Month: April 2019

Life Hunt Project — Animalia in B.C.

Okay, new project!

We want to learn something new about animals that can be found in B.C. I am challenging you to look for animals you don’t know ANYTHING about. Do something new! Look on our taxonomy chart at the phylums under ANIMALIA. What kinds of cool organisms could you do?

We will not do fungi and plants yet, though. More on that as we get going to the watershed, okay?

Want to do a search of B.C. animals? The B.C. Government maintains a great, searchable list. You can specify whether you want to find animals, plants, or ecosystems. Check out the list here. You can tell it if you want to see endangered, red list, blue list, endemic, native, or other species. I think it would be interesting to do something that is ENDEMIC to B.C. Don’t know what that means? Look it up, as we discussed it in class!

Once you have decided on an animal, tell me. I would like each person to do something different. Some people signed up for one today on the board. Don’t worry, there are lots of possibilities!

Then, you will need to research the following about the animal:

  • Common and Latin names
  • Taxonomy Chart
  • Habitat and Ecosystem where you would find it — describe it and give location
  • Food Chain for the organism
  • Adaptations
  • Interesting Facts, including how the animal may have been used or represented in First Nations stories
  • Pictures of the animal

After you have research, then we will be using the art of Sue Coccia as an inspiration and creating animal art of our own. You will find out the general shape outline of your organism and fill a page with it. Inside the shape you will place other images that communicate the information you have found above about the organism. I have samples of Sue’s art in class, you can search up images of her art online, and there are more here.

Notes need to be taken just like we would take independent project notes. You need to record resources as you go along. You may use online or book resources. There are many in our classroom you can look at!

Criteria for success? Show you understand the terms we have been talking about in class when referring to ecosystems, biomes, etc. by using them in your research and then including information in your drawings. Ensure you have included information from all the bullet points above. Be able to explain each image you include in your art, using researched information. We will make a formal rubric in class together.

By the way, if you are stuck on the drawing part, you can also print pictures and use their outline — ask me in class.

I look forward to finding out cool facts about the amazing animals that are found on our coast and that make up the important biodiversity of our world. Maybe you will find inspiration at UBC during our field trip!

MACC Update from Ms. D on April 18th!

Hello Everyone!

So, we have had a great three weeks since Spring Break ended!

We have been doing a lot of talking about biodiversity!

If you missed it today, here are two videos you need to see about biodiversity:

What Does Biodiversity Do for Us?

and

Why is Biodiversity So Important?

Here’s a quick summary of some of the great work we have been doing!:

  • We have a LOAD of great books in the classroom to read about biodiversity, biomes, ecosystems, fossils, evolution, animals, birds, and nature! Thank you to the District Library for adding to our collection. Check them out!
  • We learned all about taxonomy and have spent time classifying or grouping animals, making careful observations, and talking about animal or plant characteristics and adaptations!
  • We have been doing the walking curriculum, looking at our surrounding flora and fauna, practicing careful observation, and getting great exercise and fresh air outdoors!
  • We have learned that our playground has blackberry bushes newly seeded behind the portable, small plants called plantains that can be used for medicine, roly polys or wood bugs (that are crustaceans, not bugs), parsley, brown ants, and more. We look forward to continuing our efforts to map the flora and fauna here, as we talk about mapping this unit!
  • We went through almost 100 poetry books and anthologies to seek different literary devices and poetry structure, such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, repetition, metaphor, simile, quatrain, and more.
  • We played a card game called PHYLO that helps us to learn about our local B.C. biodiversity, and we are working on a tough venn diagram puzzle about taxonomy. Some of those puzzles are hard and open to some debate! 
  • We discussed shapes we found in nature and talked about characteristics of 3D shapes. We built shapes out of bristol board, identified angle types, and learned to use protractors to measure angles in our classroom. 
  • We are doing math challenges from Area Mazes, using our understanding of how to find area to determine missing numbers in the puzzles! The lower number puzzles are fairly easy, but only one person has figured out puzzle #97. Keep trying!
  • And we are applying grade level math curriculum to Animal Math, which is a set of problems designed to illustrate math we would use in talking about the animal world (area, perimeter, charts, graphs, financial literacy, coordinates, triangles, algebraic expressions, and variables. 
  • And we are reading The Skeleton Tree by Iain Lawrence, practicing making careful connections, recording new vocabulary, and asking questions as we read, as we strengthen our reading comprehension skills. It is fun reading as a whole group so we can stop and ask questions about this exciting tale of survival on the Alaskan/B.C. coast.

I am looking forward to our field trip to the UBC Biodiversity Museum and Pacific Museum of Earth Science on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Also coming up are a visit to the GVRD Lower Seymour Watershed on May 8th, as well as a visit to our classroom from the O.W.L. rescue organization on May 9th. We will get to see an owl and a hawk up close! FYI, there will be a fee of $8 associated with the visit, with a notice to follow directly after on May 9th, and the money goes toward the upkeep and care of rescue birds at their organization.

We will continue our WALK 30 and Walking Curriculum Challenge through May 10th! Keep counting those minutes at home!

Also, everyone needs to go to the public library for their independent project! I am collecting books in the classroom for most of you. Many thanks to Ms. Ho, our school librarian, for helping us to gather resources from secondary schools and other elementary libraries, and to the District Library for resources, too! All of those books stay in the classroom. Go the library and talk to your local research librarian to ask for help finding even more information. Regular time for research will be given during the week.

More on Twitter, so please do check for daily pictures and updates there!

Stay tuned for the next blog post on our animal project!

Ms. D

Independent Project Process!

Hello Everyone!

As we continue with our unit called The Nature Connection, we will also be working on our independent research project. 

This project is about choice and passion. The topic you research needs to be important to you. You need to care about it! You need to be curious! You need to have lots of questions! If you don’t, then don’t do your topic. Each of you chose a topic before break, but if you have changed it, you need to tell me by the end of this week.

We will present our projects to parents, administrators, teachers, and some Suncrest classes on June 13th, Thursday, in our classroom, from 12-2:30 PM. 

Here are the steps and criteria:

  1. Narrow down your topic with a “search term” brainstorm.
  2. Ask beginning questions to start your research, in the form and function categories.
  3. Take notes as you research, using the format Ms. D provides in class. Notes can be taken by hand in your journal or on the iPad/laptop; however, notes are not cut and paste from websites. Please use your own words to summarize information. Notes will need to be turned in one week before presentation day.
  4. Record any resource you use. Ms. D will provide a handout on how to record all types of resources. You can also use Easy Bib as a tool for creating a bibliography. A final, typed, alphabetical bibliography needs to be turned in one week before presentation day.
  5. Please use a variety of secondary resources. You need to use at least one encyclopaedia (World Book online provided on our library website or use physical books in our library research section — Ms. Ho can make copies of pages as needed), at least 3 books (we have ordered some from high school libraries, but you will need to go to the public library), and a variety of reliable websites. We will talk about this in class.
  6. Please use at least one primary resource. A primary resource can include: an experiment you design and document with pictures and notes, an interview with an expert, a visit to a location or a specific experience to learn about your topic with pictures and notes, a survey of a larger group of people about your topic (not just our class), or the creation of an invention with documentation of the design process. There are many options and we can talk about this in class.
  7. As you find information, begin to ask more complicated questions and write them in your notes. Use our inquiry wonderings wall as a guide for your questions. If you feel you are done, you probably haven’t asked enough questions. All of your topics would take years to research if you kept asking questions! Go deep!
  8. Choose a way to present your information. This isn’t a science fair where a trifold is required with specific pieces of writing, etc. You choose how to present. When we go to see your information, you need something we can look at, something we can interact with or do, and some original writing we can read about your topic. You can do a trifold or poster for the background if you want, but there are other ways! Try a model, handout zines, do an experiment set up, write a magazine, create a cartoon, make a slideshow, create a game to learn about your topic, make amazing artwork, write a mini skit, do a puppet show on film, etc. Plan and decide what you want to do before the end of April, but I would love to see your creative thinking.
  9. Document the process of your project on your e-port. So we can share in your process, occasionally I will ask you to share some of the research, notes, pictures, or thoughts from your project.
  10. Assessment: After you present to the public, you will include thoughts about your independent project in your final reflections for report card. Your parents will also comment on your independent project process, as will Ms. D. We will create a general rubric of success together as a class to help with this. 

Okay, there we go! I look forward to seeing your research! If you have questions, please do ask!

Ms. D

NATURE CHALLENGE for April and May!

Want to win a game to play with your friends? Please join in our nature challenge!

During the months of April and May, please visit the many parks and natural spaces found in our local area. If you need maps of where these are, you can find them online or in our classroom!

Take pictures of yourself in the natural environment. Make a Google Slideshow of your pictures. The person with the most locations by the end of May wins!

Here are the rules:

  • Pictures must be from this year.
  • Pictures need to include some identifying feature or sign behind you. You or some other item such as your hand or a personal sign need to be in the picture as proof you were there.
  • One picture per location.
  • Local parks, other school playgrounds, green belts, beaches, pond areas, pathways, hike trails, lakes, rivers, soccer fields, or any place you can play outside, etc. all count!
  • Extra 5 points for the bonus locations as described in class. As I discuss them, I will add them to this post.

Main prize to be awarded to only one person. However, smaller prizes for everyone who participates and provides me with a slideshow. I hope you all spend a lot of time outdoors over the next three months!

Ms. D

 

New Unit: The Nature Connection!

Hello Everyone!

We have had a great first week back after break, and we are already doing our walking curriculum challenges, discussing biodiversity, getting outdoors, and talking about the concept of connection in nature. We have jumped right in to some great critical thinking about the natural world around us!

Unit Four Focus Statement:

Human beings impact and rely upon the balance of nature’s interdependent systems.

Concepts:

Connection (main focus), as well as Systems and Patterns.

An inquiry into:

  • Our relationship with nature (mental health, survival, needs, recreation)
  • Biomes, biodiversity, and interdependence within ecosystems
  • How human interaction with the environment can affect the balance of systems
  • Earth’s water supply
  • How the moon, sun, weather, and tides affect our lives
  • The role of questioning, exploration, close observation, and documentation in science
  • The definition of science and the role of indigenous knowledge.
  • How we express our connection to nature through poetry and art
  • Geometry and patterns in nature
  • French conversation continued and weather expressions

Activities and learning to look forward to:

  • Field trips to the UBC Biodiversity Museum, the Pacific Museum of Earth at UBC, and our Lower Seymour Watershed
  • Daily participation in The Walking Curriculum for April/May, honing our critical thinking, observation, documentation, and questioning skills.
  • Daily participation in The Walk 30 Burnaby/New West Walking Challenge starting April 8th, with emphasis on how walking is good for physical and mental health.
  • Dragon Boating May 22, 29, and June 5 at Burnaby Lake
  • Discussions around area, perimeter, volume, geometric shapes and patterns found in nature, Fibonacci, and other areas of math curriculum such as division and measurement
  • Research on a specific endangered animal in our environment, understanding its classification, why it is endangered, and producing an art project to display information found.
  • Walking to Everett Crowley Park to look at native BC plants used by indigenous peoples for healing and food, along with producing drawings, research, and a canvas picture with acrylics of one specific BC native plant.
  • Discussions about the water cycle, water health, the harm plastics are doing to our waters, ocean acidification, using a variety of games, an ocean pH lab, and interactive challenges. 
  • Class reading and analysis of the book The Skeleton Tree, a story of survival, as well as discussion on survival techniques in nature, such as how to use a compass, how to find edible food, etc.
  • Close observation of fossils and beginning discussion around evolution. We will be looking at fossils at the UBC Pacific Museum of Earth.

And much more! Please continue to watch the blog and Twitter for more information on what our class is doing. We will begin e-port entries next week!

Ms. D