A collection of moments from our Grade 7 learning community
What is your favourite flavour of ice cream? Chocolate? Vanilla? What about cockroach? Gourmet Grubb, a company in the USA, is hoping to bring insect-based ice creams to stores across America.
In class, we discussed the pros and cons of entomophagy. Would you ever try this ice cream? Feel free to click the article below to learn more!
Hi, scientists!
What animal scares you the most? Is it a hairy tarantula? A toothy shark? A slithering snake? Often, the animals we are the most afraid of are NOT the ones that are the most dangerous to us!
As part of our biology exploration of the weirdest, creepiest, and most monstrous animals, our class looked at a list of the most deadly animals on Earth. According to a study in 2015, these are the top-ranked most dangerous animals (based on how many human fatalities they cause per year on average)
We learned that many animals that are harmful to humans are dangerous because of their venom or their ability to transmit diseases or parasites. We were also shocked to find out that humans made the list!
Do you see any surprising animals on the list?
Have you ever had a challenge communicating with someone else? In Pixar’s short film ‘Loop’, two teens learn to communicate with each other. One of the characters, Rene, is on the autism spectrum and is non-verbal. We discussed how just because someone thinks differently or sounds different than we do, that doesn’t mean that they do not deserve our respect and kindness.
We also learned about Temple Grandin, a woman who famously wrote Thinking In Pictures about her life as a female scientist on the autism spectrum.
If you want to learn more, feel free to watch the interview with the film-makers above. And if you have a Disney+ account, you can find ‘Loop’ under the Pixar SparkShorts section!
John A. Macdonald Statue Article
This week, we are continuing to use our critical thinking skills as we examine primary sources, photographs, quotes, news articles, and opinion pieces to decide whether we think John A. Macdonald (Canada’s first Prime Minister) was a positive or negative historical figure.
With any person or event in history, it is important to learn as much as we can from different perspectives. This way, we can make up our own opinion based on the evidence!
Please feel free to read and review the article attached above to learn more about the controversy surrounding John A. Macdonald’s statue being destroyed in Montreal.
Today, we explored whether sharks are the mindless killers that many movies make them out to be! We learned about Eugenie Clark, a marine biologist who dedicated her life to proving that sharks deserve protection and respect rather than hatred and fear. Even though many people told Eugenie she would never be a scientist because she was a woman, she went on to become one of the most influential marine biologists of her time!
Pictured below: Eugenie as a young woman, and after her retirement, posing with a collection of shark jaws and teeth
We discussed how sharks are often misunderstood, and that humans are actually much more dangerous to sharks than we are to them. Did you know that an estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year by humans? If you want to learn more about how to protect sharks, you might want to check out : https://www.sharksider.com/10-easy-ways-help-save-sharks/
Stay tuned as we learn more about different ‘misunderstood monsters’ in our Science this week!
If you enjoyed Coraline by Neil Gaiman, I suggest trying out these other spine-tingling reads (check our classroom & school libraries for a copy)!
Nightbooks by J. A. White is a nightmarish fairytale that takes inspiration from “Hansel & Gretel” and “1001 Nights”. When a young boy becomes trapped in a witch’s house, he must tell her a scary story every night to ‘earn his keep’. But will he be able to plan his escape before he runs out of stories? And who is the mysterious girl who is also a prisoner of the witch?
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste spins Caribbean folklore into a spooky story about the mysterious creatures, called “jumbies”, that lurk in the darkness of an island paradise. Corrine isn’t afraid of anything, especially not the stories of “jumbies” used to scare younger children! But when a mysterious woman emerges from the forest, Corrine must face her fears in order to save her family and her home.
The Witch Boy series by Molly Knox Ostertag blends fantasy, friendship, and the unknown in this graphic novel. Aster’s community has always had one rule: boys learn shapeshifting, and girls learn witchcraft. But Aster, even though he is a boy, is fascinated by the magic of plants and spells and must keep it a secret. A not-too scary story about identity, friendship, and courage.
The Witches graphic novel by Penelope Bagieu (story by Roald Dahl) is a colourful adaptation of the classic novel (and soon upcoming movie starring Octavia Spencer and Anne Hathaway). A young boy and his grandmother work together to try to stop the efforts of a coven of witches from their evil goal… to turn all the children in the world into mice! A great mix of action, fairytales, and spooky fun!
Today, our class began collecting ‘samples’ from around the school in order to grow our own mystery microorganisms! We used a cotton swab to carefully collect a sample (from the bottom of our shoe, from our pencil, from the floor, from a doorknob, and other places). Then, we rubbed the cotton swab onto the agar gel in our mini petri-dishes. Ms. Ward made the agar from a few household ingredients. If you want to try this experiment at home, you can use this recipe:
Agar Recipe (for collecting and growing microorganisms)
Carefully mix together the gelatin, sugar, and bouillon. Add the boiling water and mix well. Put in the fridge to cool for around 10 minutes, until just slightly warm. Then, carefully pour into your petri dishes and refrigerate until needed. Use within 2 days for the best results.
To use: carefully collect a sample using a damp cotton swab. Try to pick somewhere you think will likely have lots of microorganisms! Then, rub the q-tip onto the agar, seal the petri dish, and leave in a warm, dark place for a few days. For safety reasons, do NOT open the petri dish once the microorganisms begin to grow. Observe them, then throw the entire experiment in the garbage.
Note: We talked extensively about ensuring that we do not contaminate our agar. Ms. Ward even discovered that one of her spoons hadn’t been sterilized properly, and it contaminated a few of our petri dishes. If you want accurate results, make sure to sterilize all of your equipment beforehand, and wash your hands!
We will let our microorganisms incubate over the weekend, then check to see our results on Monday. Stay tuned for pictures and updates!
Hello to our parents, guardians, and families of Div. 5 students!
In Socials this month, we will be discussing topics that involve stereotypes, prejudice, and racism; we will also be learning about people who stood up against oppression and made positive changes in their communities! For example, we learned about Viola Desmond and her fight to end racial segregation in Canada. I know that we will have some challenging, meaningful, and interesting discussions around the topic of past and present injustices over the weeks to come!
It is important to recognize that many students have likely heard/learned about different examples of injustice through current events, social media, their own life experiences, etc. I am so proud of how honest, empathetic, and critically-minded our class has been in our lessons so far! Here is a resource that may be helpful if you want to continue these conversations at home.
Thank you!
Today, we learned about Viola Desmond and her fight against racial segregation in Canada. We watched the Heritage Minute dedicated to her and read a biography about her life, Viola Desmond Will Not Be Budged.
We will be continuing to explore historical (and contemporary) examples of people who stood up against injustice, racism, and prejudice. Who are some ‘changemakers’ that you think we should learn about?
There are thousands and thousands of species of fruit all over the world, from apples to durians and everything in between! For Sci-Fri this week, our class (along with Ms. Ramen’s class) examined some fruits that we may not have seen before! We made detailed observations, drew diagrams, and predicted what the fruit might look like inside!
The different fruits were: red-fleshed papaya, purple passionfruit, orange passionfruit, white pomelo, tangelo, aloe leaves, dragon fruit, baby bananas, starfruit, pomegranate, and durian!
Ms. Ward tried each of the fruits and described them. We learned that some fruits, such as the durian, are an acquired taste. While many people love it and have grown up eating it, durian can be very unusual the first time you taste it!
Ms. Ward described it as “custardy, smooth, a bit sweet and caramelized, with a strong oniony/green onion flavour”. The scent of the durian was so strong you could smell it throughout the whole school!
Have you ever tried a durian?
