positive self-talk. 
• Reflect to think deeper and grow your curiosity. 
• Reflect on your learning and use self-discipline to stay on-task. 
• Make an informative brochure to teach others about your animal. 

Lessons

• 10 lessons 

Resources

• Teaching Guide
• Student Workbook – The SWB is utilised as a research journal, where students take notes, draw pictures and show what they learnt in the lesson.  
• Posters/Resources-  
  • Picture cards (40) – students look at 10 interesting images of the animal they are investigating to spark their thinking for asking curious questions. 
  • Directed drawing step cards – students are given a mixed-up deck of cards that show each step for drawing their animal. They must have self-discipline to reorder the images and draw the image correctly.  
  • Habitat enhancement guide (4) – printed on A4 paper. Each animal is shown in their habitat in a photorealistic view, with labelled images of other animals they share their habitat with. 
  • Informative animal reports (4) – printed on A4 paper. Each animal has a report teaching about their habitat, diet, appearance and location. 
  • Student readers (4) – 8–page flipbooks include information about the habitat, diet and appearance of each animal. 
  • Brochure template – Students cut and glue provided images and informative text to their brochure template. 

Lesson 10: students make a brochure that compiles their learning to take home and share. 

In this unit, students explore how curiosity, reflection and self-discipline help them understand the world around them. Students learn to ask thoughtful ‘I wonder…’ questions to spark their curiosity, to reflect by looking back at what they noticed and to stay focused when tasks become tricky. They investigate real natural wonders – such as deserts that bloom with flowers overnight, rainbows, the colours of a sunset, glowing creatures, mangrove forests and plants that grow after fire – to discover how surprising our world can be when we slow down and look closely. 

Throughout the unit, students practise observation, questioning, comparing ideas and explaining their thinking. They take part in hands-on activities, shared discussions and guided discovery experiences that build curiosity, reflection and self-discipline in an age-appropriate way. The summative task invites students to choose one natural wonder and create a simple report that shows what they wondered, what they discovered and how the three traits helped them learn. 

Unit highlights include: exciting videos and images of real wonders, structured I Do/We Do/You Do learning sequences, child-friendly inquiry tasks, ‘breaking news’ headlines about natural discoveries and opportunities for students to explore topics that genuinely spark their curiosity. The unit develops character traits through meaningful learning experiences so students learn not only what is amazing in our world, but how to become stronger, more thoughtful learners. 

• Learn how curiosity helps us notice new things and ask great questions. 
• Learn how reflection helps us look again, think again and discover new ideas. 
• Practise self-discipline by staying focused and trying again. 
• Learn how curiosity, reflection and self-discipline work together to help us understand the world around us more deeply. 
• Grow our curiosity and reflection by learning about interesting places in our world. 
• Use curiosity to ask questions about natural wonders and select one to learn more about. 
• Learn how self-discipline helps us keep going. 
• Use curiosity and reflection to look again, ask better questions, and deepen our learning. 
• Use self- discipline to stay focused. 
• Make a poster to teach others about the natural wonder you studied and reflect on your learning. 

Lessons

• 10 lessons 

Resources

• Teaching Guide
• Student Workbook
• Posters/Resources:  
  • Picture cards (40) – students look at 10 interesting images of the natural wonder they are investigating to spark their thinking for asking curious questions and to notice new things. 
  • Newspaper articles – 1 set of 4 images for each weekly topic. 
  • Directed drawing step cards – students are given a mixed-up deck of cards that show each step for drawing their natural wonder. They must have self-discipline to reorder the images and draw the image correctly.  
  • Informative wonder article (4) – printed on A4 paper. Each natural wonder has an article teaching how, why, when and where the natural wonder takes place. 

Lesson 10: students make a poster that compiles their learning to share. 

In this unit, students explore how curiosity, self-discipline and reflection work together to support learning and problem-solving. Through engaging stories, hands-on projects and reflective discussions, they discover how these character strengths help turn challenges into opportunities. 

Lessons 1–5 focus on understanding the traits by examining the true stories of inventors who used curiosity, reflection and self-discipline to transform everyday problems into remarkable inventions. Lessons 6–10 provide opportunities for students to apply these same traits in action, working collaboratively to turn their own ‘Oh No’ frustrations into ‘Oh Wow’ solutions. As they design, develop, refine and present their ideas, students learn how persistence, thoughtful reflection and creative exploration lead to meaningful improvement and innovation. 

• Learn how curiosity helps people notice odd or annoying things and ask questions that could lead to discoveries.  
• Learn how reflection helps people look at mistakes or problems in new ways to find something good or useful. 
• Learn how self-discipline helps people stay focused and keep trying when something doesn’t work the first time. 
• Learn how curiosity, reflection and self-discipline work together to help people make new discoveries and solve problems. 
• Practise using curiosity, reflection and self-discipline together to solve problems. 
• Practise using curiosity to notice problems and ask deep questions that help you understand how things work. 
• Practise using reflection to think about problems in new ways. 
• Practise using self-discipline to complete a challenging task. 
• Use curiosity, reflection and self-discipline together to improve your work. 
• Present your Oh No to Oh Wow idea as a group to the rest of the class. 

Lessons

• 10 lessons 

Resources

• Teaching Guide
• Student Workbook

Lesson 10 is a group presentation. Informal and not assessed.  

In this unit, students explore how curiosity, self-discipline and reflection equip them to investigate complex challenges and create practical solutions. Through rich discussions, guided investigations and collaborative problem-solving tasks, they discover how these character strengths help them think deeply, stay focused and shape ideas that can make a real difference. 

Lessons 1–5 introduce the theme of shaping the future by showing students that even the biggest problems can begin with simple, thoughtful ideas. By examining examples of real-world challenges and the people who worked to solve them, students learn how curiosity drives investigation, reflection strengthens and develops ideas over time, and self-discipline helps them persist when solutions take patience and effort.  

Lessons 6–10 give students the chance to apply these traits directly as they explore three major issues: food production, endangered species and access to drinking water. Through hands-on problem-solving, they discover that curiosity helps them notice and question issues in the world around them, reflection supports them to refine and improve their ideas, and self-discipline keeps them working steadily until their ideas grow into solutions worth sharing. By the end of the unit, students recognise how these strengths empower them to become independent thinkers, responsible contributors and active shapers of the future. 

• Learn how curiosity helps people see new possibilities in everyday things and use them to solve problems. 
• Learn how reflection helps people find other ways to solve problems. 
• Learn how self-discipline helps people persist to find solutions when faced with challenges. 
• Learn how people use curiosity, reflection and self-discipline together to solve problems in the world. 
• Remember how curiosity, reflection and self-discipline work together to shape the future. 
• Explore three big issues in the world today. 
• Explore how reflecting on unexpected ideas can help people find solutions to problems in the world. 
• Practise using self-discipline to stick at it while working on our ideas. 
• Commit to one idea and strengthen it. 
• Present our group idea to the class. 

Lessons

• 10 lessons 

Resources

• Teaching Guide
• Student Workbook
• Three fact sheets about big issues in the world today: Food for Tomorrow, Saving Species, Water for Everyone  

   

Lesson 10 is a group presentation. Informal and not assessed.