Div. 4 and 5 have been exploring climate change in our classes. We are looking forward to having a climate workshop on Thursday with the BC Sustainable Energy Association. 

Here are links to some of the videos we have been exploring to help us understand and discuss climate change:

• Climate Science in a Nutshell #4 Too Much Carbon Dioxide
• Climate Science in a Nutshell #5 Where Does Carbon Dioxide Come From?
• Climate Science in a Nutshell #7 Climate Change Around the World 

Here is where we can sign into our Climate Challenge Accounts: www.climatecool.org

On Thursday, October 17th, Div. 4 had the opportunity to visit the Vancouver Art Gallery for an exhibition called “The Street”. The urban street has been an important source of inspiration for artists since the Renaissance and it continues to be one of the primary locations in which culture is produced in the world today. We explored the street through painting, photography, sculpture and video from the Gallery’s collection, ranging in date from the eighteenth century up to the present. Then we created our own self portraits on the street! 

On Friday, we had the incredible opportunity to visit the Burnaby Village Museum for the inaugural Indigenous Learning Week. There, we had the opportunity to learn from Coast Salish elders and knowledge-keepers about the indigenous history of the place we now call Burnaby. We learned about Coast Salish culture through weaving, Coast Salish art, language learning, and exploring the traditional uses of indigenous plants. We are so thankful for this experience. We also want to extend a thank you to all the families that helped make this field experience possible by driving and accompanying us on this adventure! 

Click here to read more about Indigenous Learning Week at Burnaby Village museum. 

This week in science we’re answering the question: “Who set the first clock?” We made shadow clocks (sundials), learned about telling time by the Sun, and found out how (and why) people first divided the day into hours.

When your child brings the sundial home, you could help set it up in the sun with the north-pointing arrow pointing to north. When you and your child watch the shadow move over the course of the day, you might point out that the shadow moves clockwise around the dial.

That’s no coincidence. The first clockmakers patterned the movement of the clock hands on what people were used to: the shadow clock. And here’s a fun fact: back before there were clocks, people used the word “sunwise” to describe the direction we now call “clockwise.”

Our Cultural Inquiry Projects are coming along beautifully! Thank you for taking time as a family to share stories and answer questions with your children. Here are a few of our questions we brainstormed throughout the project: CIP Question Brainstorm. This weekend your child will be bringing questions for the final 2 slides: Our Cultural Events and Traditions, and then any other details or stories they would like to share about.

Please use these questions as a starting place for conversation. You can decide as a family what you would like to appear on the Powerpoint to share with the class. 

This week we learned that even though it looks like the Sun is moving across the sky every day, it is actually the Earth that is spinning (rotating) around its axis. In our activity, students became models of the Earth and spun around to understand how this movement is responsible for the Sun rising and setting every day. We also discussed how the speed of the Earth’s rotation affects the length of one full day.

You can support learning at home. The next time you’re travelling by car or bus, you can point out that it doesn’t feel like you’re moving at all – even if you’re travelling at really high speeds. This is the same reason that even though the Earth is spinning incredibly fast, it never feels like we’re moving. Because the Earth is always spinning at a constant speed, we never feel it moving.

Here are a few fun activities you can explore at home:

Over the course of the day, compare the light on your globe to the light shown on this interactive map.

Check out these time-lapse videos of sunrise and sunset. Here are some discussion questions: Why does it look like the Sun is moving? Which way would you face to look in the direction of the Sun in the morning? In the middle of the day? In the afternoon? Do any other objects in the sky seem to move in the same way as the Sun? Explain. Does the Sun really move this fast? Why do you think it looks like it’s moving fast in the video?

Thank you to the families of Div. 4 for joining us at Parents as Partners Conferences last week! It was wonderful connecting with all of you. I am looking forward to this year with your child and your family!

The garden is the perfect place to explore growth mindset! Learning that growth takes patience, time, and support. In our first week back at school, we came up with some supportive ideas, inspired by our garden learning.

The Group of Seven is famous for creating unique, Canadian art, celebrating the beauty of the land we now call Canada. Last week, we began our exploration of the Group of Seven with a gallery walk of some of their famous pieces. We were mindful of our observations of colour, techniques, movement, themes, content, and emotions that were evoked for us. We are excited to be creating our own multi-media art inspired by the Group of Seven!

Div. 4 and 5 have started a journey to explore our families’ history and stories in our Cultural Inquiry Project. 

Some of our main goals for this project are:

• To celebrate our cultures, heritage, and families
• To appreciate the diversity in our class and learn about our classmate’s families
• To embrace different perspectives

Below is an outline for our project:

Cultural Inquiry Project

Students will be bringing their questions sheets home after each lesson, where they brainstormed 4 questions they would like to start asking. This is a starting point, so please feel encouraged to go beyond these questions!