Women’s History: the ‘Secret’ Women Piloting Planes during WWII

Have you ever heard of Hazel Ying Lee? She, and thousands of over women, were ‘Women Airforce Service Pilots’ (WASPs) that flew planes during the second World War! While these women were not allowed to fly during combat/battles, their job was also very dangerous; these women ‘test-flew’ planes that had just been built to check for any malfunctions!

Hazel Ying Lee not only faced discrimination as a female pilot, but also as a Chinese American. But she never gave up and was determined to be a pilot. She was even one of the few women to fly a fighter jet! After her tragic passing, she was not given any military recognition. Like many WASPs, her role in history has been erased or forgotten. We think it is important to acknowledge these ‘hidden heroes’ throughout history, especially during Women’s History Month!

Mary Anning, the “Princess of Palentology” + Making Fossils Science Lab

Did you know that a girl named Mary Anning is credited as being a pioneer in paleontology? Her discovery of dinosaur bones (an Ichthyosaurus and a Plesiosaurus) when she was a teenager shocked the world! Many people did not believe this “giant lizards” could have existed millions of years ago. Mary Anning made many paleontological discoveries all through her life, but was not given the credit she deserved because she was a woman and because she was self-taught.

Our class has been investigating how fossils teach us about the past. Today, we made our own fossils by ‘imprinting’ dinosaurs into salt dough. Look at our amazing results!

For more information on Mary Anning and her contributions to Science, check out the video below:

 

Layers of the Earth: Extracting a Core Sample

Our class has been investigating Earth Science with Mr. Murray. We learned about how many layers there are ‘under our feet’ and how deep they are!

Humans have not been able to explore very ‘deep’ inside the Earth, but we can take ‘core samples’ to investigate what is below the crust. Our Scientists created their own ‘layers’ using playdough and then took a core sample using a straw!

Check out our results!

Here is Ms. Ward’s recipe for playdough:

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/4 cup of table salt
  • 3/4 cup of water
  • 3 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
  • Liquid or gel food colouring
  1. Add the water, oil and lemon juice/vinegar to a medium non-stick pot and heat until hot but not boiling.
  2. Add food colouring to the liquid (optional)
  3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Stir together.
  4. Turn the heat down (but not off) and slowly add the dry ingredients to the pot and while mixing to combine.
  5. Continuously stir until the ingredients combine, dry out and begin to form a ball. If there are parts that seem a bit sticky still, just flatten the dough out and put the sticky side down on the bottom of the pot very briefly. Flip back and forth frequently until it doesn’t seem sticky anymore. However, don’t cook it too long. It is better to be a bit undercooked as it will firm up as it cools down.
  6. Place on wax paper until it is cool enough to touch. Then you can knead it together until it is smooth and pliable.
  7. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy!

Virtual Museum Tour:

Today, our class took a look at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada. This museum has lots of examples of fossils from all different kinds of dinosaurs! We learned that dinosaurs, insects, and even plants from prehistoric times can turn into fossils in the right conditions. Paleontologists are responsible for discovering fossils and carefully removing them. We can learn a lot about the past from fossils!

Feel free to check out the virtual museum tour below.

 

Speech Inspiration: Amanda Gorman

Today, we watched the spoken word piece performed by Amanda Gorman. She talked about 3 different examples of coaches, warriors, and champions who are inspirational and influential in 2020/2021.

Who are some unconventional, unappreciated heroes in our everyday lives? How can we connect this to our speech on “What we learned in 2020”?

Examining Flower Biology: Plant Dissection

Have you ever looked inside of a flower? What did you notice? We continued our exploration of plant biology by dissecting lilies. We noticed that they had very bright, scented, orange pollen. We saw they had different patterns and colours inside the petals. We noticed the stamens and pistil inside of the flower and inside the bud. What do you notice?

 

 

Flower Dissection

Today, our botanists continued to examine the structure of flowers and plants! We dissected a daffodil, a tulip, and an iris. We noticed that each of these flowers had pollen inside! We also examine the pollen and stamens under our microscope (pictured below):

Image: the stamen (left) and pollen (right) of a daffodil under a microscope

 

Speech Writing Examples

Our topic for this year’s speeches is: what is the most important lesson you learned in 2020? We have begun brainstorming and creating our thesis statements. Please feel free to watch the speech above for inspiration, presented by a very courageous and confident 9-year-old about the dangers of plastic use!