BC Nature Project, Science/Socials/LA/Art

Hello Everyone,

We are lucky to have had several virtual field trips, and we are learning about BC Nature such as raptors, seaweed, plant life, birds, ecosystems, forests, and more.

We are connected to all of these things in so many ways. We are impacted by them and we have an impact on them with our human activities, as well — both positive and negative.

We will be learning about how individuals are combining indigenous traditional knowledge with western science to better understand the balance of our ecosystems in BC and to protect the amazing place we live in.

I will ask you to do a bit of further research on one non-human organism in BC you do not already know a lot about. Pick one you feel really connected or drawn to! We did animals for our form and function project, so try looking at other organisms, too. You need to pick a different organism, and I encourage you to look at other important parts of our ecosystem such as plants and trees. Please choose it in the next two weeks.

Each person will be doing a different organism, so we have 24 different studies to learn from. We want to find out these things by May 21st, Friday, recording the information in our journals.

  1.  What is the taxonomy of the organism?
  2.  Where would I find it in BC? Use specific terminology in terms of ecoprovince as discussed in class and type of ecosystem or biome.
  3.  Is the organism endangered or is it on any of the lists of concern?
  4.  Is it a consumer or producer, and what is its food web?
  5.  How are humans connected to this organism?
  6.  How has human activity impacted this organism?
  7.  What is our responsibility to this organism? What can we do to protect it?
  8.  Is there a First Nations name, symbol, meaning, or use for the organism?
  9.  How would I draw this organism?

We will use this information to do three things:

  1.  We will write a short description that answers these questions, due June 4th, Friday, using 3-4 complete paragraphs, and complex sentences. It needs to be typed and have a picture of the organism on it. Use size 12 font, include a title and your name. Send to Ms. D for printing.
  2.  We will write a first-person poem about the organism due June 10th, giving a voice to the organism, as if you were the organism yourself. The poem will be added to our poetry journals. It needs to be typed, size 12 font, with a title and author. The poem may be in any style we have discussed in class. It needs a minimum of 15 lines. You will be presenting it out loud to the class before we leave for the year. More information to come on that presentation.
  3.  Creation of Sue Coccia Art: We will also do an additional art project with the information we gather, and I will discuss how you will use drawings and your research to create Sue Coccia inspired art.