Month: March 2024

In class, we have been studying migration of animals, including migration cues, and typical migration routes.

Each of you will choose one migratory animal to look at more closely.

You will use Book Creator on the iPads to make a short, creative book online to share your findings with us. This tool will give you one more option for presenting information as you think toward the end of the year and Independent Project.

While research can be done at home, the majority of the work on this project will be at school, so we need to use our time and project-management skills to stay on task during work periods!!

Step one: Do research on your animal and watch the Book Creator Tutorial on the iPads. Record your research using a T-Chart in your journal. See the questions below for what kinds of information you need to look for and share with us.

Step two: Make a storyboard of what you would like to share.

• You can use your drawing book to make a layout of the pages you want to create in your Book Creator Book.
• Your book can be about 10 pages — one page for a book cover, 8 pages of information and graphics, and one last page with a short bibliography of where your information came from.
• Your book will need to have words and pictures to explain your animal and its migration.

Step three: Start making your pages using the Book Creator application on the iPads. If you are absent or know you will be away the next week, you can also create a free account at Bookcreator.com so you can work on your computer/laptop at home, or you can get the Book Creator application on a mobile device.

There may be a fee for the app on a mobile device, but using Book Creator on a laptop in a browser is free if you make an account with parent help. Talk to Ms. D if you have questions.

Step four:  Edit your book carefully by reviewing it yourself and asking a peer to look at it, as well.

Step five: Show your finished book to Ms. D — she will try to upload it to her shared library, or we can just view your book on the iPad. Our goal is to share these during our student led conferences in April.

As you research your migratory animal, please find out the answers to these questions:

1. What is the name of your animal? Common name is fine.
2. Where does your animal live? (Biome and habitat; specific location on map)
3. What does your animal look like? What adaptations (features of its body) help it deal with the habitat and biome it lives in?
4. Where does your animal travel to as it migrates?
5. What is the migration route on a map? What biomes does it travel through?
6. What does your animal need to survive? Food/habitat/conditions
7. What cue causes your animal to migrate? What type of migration is it? (use the handouts from class if needed)
8. How is your animal important to the ecosystems it lives in?
9. Is your animal endangered and why? Are there any problems with human activity bothering the animal’s migration route?
10. Any other really cool and interesting facts about your animal?

Criteria:

• You are able to find specific migration information about your animal and to use the science vocabulary we have discussed to describe their migration.
• You are able to create a clear presentation using a new digital tool, using simple graphics to communicate details about your animal.
• You are able to use creative thinking and an organized layout as you design your presentation so your audience is engaged as they read the information.

Due Date:  April 16th at the latest, as we will present these during Student Led Conferences April 17 or 18.

Here are some websites on migratory animals you may find helpful or interesting! Many of these are on birds, but please see the Articles of Interest for other options, under the heading “Migration Unit.”

Earth Rangers Top Ten Most Amazing Animal Migrations

Nature Animal Migration

BBC Animal Migration Videos and Info

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology (study of birds — so any bird can be searched!)

NOVA Magnetic Field and Animal Migration

Scientific American Silent Skies: Billions of North American Birds Have Vanished

Audubon North America Has Lost More Than 1 in 4 Birds

Cornell Chronicle Nearly 30% of Birds in US Have Disappeared

Nature Canada How Climate Change is Impacting Birds

Mass Audubon Effects of Climate Change on Birds

Forbes Climate Change is Affecting Migration Timing of Birds

Cosmos Bird migratory patterns changing with climate

United Nations International Gathering on Birds to Discuss Migratory Species

Ted Ed Video on Bird Migration Dangers

Hello Everyone!

We started this project yesterday, and I passed out a packet to follow, but I wanted to put the details we have talked about down on the blog for parents to see, too.

We are building a TINY HOUSE MODEL as part of our combined MATH and ADST studies, and in connection with the IDENTITY core competency.

In class, we discussed tiny houses, looked at pictures, talked about why people build them, and considered different designs. Then, each person was given a planning packet to begin drafting their own tiny house scale model.

As part of math, we are using the TINY HOUSE to practice scale and proportionate thinking. We will also be practicing communication around area, perimeter, and measurement.

As part of IDENTITY, our concept of study for our recent unit, we are exploring what kind of personal space we would invent for ourselves. This will be a great communication of our personal preferences and needs, through the designing of a living space.

Finally, as part of ADST, we will practice creative-thinking and building using a variety of tools to produce a scale model, while using the design process of envisioning our idea, drafting a plan, making our model, revising it as we go, and presenting a final product.

Steps for Creating the Model:

1. PLAN:  Read through the Tiny House Booklet and make a plan on the design page. Use the list of items on that page to help you think about what a tiny house needs. You are welcome to look at Tiny House ideas on the internet, as there are so many TV shows on YouTube about them!
2. MAKE:  Ms. D will provide you with cardstock grid paper for the floor, roof, and walls of your tiny house. The building of our Tiny House will happen in class. You may use coloured pencils, markers, clear tape, glue, extra cardstock, pipe cleaners, and other building supplies to help create your space.
3. BE AWARE OF SCALE: We discussed in class having an idea of how big your person is that is moving in the house. This will help you design things, so that your couch isn’t made for a giant! Also, we compared the grid squares to the size of our classroom, so that we would know how high to make doors and windows. Be aware that all of your items in the house need to “make sense” in terms of size and relationship to one another.
4. CREATE 3D FURNITURE: Ms. D has a handout with sample furniture already on it, or you can create your own. Make the furniture, light fixtures, garden items, etc. as 3D as you can. You can draw some things on the walls, though, such as art or in-set shelves that are not sticking out into the space.
5. BE CREATIVE:  Make sure you add colour! What does the outside look like? Will you have a roof patio? A garden? An interesting pathway? You decide!
6. PRESENT:  When you finish, we will present to one another, sharing our creativity, in our TINY HOUSE TOWN! I will ask you to write about your design experience, as well as the math involved, in a final e-port reflection.

CRITERIA:

• I can envision a creative tiny house space, including elements that represent my identity and personal preferences.
• I can use the design process to draft ideas, build, revise, and produce a tiny house model.
• I can work with alternative materials successfully to create a 3D model of a space.
• I can use proportionate thinking to design a space that makes sense in terms of the related size of furniture, door, window, and other items.
• I can use a grid plan, as well as a sense of area, to plan out a tiny house.
• I can use design elements and creative thinking (colour, 3D construction, line, texture, interesting items included) to make an interesting and aesthetic house model.
• I can explain the design process and my math thinking successfully through a written reflection.
• I can use materials responsibly, not wasting cardstock and other classroom supplies as I build.

DUE DATE:  No later than April 17th, Wednesday morning

BUILDING HAPPENS IN CLASS — SO MS. D CAN SEE YOUR PROCESS. Thank you!!