Wishing everyone a cozy, safe, and recharging winter break. Enjoy your time with friends and family, and if you are celebrating, I hope you have a blast! See you again in 2023! 😊
Kamui Mintara Playground of the Gods, Burnaby Mountain, 2017
Month: December 2022
Division 3 has been looking at the emergence of art as early humans developed conceptual thinking and and some understanding of themselves in relation to the world around them. Examining the cave paintings from France, Spain, and Argentina, we noticed they often pictured large animals such as mammoth, bison, horses, deer, etc. Some of the paintings featured depictions of humans and arrows or spears. Some anthropologists suggest these depictions may have been intended to “enchant” big game animals for a successful hunt. Or maybe they were recording stories from their lived experiences for future generations. The negative-space hand prints are, perhaps, the most haunting of the cave paintings. It’s almost as though you can reach out and touch our early human ancestors living in the midst of an ice age!
Earlier this week, we headed out to the forest to collect raw materials that could be combined to create painting tools. Students gathered sticks, grass, rocks, leaves, etc. Then we brought them inside to adapt the raw materials to create useable tools. We agreed that we could use twine to bind things, but no glue or tape.
Prev
Next
Finally, we got to painting on our “cave” walls! Students worked on vertical surfaces and different heights to experience a tiny bit of what it might have been like to paint this way. Some students worked more independently, and some collaboratively in order to create their images. They attempted to work in the style of the cave paintings from France and Spain, and depicted similar subjects as well.
Prev
Next
Hour of Code takes place during Computer Science Education Week, which is this week!
Some smaller versions of our now-grade 7s! This photo is from when I visited UHE a few years ago to teach some coding, back when I held a district position.
The idea behind Hour of Code is get everyone participating in a coding activity at some point throughout the week. Students have all different levels of experience with coding, and it has become part of our B.C. curriculum. While we understand that not all students will grow up to become programmers, learning coding and computational thinking in school helps demystify the powers that drive our everyday technologies, broadens participation in the field of computer science, and nurtures problem solving skills. It is essentially a new literacy needed as our children grow up and navigate the world.
Thinking about coding and modern technologies is especially interesting as we also examine and think about prehistoric technologies early modern humans used to survive, thrive, and observe their world. Division 3 has been looking at some of the earliest cave art found in Spain, France, and Argentina. This week, students are combining found natural materials to create tools that could be used for painting–then we will test if they work! Keep an eye out for some of our process and finished pieces!
I have positioned some coding links on our Hour of Code page. Feel free to check them out!