Earth Rangers- The Earth Rangers came to our school to present a show outlining the importance of caring for the environment and animals in our environment. Students were lucky to meet some animal ambassadors, like a lizard, and a toucan (in photos). The group discussed how students can make small changes that have big impacts on saving the world around us. As part of this program, our school collected dead batteries and we collected 12 boxes weighing 25kg each (that’s 300 kg of batteries) and we have now sent the boxes away to Earth Rangers. We are in a competition to win a prize for recycling the most batteries! Many students helped with sorting batteries and believe me….there were a LOT! Thank you for those families that brought in batteries and kept them out of the landfills.
Dress in Fall Colours Day!- Students were invited to join in another School Spirit day and were asked to dress in fall colours. We did a fabulous job in our class!
Alpha Buddies- The leadership students from Alpha Secondary came to our classroom (and Ms. Hickman’s) to help the students to carve a pumpkin each! I picked up the pumpkins which were donated from Safeway (Thank you Safeway!). Look how full my car was with 44 pumpkins! The students enjoyed working with the students from highschool and were able to carve some amazing faces and designs! It was a lot of fun!
Hunting for Spawning Salmon- I have been raising salmon in the classroom for around 15 years and each year we raise salmon from eggs and then release our salmon fry into Beecher Creek. The students walked to Beecher Creek to see if we could find any spawning salmon and have some fun exploring the forest. We did not see salmon in the creek (they only spawn much lower down the creek) but we did use our senses to find out many different things in the forest. Some students used their eyes, like an owl, to list all of the colours, textures and items they could see. Some students used their ears, like a bat, to list all of the things they could hear in the forest. Some students used their feet/touch, like an elephant, to list all of the things that may be under their feet as we walked. Another group noticed all of the movement they could see in the forest, like a tiger. We also talked about what they noticed about the trees in the forest. Are they all the same tree? How can you tell the trees apart from each other? (bark, size, leaves or no leaves, shape, height, colours of leaves/needles, colour of bark, do the branches bend down or bend upwards, etc).
Spawning Salmon- although these are not salmon spawning in Beecher Creek, these are the same species of salmon that we will raise….chum salmon. These photos are from the Coquitlam River near where I live. Every year I go and watch as the salmon find a place to build a nest (redd), lay eggs and fertilize eggs as they fight the current and try to continue their life cycle.
HALLOWEEN! The students enjoyed showing off their costumes and had fun being dressed up. Thank you for those who were able to share treats and snacks with the group! All of the primary classes went to the gym for a costume parade and then we invited students up to show off some of their dancing skills! It was energetic and so much fun to share in the Halloween fun together with some many other students!
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Halloween Minute-to-win-it- We had a fun afternoon of games where students had 1 minute to complete challenges. Some of the challenges were: tossing marshmallows back and forth into cups ( at varying distances), carrying a pingpong ball on a spoon for a short distance and using a straw to try to keep a tissue up in the air as long as possible.
Exploring Nature- The Sierra Club ( an environmental group) came to take the students to Beecher Creek. We were able to learn about plants that can be used for medicinal purposes or health reasons, and I was shocked to learn that the lodgepole pine tree is used by indigenous peoples medicinally. The fragrant lodgepole pine tea, an excellent source of Vitamin C, became important in curing or preventing scurvy 100s of years ago. We also learned that the Broadleaf plantain (Plantago major) is common in yards, sunny meadows and woodland clearings. Roll up one big plantain leaf and rub it between your hands with a few drops of water until it’s like a slimy wad of green gum. Place on stings or bites for nearly instant relief. The western red cedar is a very important tree for indigenous peoples and one belief is that the branches turn up at the ends to say “welcome” , just as people do when they raise their hands to say “welcome”. Cedar trees are called the “Tree of Life” as many things can be made from a cedar tree (canoes, clothing, baskets, medicine, oars, ceremonial objects, building, totems, and more).
The students then used materials they found on the ground to create a “home” or “shelter” for the small creatures that live in that environment (spiders, ants, beetles etc). We used magnifying glasses to explore the surroundings and found some very interesting textures, items and also raised some interesting questions.
Matter- As we continue on our learning about Matter, we made Jello to demonstrate the three states of matter and how items can be heated or cooled to change from one state to another. The powder was the solid state. When we added hot water, the powder dissolved, creating the liquid state as well as the gas state from the steam that was released from the hot water. Then we put the liquid into the fridge to be cooled back into a solid state (the jello). The best part was the additional stage to this experiment….the eating stage!
Fall Fun in the Leaves- The students had fun playing in the leaves that have fallen from the trees. We will soon discuss why leaves fall and why they change colour. Do you know the science behind leaves changing colour and falling from the trees?
Remembrance Day – We took the time to learn about soldiers fighting in wars and completing peace- keeping missions all over the world and the reason why we need to be thoughtful about the sacrifices these soldiers have made ( and continue to make) to try to keep Canada (and other countries) a peaceful place to live. We talked about the symbol of Remembrance Day….the poppy….and how it became the national symbol of remembrance. The students then experienced a Remembrance Day assembly as an opportunity to learn about the significance of remembering those who have served and sacrificed their lives for our country.
Art With Ms Willis- We are lucky to have Ms. Willis as our resident art teacher this year and she is very talented, creative and knowledgeable. She recently had the students complete a project based on the artist, Yayoi Kasuma. Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who is sometimes called ‘the princess of polka dots’. Although she makes lots of different types of art – paintings, sculptures, performances and installations – she has become known for the one thing they have in common, DOTS! Our class did mushrooms with dots!
