Month: April 2024

Yesterday we played a fun game to identify commonly-used elements from the periodic table! Scientists use their knowledge of element properties and characteristics to use elements in creative ways.

To further explore this, each student has chosen one element from the periodic table. They will research it a bit, using videos from TED Ed Periodic Table or other resources online.

Then, turn the element into a superhero or villain!! You need to think about your element as a person. What would it do with its superpowers based on the element’s characteristics?

So, first, here are the questions you should try to answer as you research the basics of your element:

• What is your element? (Gas, metal, non-metal, etc.)
• What is your element’s atomic number, atomic weight, and symbol?
• What are the physical properties of your element? (color, weight, size, malleable, hard, etc.)
• What are the chemical properties of your element? (reactive, reacts with what, how does it react, etc.)
• What is your element used for? What can you make with it?
• Where can you find this element?
• What other elements often combine with your element?
• Any other interesting facts you can find out?

Then, after you have found out the basics, now you can start to think creatively about how those characteristics of your element can be used to create a superhero character!

• Will your element be a superhero or a villain? (or both?)
• What is your character’s name? (doesn’t need to be the element, but should probably have part of it in the name)
• What symbol would your character have on its supersuit? (Would it have a supersuit? or something else?)
• Would your element look like a person, or something else? What do they look like based on your element’s physical properties? (Get creative!)
• Would your element have specific powers? For example, do their chemical properties give them powers? (Else why would they be a superhero??)
• Would your element have certain weaknesses? (All good superheroes have at least one.)
• What does your element do every day? For example, if it is a villain, what kind of thing does it want to do that could be related to your element’s real-life information? Or, if it is a superhero, what good things can your element do for others?
• What is your element superhero or villain’s origin story? How did they become powerful and decide to be a superhero or villain?
• Where does your element superhero/villain live? Do they have a hideout?
• Do they have an arch nemesis or superhero they are trying to defeat?
• What additional element superheroes or villains could combine with your hero to make them more powerful?

Find out information and the next step will be to design an actual superhero in art and to write about them.

I look forward to creating our own table of superhero and villain elements.

Basic research is due by May 3rd, and there will be some class time to do some of the research.

Have a good night,

Ms. D

As we talk about where our STUFF comes from, it is important to understand global trade. Today we talked about the many countries and materials that go into making jeans, and we watched the video called The Story of Stuff to learn about the materials economy involved in getting stuff to us in the stores.

To further investigate global trade, we are looking at where one of our favourite sweets comes from — CHOCOLATE!

In groups of three, we are looking at different chocolate companies to answer the following questions:

1. What is the name of the company?
2. What is their most popular chocolate product?
3. Which town and/or country did the company originate in?
4. When did the company start making chocolate?
5. Where does the company manufacture chocolate? Where are their factories?
6. Where do they get their cocoa beans from to make the chocolate?
7. What other main ingredients are used in their chocolate products?
8. Where do they get those ingredients from?
9. Where do they sell their chocolate?
10. How many people do they employ?
11. How much profit does the company make?
12. What do they claim they do to be socially responsible as regards the welfare of either people or the environment? (Fair trade, employment protection, against child labour, green farming, etc.)
13.  Any other interesting facts??

Record these facts in your journal together as a group of three. Our goal is to see which company is the most responsible AND to learn a little more about where our STUFF comes from.

Ms. D

Hello Everyone!

We have already talked about this in class, so here is a formal update on Independent Project 2024!

What has already been done?

• Students chose their topics and informed Ms. D
• Ms. Ho put out requests to all District libraries for books related to topics
• Ms. D went over the Jar of Inquiry and how to ask questions.
• Students were told to begin with Form and Function type questions, and then to expand up into connection, perspective, and responsibility questions. Examples were provided in class and via the wonderings board, which you all had an opportunity to see at Student Led Conferences.
• Over this year, Ms. D has reviewed which are good websites to use, what information to take down to document resources, how to take notes in a T chart, and where to find things like copyright dates/publishers/about us on websites, etc.
• Students began taking notes, whether in their journals by hand or online. No cutting and pasting, please! Notes in their own words. Use the T CHART format.

What’s next?

• Continue to take notes using books from the public library, books from Ms. Ho that are available in the classroom, and websites.
• Ask new questions. As you research, if something comes up that you are curious about, ask a new question!
• We have been doing secondary research. If you haven’t done it already, it is time to come up with some primary research ideas.

What is Primary Research?

Primary research is doing the observing, documenting, analyzing, and making conclusions on your own instead of finding research already done by someone else. It can take many forms. Primary research is required for the project, and it needs to be documented with pictures or notes. Here are some ideas:

• Interview with an expert on the topic. Before you do an interview, write down your questions and ask Ms. D to review them with you. Record the person’s answers, their name, and the date of the interview.
• Do observations at a location, or of someone doing something related to your topic. It is a good idea to take both written observations, the dates you took the observations, and take some pictures to share later as part of your presentation.
• Conduct a lab experiment. Use the scientific method to do a lab write up. Take pictures to document the process so you will have them for your presentation later. Write down the dates you conducted the experiment. We will be talking more about the scientific method this unit.
• Build something. Document your design process with a draft drawing or plan, notes about how the process is going, and pictures so you have them for your presentation later. Record dates about when you did certain things in your notes.
• Do something. Try something for the first time, document the experience, and take pictures so you have them for your presentation later. Record dates about when you did certain things in your notes.

Please try to think about a primary research item on your own. Ms. D can discuss with you some ideas to help.

Next Step — Bibliography and Presentation Details:

• All notes, primary research, and bibliographies are due to Ms. D by May 31st.
• In May, we will begin working on presentations, and Ms. D will go over ideas. Our goal will be to not all have trifolds like a Science Fair. Independent Project is not like Science Fair presentations. We want to see models, interactive displays, brochures, handouts, etc. versus just a board people can look at and read. Materials are available in class, and computers/iPads will be available, as well. More details about this as we get into May.
• Presentation will be from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM on June 12th, Wednesday. We may use a combination of our classroom and the library, or just the library, for presenting. Set up will be all morning on the 12th. Lunch will be early that day to accommodate a lunchtime viewing for parents and families.
• Some items from Independent Project, if they are digital, can be displayed on our class blog. Be thinking of what items could be displayed there, such as the bibliography, primary research documentation, and handouts. I will not post notes on the blog, only final presentation pieces.

Looking forward to your work!

Ms. D

*Please post a picture of Britannia Mines if you can! If you were absent for these trips, please only answer the questions you can. I encourage you to touch base with your fellow students to see what you missed. E-Port is due Tuesday, April 23rd.

Title:  Britannia Mines and Port of Vancouver Trips

Questions:

How did technology change to get light in the mine, so the miners could see?

How did they get the copper out of the rock ore in the mill? Describe what you can from the process (think about the movie/interactive BOOM presentation at the end of our trip.)

How do they remove copper from the water so it doesn’t pollute Howe Sound and kill the marine animals and life there?

Which mineral does copper come from?

How did the technology change for drilling in the mountain tunnels over time?

What does gold look like during gold panning? How do you know it isn’t pyrite?

What other facts did you learn while you were there about mining, rocks, gold panning, etc.?

What areas does the “Port of Vancouver” cover other than Vancouver?

Name the different types of ships that come into the Port of Vancouver?

What are some of the major countries we trade with?

What resources are often being sent out on ships to these other countries from Canada?

Why do you think having a port is a good thing for us and for British Columbia?

Hello, This is an e-port check in from the last two weeks since Spring Break, on our new unit. As it is being assigned today, Wednesday, April 10, it will be due one week from now on Wednesday, April 17. Do your best to answer questions using materials from class and your journal, rather than looking things up on the Internet.

Please include a picture of a favourite resource from BC or favourite mineral.

Title:  Resources and Geology Check In

Questions:

What are natural resources?

What does renewable and non-renewable mean? Give an example of each.

What are some specific resources we extract and/or sell in British Columbia? (You can use the station materials, with the resource samples, if you need them.)

Which of the natural resources is the most important according to our class data about the objects in our homes? Why do you think it is the most important?

What is geology?

What is a rock? What is a mineral? (How are they different or the same?)

What is an element?

Explain the rock cycle briefly, using scientific words.

What are the three types of rocks and tell me one characteristic of each that helps you know which is which?

How can we classify minerals (what characteristics do we look at)?

What does a geologist need or wear to go do their work?

What kind of rock would you find in the Rocky Mountains? Why?

Why might there be very different types of rocks on Vancouver Island than in Vancouver?

What are some of the main minerals we mine for in BC?

What kind of rock do we see a lot of along the coastline here in BC? Why?