Day: April 7, 2021

Biomes & Biodiversity Map/Research Assignment — Website Resources

In class, we have been talking a lot about biodiversity! We have covered key concepts and vocabulary such as ecology, ecosystems, food chains, abiotic and biotic elements, biomes, and keystone species.

Here are some of the videos we watched, in case you would like to see them again:

Bill Nye Biodiversity

TED Ed Why is biodiversity so important?

What does biodiversity do for us?

We also watched Planet Earth’s Pole to Pole, which showed us the many biomes and amazing diversity of life we have, stretching from the Arctic down to the Antarctic.

Using the books in class and the websites below, please do the following:

1. Use the map handout I gave you. Give it a title, make a legend, and then colour the map to show where the different biomes of the world are. We listed them in our journals.

2. Using the other handout I gave you as a guide, for each biome, please find out its general location in the world, its characteristics, and then 3 plants and 3 animals you might find in each biome. The first biome can be done on the handout. The others you can record in your journal.

3. You may work with a partner in class, but you need your own map and information in your journal.

DUE:  April 23rd, Friday

Biomes Websites:

Blue Planet Biomes

NASA Mission Biomes

BioExpedition YouTube Types of Biomes in the World

YouTube Putting the History of Earth in Perspective

BioExpedition Website Types of Biomes

The Wild Classroom Biomes

MBG Net Biomes

Kids Do Ecology Biomes

UC Museum of Paleontology Biomes

ASU Ask a Biologist Biomes

Nat Geo Biomes

Build a Biome Game

Vimeo Biomes of the World Video

PBS Learning Arctic Tundra Video

PBS Learning Desert Biome Video

PBS Learning Biomes Slideshow

Biodiversity Websites:

AMNH Biodiversity for Kids

TedEd Can We Bring Back Species that are Extinct?

AMA 50 Bird Species and the Sounds They Make

TED Six Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World

Go Hiking  Lichens of Vancouver Island

For Fun When You Are Done:

The Cornell Lab Bird Academy Games

The Cornell Lab Bird Videos

TED Ed Can we build a perfect forest?

National Geographic and CAS iNaturalist

Naturescapes Tours

BC Trails Birding 101 Backyard Birding

 

 

 

Family Nature Challenge April 9 – June 21, 2021

Want to win a game to play with your family or friends this summer? Please join in our nature challenge!

During the months of April, May and June, please visit the many parks and natural spaces found in our local area. If you need maps of where these are, you can find them online or in our classroom, and I have provided some links to some great sites below.

Take pictures of yourself in the natural environment. Make a Google Slideshow of your pictures. The person with the most locations by the end of May wins!

Here are the rules:

  • Pictures must be taken at some time between April 9 and June 21
  • Pictures need to include some identifying nature feature or a sign behind you. If you don’t want to be in the picture, then your hand or a personal sign with your name (“Joe was here”) needs to be in the picture as proof you were there.
  • One picture per location.
  • Same point value regardless of location.
  • Stay local as much as possible. Be aware of distancing and masks if needed in public areas.
  • Local parks, other school playgrounds, green belts, beaches, pond areas, pathways, hike trails, lakes, rivers, soccer fields, courtyards, green belts near your building, or any place you can play outside, etc. all count!
  • Create a slideshow on PowerPoint or another slideshow application to share the pictures with me. Label the locations if there are not signs.
  • You do not have to spend a specific amount of time at the location — all you need is a picture!
  • Make this a family challenge — it is way more fun, and a healthy activity to do together during this time of COVID isolation!

Local Location Ideas:

Main prize to be awarded to only one person. However, smaller prizes for everyone who participates and provides me with a slideshow. I hope you all spend a lot of time outdoors over the next three months!

Ms. D

 

The Nature Connection – New Unit April – Early June

Hello Everyone!

Time is flying, as we are already into our second week after Spring Break! We are finishing up our last unit, as students prepare their newspaper articles and broadcast news reports. We hope to finish and present these within the next week, as soon as students are ready. Rubrics have been sent home for the commercials students completed before break, and I am gradually going through all of the e-port entries on science experiments, so look for those soon.

We have also jumped right in to some of our next unit, exploring our connection to nature. We will be doing this unit from now until June, while simultaneously giving more time for independent projects. Here are some details!

Unit Title:  The Nature Connection

Unit Focus Statement:

Human beings impact and rely upon the balance of nature’s interdependent systems.

Concepts:

Connection (main focus), as well as Systems and Patterns.

An inquiry into:

  • Our relationship with nature (mental health, survival, needs, recreation)
  • Biomes, biodiversity, and interdependence within ecosystems
  • How human interaction with the environment can affect the balance of systems
  • Earth’s water supply
  • How the moon, sun, weather, and tides affect our lives
  • The role of questioning, exploration, close observation, and documentation in science
  • The definition of science and the role of indigenous knowledge
  • How we express our connection to nature through poetry and art
  • Geometry and patterns in nature
  • French basic vocabulary and nature/weather expressions

Activities and learning to look forward to:

  • Virtual field trips —
    • Lower Seymour Watershed
    • OWL Sanctuary
    • Stanley Park Ecology Society River Otters Workshop
    • GREEN Workshops on Water and Recycling
    • Bamfield Marine Science Centre Seaweed Sensations & Oceanography
    • Burnaby Art Gallery Coastal Waters Art Workshop.
  • Daily participation in The 30-Day Walking Curriculum Challenge (from SFU Professor Gillian Judson and her book called The Walking Curriculum) for April/May, honing critical thinking, observation, documentation, and questioning skills.
  • Daily participation in The Walk 30 Burnaby/New West Walking Challenge starting May 13th, recording our minutes daily in a community contest.
  • Discussions around geometric shapes and patterns found in nature, symmetry, and Fibonacci.
  • Continued practice of grade-level math curriculum through nature-inspired, real-life math problems in the books Planet Earth, Animal Kingdom, and Ocean Math, among other resources. Students will work independently and at their own pace on these using the book resource in EPIC, while also coming to me for small-group or individual instruction as needed.
  • Research on a specific organism in our local environment, understanding its name and classification, whether it is endangered and why, what it is used for, what local Indigenous cultures know about it, and how it is connected to our own lives, then producing artwork to represent findings.
  • Walking to Everett Crowley Park to look at native BC plants used by indigenous peoples for healing and food.
  • Growing our own plants in class through hydroponics.
  • Mapping our local environment of plants and creating plant samples like a botanist using pressing techniques and art.
  • Discussions about the water cycle, water health, the harm plastics are doing to our waters, ocean acidification, using a variety of games, an ocean pH lab, and interactive challenges.
  • Class reading and analysis of the book The Skeleton Tree, which will connect to discussions of survival techniques in nature, such as how to use a compass, how to find edible food, etc.
  • Discussions of figurative language and poetry, which will lead to us creating our own mini poetry journal and an oral presentation of a poetry monologue about nature.
  • Creating models of our ideal outdoor play space for ADST.

And much more! Please continue to watch the blog and Twitter for more information on what our class is doing. More information to come!

Ms. D