Islamic Art and Culture Interdisciplinary Unit

This unit of study contains elements of Art, Maths and Humanities (History).

Area of Interaction	Significant Concept	MYP Unit Question
Human Ingenuity: How do cultural beliefs influence artistic production.	Maths, Science and Art can reflect cultural values.	How is the idea of unity and infinity expressed in the artistic, scientific and cultural achievements of Islamic civilizations?

Suggested Guiding Questions (Subject Area focus):

• How does the Islamic idea of God differ from the Christian idea? (History)
• How do we look for culturally-specific symbols in Art and artifacts? (History, Art)
• How is mathematics and scientific endeavor guided by culture and environment? (History, Maths, Art))
• Within what historical contexts have maths and science grown? (History, Maths)

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How will students prepare to answer the Unit Question in....

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MATHS

Area of Interaction	Significant Concept	MYP Unit Question for Maths
Community and Service:

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ART

Area of Interaction	Significant Concept	MYP Unit Question for Art
Human Ingenuity: How do people's beliefs and world-view influence what they create?

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HUMANITIES

Area of Interaction	Significant Concept	MYP Unit Question for Humanities
Human Ingenuity: How do people's beliefs and world-view influence what they create?	Cultural Artifacts reflect the Historical and Cultural conditions in which they were produced	How is the idea of unity and infinity expressed in the artistic, scientific, architectural and cultural achievements of Islamic civilizations?

Relevent Understandings:

• How do cultural styles blend in artistic creations? How is this evident in Islamic societies?
• How do we identify significant moments of change in cultural productions?

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Assessment: Students will answer the MYP Unit Question in a well-developed essay, using examples from Maths, Art and Humanities.

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Learning Experiences:

1. General history and Culture: Class notes, textbook, selected readings
   1. Unity: Arabic, One God, One people without a clergy, One book: The Koran
   2. Infinity: Idea of God outside of human history (compare with Christianity which has an infinite God and a God who lived in human time and space)
2. ISLAMIC HISTORY PROJECT: Group work project: Students will research and present on a period of Islamic History. They will identify some of the artistic, cultural and architectural developments of a period of Islamic history.
   1. Umayyads
   2. Abbasids
   3. Al-Andalus
   4. Ottomans
   5. Fatmids
   6. Moghuls
   7. Safavids

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Teaching Schedule for 2009-2010

WEEK	DATE	HUMANITIES	MATH	ART
-2	30 Nov.
-1	7 Dec.
0	14 Dec.
1	11 Jan.	History of Islamic Empires
2	18 Jan.	Beliefs and Practices, Artistic and Scientific Developments
3	25 Jan.	Islamic History Project
4	1 Feb.	Islamic History Project
5	8 Feb	Islamic History Project
6		Islamic History Project Presentations and Test
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