Category: Assignment Info

Hello Everyone,

We have had great discussions to answer a big question: How did we all get here?

We looked at our own personal histories, to see how our families came to be in Canada. Then, we focused on the larger human migration story and how all humans traveled the Earth to settle in different areas over time. We also looked closely at the First Peoples of Canada, who have been here and continue to be here, since thousands of years before other immigrants arrived from around the world.

We discussed how there are three main groups of Indigenous Peoples of Canada, the Inuit, First Nations, and Metis. Then, we looked at the broader tapestry of groups throughout Canada. Each student helped with our understanding by reading about two First Nations groups and looking carefully at what they call themselves, how to pronounce it, what language they speak, and what they believe.

Before we move forward looking at the rest of our history, from European contact and beyond, let’s take a moment to honour, to acknowledge, and to learn about the First Nations groups of the Coast Salish Peoples who live and who have a long history on their unceded territories, in the land we know as Burnaby.

Each student will work in a small group to find out information on one of the four First Nations groups in Burnaby — the Musqueam, the Squamish, the Tsleil-Waututh, and the Kwikwetlem. Click on the links for each name to learn more.

They will find out:

1.  How do we pronounce the group’s name and language? Teach us.
2.  Where does this group live now, and where did they spend time in the past in relation to Burnaby?
3.  What is the history of this group?
4.  What is unique about this group that could be shared with everyone?

Then this is what we will do:

The sharing will be done in class. Each person in the collaborative team can help with a different part of the project.

Write the facts you would like to share on an index card. Then, practice with your group sharing these facts aloud.

After all the sharing is done, Ms. D will ask everyone in the class some questions based on the presentations in an e-port. So, it is important all students take notes will the sharing is going on, so they can answer the questions.

Through this, we will support our goals around reconciliation, learning more about the Indigenous history of our area, and making connection with the rich history that has existed on these territories for thousands of years.

I look forward to hearing your presentations! More on this in class, so everyone understands what they need to do. 🙂

Due Date for Presentations:  February 27th

Hello Everyone,

In class, we created a timeline on the board of many events that brought people to Canada, going back to 14,000 – 75,000 years ago when First Peoples first came into Canada and going through history until now.

We asked the big question, “How did we get here?” To answer that, we discussed the many reasons people were drawn to Canada, such as searching for passage to other lands, seeking new resources and land, the fur trade, escaping war, creating the railway, the gold rush, and seeking new opportunities.

It is a complicated history! Even though Canada is a young country, we have a longer history of how we came to be here that ties in with our unit discussions about people’s need to explore. It also tells us a lot about the Canadian identity, as we have many groups of people who have come to Canada and contribute their cultures to the country we live in.

First, here are some more videos to explore if you want, some of which we have already watched in class:

YouTube TedEd What Does It Mean to be a Refugee?

YouTube Cool Map of Early Human Migration

2022 UN World Migration Report

YouTube 2016 Census History of Immigration Facts

YouTube Great Review of Push Pull Factors for Immigration

YouTube PowToon Review of Types of Immigration

YouTube Curriculum Canada Fur Trade in Canada

Next, let’s each take on one character from Canada’s story, do more research, and then present a monologue to the class as that character!

1.  Pick an individual from Canadian history that we have discussed and get it approved by Ms. D. We each want to do someone different. You don’t have to have a famous person, you could create a person from a specific time period — a Chinese immigrant who is working on the railway in Canada, a person who came over for the fur trade, a farmer coming for new lands, etc.
2.  Do research on that individual, so you know what their story would be. What is the time period you live in? Who are you and where did you come from? What was the journey to Canada like? What were the challenges on the journey? What were the challenges when you arrived? What happened when you got here? Tell us some details that give us information about the push and pull factors of why the person is in Canada.
3.  Write a short script of one minute. Write the script in the first person as if you are the person yourself. Give yourself a specific name, even if you make it up. Use I statements! Pretend you are in that time period, not telling us a speech about a historical figure. Tell us a story of how you came to Canada. Put the script on cue cards, practice it a lot, almost memorize the script so you can do more acting than reading. You will be presenting it as if you were that character! We will do this as a museum of characters, and only present to our classmates, so it is less nerve wracking!  🙂
4.  Create a costume and props to help tell the story! You will need something to wear and some props to represent the story you are telling!
5.  Ms. D Help: There are books in the classroom to help with research, and as I know which characters we are interested in, I will post links on this blog entry to help if we need them. Please ask after you have taken time to find some info of your own.

Criteria:

• Your presentation is one minute long and is written in the first person.
• Your presentation contains solid evidence of having researched the time period or individual you are representing. We learn some facts about when this person was alive, what their challenges were, and how push/pull factors were involved in their immigration story.
• You made an effort to memorize your script and have it written on cue cards to help you.
• You have a costume and at least one prop to help tell your story.
• You are able to use volume, enunciation, pace, and expression so your audience is interested in your story and can understand you clearly.

Due Date:  Presentations will be made March 7th.

Hello! New e-port to check in!

Title:  Migration Check In

Questions:

What is quality of life (think about the map we looked at and refer to your journal!)?

What is the gene called that makes people want to explore?

What are push and pull factors? Name five of each.

What does it mean to be a citizen of a country?

What is a refugee?

What does the word nomadic mean? Are we still nomadic? Why not?

What is the Quilt of Belonging and what does it represent about Canada?

What are the three main groups of Indigenous Peoples of Canada?

Why do we do a land acknowledgement?

Name two groups of First Nations you learned about in class.

What are the different types of animal migration?

How do animals know it is time to migrate?

What questions do you have about migration, now that we have been talking about this topic for two weeks?

In class we are reading the book We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey. This book has some great connections with our unit on exploration/migration.

If you were absent, please make sure to catch up reading during our Silent Reading time in class, as the District books we are borrowing can’t go home.

Please answer the following questions in an e-port:

Title:  Reading Comprehension We’re Not From Here

Questions:

What were the three places the human population went after they left from the Mars Station?

Describe what you know about the Zhuri so far?

What was the problem with the immigration of humans to planet Choom? What happened?

What happened to Lan’s family when they arrived on Choom for the first time?

What do you think happened to the Nug on planet Choom? Why don’t the Zhuri want to talk about it?

Why do you think the housing for the Ororo, that Lan’s family is now staying in, is empty?

Describe Planet Choom, or at least what you know so far.

Think of a time you arrived at a new place or began something new. How do you think your feelings would be like Lan’s as his family came to Choom?

Hello Everyone!

During term two and three, we will be working concurrently and slowly on an Independent Project while we are also doing unit work.

We have already begun talking about this in class, For example, we have discussed what makes a great topic, why we do an independent project, and how to ask great questions using the Jar of Inquiry concept model on our wonderings board in class.

Why do we do an Independent Project?

Doing an Independent Project allows us an opportunity to pursue a topic of passion. It also addresses many of the curricular and core competencies across subject areas, developing research, critical-thinking, observation, communication, documentation, project-management, and personal awareness skills.

What are the steps we will take?

We put these in our planner, so students are aware of the dates. We will continue to revisit the planner as a tool for managing the project throughout term two and three.

FEBRUARY Step One:  Discussion of how to choose a research topic. Begin brainstorming questions around topics you like. Choose a topic by FEBRUARY 12th, MONDAY, end of day.

FEBRUARY Step Two:  We will begin to Brainstorm search terms and synonyms around the topic to help with research. We will discuss how to ask questions and form a set of Jar of Inquiry questions about the topic, so we ask deeper questions! Ms. D will ask students to do these things in their journals and check in with the check plus system as we go, to make sure everyone is on track.

FEBRUARY/MARCH Step Three:  Begin to look for secondary resources, such as books in the school library and Burnaby Public Libraries. Please visit the public library! We will discuss techniques for using reputable sources online as we do web research. Give topics to Ms. Ho, who will help us request books from other libraries in the District if possible. Begin to take notes in our journal and in an online document, whichever works best, using the T Chart model discussed in class, using questions to drive the research, and recording resources. Research in February/March. Final research notes will be due June 1.

APRIL Step Four:  After Spring Break, we will have a discussion in class about primary research, which is required and can include an interview, experiment, visit to a location, or making of something. Primary research ideas need to be approved/discussed with Ms. D by first week of April. Spend April working on this.

MAY Step Five:  We will discuss making a formal bibliography, and students can begin to create this beginning May 1st. We will also discuss potential presentation ideas — there are many different options! May will be spent getting final notes together, finishing the bibliography, and beginning our presentation pieces.

JUNE Step Six:  We will finalize our presentation items. All notes, bibliography, and primary research are due to Ms. D on May 31st. All presentation items are due June 7th. We will present to the public in June, tentatively set for June 10th.

JUNE Step Seven:  After presenting, each student will do a reflection on the whole process and fill out a rubric about how they did. The reflection is the most important part of the entire process and is due June 11th. It lets Ms. D know what you learned, what you are proud of, and how you want to improve in the future. It shows your personal awareness and willingness to engage in your own growth and goals.

How do you choose a topic for IP or Independent Project?

1. Make sure the topic is something you are really passionate about. Do not choose a topic just because an adult suggested it, and do not choose a topic because you are trying to do something similar to your friends. It has to be something you want to know about! (Otherwise, this process is not fun at all.)
2. Topics need to be something you are not already an expert on. Or, if it is something you have studied before, you need to come up with new questions about the topic.
3. Topics need to be deep and take time to explore, but they also need to be specific so you have some direction. For example, I am not going to study “how do lights work” as that will not take very long to do, and I can probably use one resource to answer that question. But, I am also not going to study “plants” – this is too big of a topic and could be about anything! A good example would be “how electricity use affects the environment” or “what we can learn from indigenous knowledge about plants”
4. Brainstorm several options before settling on one. Discuss with Ms. D. Let’s talk together about your topic. Have more than one option just in case.
5. Can you answer this topic using only one resource, or will you need to use more than one? A measure of a good topic is that you will need to use more than just GOOGLE to figure it out. You will need to look at book resources, maybe do some interviews of experts, or perhaps do an experiment and document it.
6. Make sure the topic is at your level. Some topics are far too complex, and we won’t be able to find resources that will help you (at least not at your reading level, and not within the Burnaby Libraries.) So, please listen to Ms. D’s guidance when I say, let’s find a way to make it age appropriate for you.
7. Do not do a topic you have done as a previous Genius Hour or Independent Project topic.  If you want to continue research from a previous project, then let’s talk about how this project will be different and answer NEW questions you have about that topic of interest. Maybe try to be open minded to doing something new so you expand your knowledge!
8. You can choose to expand on something we have talked about in class. If you want to do genetics, for example, even though we have been talking about it in class, then that is great! This is a good opportunity to expand on unit topics.

Okay, that is all for now. In class we will talk about this some more. Time to start brainstorming!

Ms. D

This e-port will help do an assessment check-in for our work on multiplicative thinking and the You Do the Math Skyscraper math material.

Please post ONE picture with all of your work on a page for this e-port. Thank you!

Title:  Math Check In January 2024

Questions:

What are vertices and faces on three-dimensional shapes?

How many faces does a sphere have, and why?

If I write the coordinates (3,5), how will I know where to find that point on a grid or map?

What is the area of a rectangle that is 3 feet wide and 6 feet long? What is the perimeter?

Which earthquake was the largest on the Richter Scale — 5.02, 5.20, 5.215, or 5.100? How do you know?

What is multiplication? What kinds of math vocabulary would you use to explain it to an alien that doesn’t know about our Earth math?

What is the difference between a factor and a multiple?

What is the difference between a prime and a composite number?

What are the factors of 36? Use a factor tree to figure this out and post a picture of your tree with this post.

How do you know if a number is divisible by three? What is this called (there was a special vocabulary word we used)?

What is a square root?

What does it mean to square a number?

What is the least or lowest common multiple of 3, 4, and 5? Show your work in the picture you post to this e-port.

Maggie, Juan, and Miya are all volunteering at the local hospital. Maggie works every 2 days, Juan works every 4 days, and Miya works every 5 days. When do Maggie and Juan work together (every how many days)? When do Maggie and Miya work together? When do Juan and Miya work together?

What is the greatest common factor of 24, 40, and 64? Use factor trees to show your thinking and find the answers. Show this in the picture you add to the e-port.

 

Hello Everyone!

In class, we have been discussing the positive and negative impact some of our human technologies have had, whether that impact was on us, other people, or the environment.

I would like you to think now about which machine, invention, or innovation you believe has had the GREATEST impact.

The machine, invention, or innovation can be from any culture or time period. Please let Ms. D know what you will be doing.

You will create a PowerPoint proving your point, using persuasive language, facts, and evidence to convince us.

During this project you will:

• Work solo
• Please find research about your machine, invention, or innovation using at least 5 resources, either books or the Internet.
• You will need to discuss the positive and negative impacts of your machine or technology on humans and the world. Be specific.
• Record your research in your journal, as well as the resource where you found the information.
• You will make a six-slide presentation.
• You will write a short commentary to say for each slide.
• You will present this to the class. Each presentation is designed to be very brief, as you state your case about why the item had the most impact.

Here are the slides you need to create

Slide 1:  Title of the machine, invention, or innovation. A picture of it. Your name and the date.

Slide 2:  Explain the machine or technology you plan to discuss. (Define it, tell its parts, where we would find it, what it is made of. When was it created, why was it made, and who invented it, if you can find that out.)

Slide 3:   How is this machine or technology used and how does it work? (Who uses it? Where would I see one being used? What is the science of how it works?)

Slide 4 and 5:  Explain the many different ways this machine has had a great impact. You can describe both positive and negative impacts.

Slide 6:   What is your bibliography of resources? Put them in a list in alphabetical order.  For websites: List name of website, name of article, author who wrote it, and the date (please do not put URLs or website addresses/links).  For books: List book name, author, date of publishing.

Criteria for Success:

I can use persuasive language to convince the audience this machine or technology is the MOST influential, including specific examples of how the machine or technology has had a large positive or negative impact on humans and/or the environment.

I can create a PowerPoint following the instructions, editing carefully for conventions, providing pictures, and providing clear statements to prove my case that are in an easy-to-read font and large enough to read from the audience.

I can write a brief script so I know what I am going to say for each slide. I will use different words in my script than the main points I write on the slides.

I can present my PowerPoint script without reading it, meaning I have practiced it well and am familiar with my main points without looking at the script too much.

I can take notes in my journal and include resources as required. I can write a basic bibliography on the last slide of my PowerPoint.

My PowerPoint includes some of the research I found, and I sound knowledgeable about my topic.

I can present my case for my machine or technology being the most impactful, using expression, volume, eye contact, enunciation, pauses, and body language as appropriate to make my points stick with the audience.

Please:

• Don’t use emoticons or cartoon-looking pictures.
• Don’t use lots of text. Keep points on slide brief and clear. Say more in your script.
• Don’t use fancy transitions that increase the overall time of the slideshow and waste time for you in finishing this project.
• Don’t include pictures that have any copyright symbols or writing of any kind on them.
• Don’t add any additional slides beyond six.
• Don’t use black, red, and neon colours that are hard to look at,
• Don’t use tiny or curly fonts no one can read,

PowerPoint Deadline will be February 9th. 

Thank you!

Ms. D

Hello Everyone!

Using our knowledge of simple machines, we will be building a Rube Goldberg machine in class!

Before we begin, please do some investigation over the next few days about Rube Goldberg.

• Google “Rube Goldberg” and “Rube Goldberg machines” and “Rube Goldberg cartoons” to get more information. Write down some notes in your journal.
• Then answer the following questions in an e-portfolio entry before you are allowed to start thinking about your own Rube Goldberg machine.
• Two websites to try are the biography of Rube Goldberg, and the official Rube Goldberg website.
• EPORT Title:  Rube Goldberg Research
• EPORT Questions:
  • Who was Rube Goldberg?
  • When was he born?
  • What did he do (his profession/job)?
  • What is a Rube Goldberg machine?
  • What was Rube Goldberg trying to communicate to the world through his machines (hint: something more than just making a fun machine)?
  • What kind of contests are there for Rube Goldberg in the world?
  • Any other cool facts about Rube Goldberg machines you discovered as you read online?

After you do research, NOW consider the DESIGN PROCESS as you create your own contraption!

1. Ask a question – What task will your machine complete?
2. Imagine what you would do – Brainstorm ideas and watch videos of Rube Goldberg machines on YouTube.
3. Your contraption must use at least three simple machines.
4. Plan and consider materials – Make a drawing in your journal and a list of supplies.
5. Create something based on your plan (Friday, January 19th all morning)
6. Reflect, make adjustments to improve, and document changes to your plan with some notes, drawings, or diagrams in your journal.
7. Present final product – Show your final product and documentation in your journal of the process of building it to Ms. D
8.  Take a picture of your product and post it in a new e-port called “My Rube Goldberg Machine.” Tell me which simple machines were used, what went well, what you would do differently, and what competencies you had to use as you were working on this ADST task (communication, personal awareness and social thinking, critical thinking, creative thinking, social responsibility, identity)

Even if the machine doesn’t work, you need to show evidence of having considered simple machines and be able to explain your process to me in person and/or in your e-port. Marks will be given in socials/science, as well as ADST.

Begin looking for ideas and materials from home. I have a lot of building supplies here, but if you need something specific, then please look at home. You shouldn’t need to buy anything new, so please focus on recyclables and toys you already have.

The contraption does not need to be big, either, so consider we will have 12 groups working in our space at the same time!

One way to make your machine more interesting is to consider how it might tell a story. When you watch the OK Go video on Rube Tube, it is based on a song. How does it tell a story or have a message? Or is it a funny task it will complete?

Have fun! While it would be great if your machine is successful, I am more interested in how you used the design process and simple machines to complete this task.

Ms. D

E-Port Title:  Thinking About Technology

Questions:

What is technology? How would you define it?

Have humans developed technology that has had a positive impact on the world or a negative impact on the world? Explain with three examples that prove your point.

How has technology changed over time?

What are simple machines?

How do simple machines make work easier?

Name two compound machines in your home and tell me the simple machines you can find within the compound machine?

What is the formula for measuring how much work is done by a machine?

Hello Everyone!

In connection with our unit concepts of CREATIVITY and CHANGE, we are creating timelines to better understand how technology has changed over time due to constant human innovation.

Students are working with a partner, and they have chosen a topic to focus on.

It is important that we understand we are looking for human innovations in our timelines. For example, if you are looking at communication as a topic, then we are looking at the history of innovations, technologies, and tools that have been used for communication.

There is an example of a timeline hanging in the classroom on the topic of TRANSPORTATION. Please use this as a model to better understand how to create a timeline.

Here are the instructions and criteria list for the project, which we already talked about in class:

1. Choose a topic. Brainstorm the related words to your project topic, so you can better find information online and in books.
2. Use the books provided in the classroom or the internet.
3. When using a book, use the non-fiction features we discussed, such as the table of contents, index, key words, headings, and captions, to find info more quickly.
4. When using the internet, make sure to use some of the key words you brainstormed, not just the name of your topic. Ask for help if you need it!!
5. Take notes and record your sources in your journal. Please use a minimum of 4 sources.
6. Write down key ideas in your own words, as you will better remember what you learned. Don’t just copy.
7. Check sources for quality as we have discussed in class. Is the website from a business and has lots of ads? Who wrote the website? What is the ending of the web address (use .edu, .org, .gov for example)?
8. Do research independently, then come together with your partner to exchange notes and to discuss. Decide on 20 dates in time you would like to represent on your timeline. For date #20, please make a guess, based on your research, about where technology is going in this area. What will the future look like?
9. Ms. D will give you 4 sheets of 8.5″ x 14″ legal paper. Each partner will take two pieces of the paper, as well as 10 of the dates to complete. Create your half of the timeline. We will connect all four sheets together to make one large timeline at the end.
10. Timeline can go horizontal or vertical. You can decide how the line will be drawn on the paper.
11. You need an illustration for each date. You can use magazine cut outs or print outs from the internet to do your timeline; however, Ms. D will be unable to print pictures for you.
12. You need a 1-2 sentence description for each date. Descriptions can be typed and glued on the timeline, or handwritten in pencil, then done in fine liner so we can see them. Writing needs to be large enough to fill the space and be visible to others when it is hung up for display. I suggest not going any smaller than size 14 font, depending on how large your pictures are.
13. Please make a TITLE for your timeline which is larger than the other writing and is placed in between the two sections of the timeline done by you and your partner.
14. We will hang our results up for everyone to enjoy!

I CAN statements from the curriculum content and competencies that you will find on your assessment rubric:

I can find information for my timeline from a variety of sources and document my research in notes, recording key ideas and sources.

I can choose specific dates for my timeline and write descriptions of 1-2 sentences that show an understanding of how my specific technology or human innovation area has changed over time.

I can communicate using clear writing and edit for conventions of spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

I can use illustrations to communicate further information about each of the dates I chose on the timeline.

I can demonstrate an understanding and appreciate of evidence by looking through a variety of sources as I research.

I can sequence events on my timeline appropriately to show the positive and negative aspects of change in human innovations over time.

I can show knowledge of different types of machines and technology that have been created by humans to serve a specific purpose.

Due Date:  January 26th, Friday, end of day

Questions? Ask Ms. D!