Category: Assignment Info

Time for a project!

In class, we have been talking a lot about FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION in connection with our unit concept of STRUCTURE.

We also practiced thinking about form follows function, creating a basic PowerPoint, and doing research online, as we discussed the adaptations and form of our pet gerbils.

Now, you get to do your own SOLO project on a topic of choice. Here are the steps:

1.  Choose a topic and get it approved. You need to choose an animal, organism, part of an organism, building, or object, where you can look closely at how form follows function.
2.  Create a Form Follows Function PowerPoint Notes section in your journal’s table of contents, and set aside at least 6 pages (3 pages front and back) in your journal for notes as you do research on your topic.
3.  On each page, create a T-chart. On the left side, put the question you are researching (see the questions below). On the right, put notes in your own words from what you read online or in books, don’t just copy what you read.
4.  Each time you record notes, also record where the information came from. If using a website, put the website name, article name, and date of the article. If you are using a book, record the book title, copyright date, and author. This is to begin thinking about creating a bibliography.
5.  Remember to use websites whose addresses end in .edu (education), .gov (government), .net or .org (non-profit), more than other websites. Avoid .com or .ca or any website with lots of ads and pop-up screens. Avoid personal blogs and entertainment sites. If you need help, ask Ms. D.
6.  Answer the questions below. Each question needs at least one slide.
7.  On each slide, only use brief (short) bullet points that tell us the main ideas you want us to remember.
8. Include a picture on each slide, too, that helps us understand the main ideas of your presentation. Please do not use emojis or clip art symbols.
9.  Create a script for your slides with more writing, as that is what you will share with us when you present. The writing in your script is different than the writing on the slide.
10.  Your presentation to the class can’t be longer than 5 minutes. Practice first, in front of your stuffies, a mirror, siblings, parents, or friends. Then, present to us in class using the projector.

What slides do you need to include?

1.   Title Slide with your name and the date.
2.   A slide explaining what your topic is, where the object/animal can be found, and why it is interesting to investigate.
3.   Slide one explaining the form of your object/animal.
4.   Slide two explaining the form of your object/animal.
5.   Slide one explaining how the form helps with the function of the object/animal.
6.   Slide two explaining how the form helps with the function of the object/animal.
7.   A slide with additional interesting information about your object/animal.
8.   A slide summarizing some of the key points from your presentation that you want us to really remember, as we might not remember everything you said. What is the most important?
9.  A slide showing the resources you used for your research in a short list.
10.  A slide ending the presentation that says “Any questions?”

Criteria:

I can:

• Show a complete understanding of how form follows function by explaining the specifics of how the form of an object/animal helps it with its function.
• Create a basic PowerPoint that is 5 minutes long and has at least 10 slides.
• Create slides with basic text, pictures, and readable fonts. I do not put my entire script on the slides, but only key points that are different from my script.
• Record notes in my journal using a T-Chart and recording my resources where I found information.
• Create a list of the resources as a mini bibliography for my presentation.
• Write a script to share my ideas, practice saying it aloud with others, and then present it to the class using appropriate volume, enunciation, pace, posture, and expression so the audience hears my ideas.
• Be a THINKER by showing evidence of questions and making connections between form and function concepts.
• Be a SELF MANAGER by using my time well in class without frequent teacher reminders to stay on task. I finish on time and am ready to present when asked.

Due Date:  October 28th, Friday.  A rubric will be provided for you with the criteria above, so you can do a self-reflection on how you did, and receive feedback from Ms. D.

 

As a learning activity, we will be creating a short PowerPoint in class based on our class research of our pet gerbils!

With a partner who has previous PowerPoint experience, please create 10 short slides of the following items below.

Make sure the fonts you use are readable, large enough, and not frilly (use Arial for example, and not ones that look like handwriting.) Do not use crazy colours, and avoid red, black, and plain white. Add one picture to each slide, either from clip art or from the Internet. Do not use emojis or simply smiley faces. Use specific photos. Don’t put too much text on a slide, but have enough bullet points to explain what you need to say, in short sentences.

Work with your partner to understand how to do these things.

1.  A Title Slide, with your names and the date
2.  A slide about the basic FORM of the gerbil  (features)
3.  A slide about other facts of the gerbil (habitat, food, important facts)
4.  A slide about the structural adaptations of the gerbil (how does the form of the gerbil serve a certain FUNCTION, such as whiskers, ears, claws, tail)
5.  A slide about the behavioural adaptations of the gerbil (how does their behaviour help them FUNCTION in their ecosystem, and to survive!)
6.  A slide about why gerbils are important to our ecosystem/the world
7.  A slide about why gerbils make great pets
8.  A slide about other random facts about gerbils
9.  A slide to ask if there are any questions
10.  THE END slide, and thank you to the audience

One PowerPoint can be shared between the two of you. So, have one person create it, and then share it with the other person, giving editing privileges. It is a good idea to split up the slideshow into parts so each person has slides to work on. But, also help one another out! This is a collaboration and a sharing experience, not a tug of war between you!

This is a learning experience, so make sure you know how to use PowerPoint independently by the end of this, especially how to choose a theme, make new slides, edit slides, save pictures and insert them, and save/access the file in One Drive.

Also, show me you did the research we did in class by including facts from your journal notes. I won’t be looking at your notes this time, but for your own, independent project, I will.

Students who are absent, please make a PowerPoint of your own at home, so you can practice and show the research you  have done.

We won’t be presenting these aloud to the class, but you will share it with me. The next one we do, you will do it independently and share it in front of the class.

Thank you!

Ms. D

Hello Everyone,

As we finish this unit on “Getting Our Needs Met,” we have learned about many of the ways humans create and use knowledge and interdependent systems to get their needs met. We have talked about financial literacy, economics, geology, chemistry, natural resources, resource management, being a responsible consumer, and how Indigenous Peoples are using their traditional knowledge to help protect our lands and the resources we rely upon.

This has covered a LOT of territory, and some of us are more interested in some topics than others! So, here is an opportunity to finish the unit with some mini research on a topic of interest.

Step One:  Choose a topic from our unit. Keep it small. Use the ORCAS Footprints Books (the ones in the classroom and in Ms. D’s EPIC Books List) as a guide. The topic needs to be connected to our unit statement about how humans use a variety of tools, systems, and scientific knowledge to get their needs and wants met.

Step Two:  Read ONE book. Yes, only one! I recommend using only one book because we are limiting our time for research. Focus on BOOKS rather than randomly going on the internet. You may use the Orcas Footprint Books in the classroom, library books I have provided in the bins, or the booklist on EPIC. One book is enough. If you have time, you can follow up your book with any related video on TED Ed, particularly the Earth School Videos we have already been watching.

Step Three:  Work with partner or alone? If you have a partner, you each still need to do your own writing, but each of you could read a separate book and compare notes, helping one another with the e-port questions (see below). If you are working alone, you only need to read one book. Again, let’s keep this project brief.

Step Four:  Take some notes while reading, so you remember what you want to write about.

Step Five:  Meet with your partner or start answering the questions on your own. Questions can be answered in the E-Portfolio. Please title the e-port something about your topic — you choose! Answers need to be longer than one paragraph, for sure, otherwise you are not showing what you know from the reading.

EPORT Questions:  (Please ask Ms. D if you are unclear on these – we went over ALL of this in class, but please ask if it doesn’t make sense!)

1. How does your topic show how humans create or use knowledge, tools, interdependent systems to get their needs and wants met?

2. What new things did you learn from your reading? What are your new questions now?

3. What ACTION could you personally take with this new knowledge.

DUE DATE:  Let’s try to have this e-port done no later than Friday, May 27th.

In class, we have been studying migration of animals, including migration cues, biomes they travel between, and typical migration routes. Specifically, we have been looking at birds, as we have many birds who come and go from our backyards as a result of migration. We have the Avian Research Centre coming today to do a presentation on local birds. We will also be doing the Great Backyard Bird Count, which is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in February. See here for more information.

Each of you will choose one migratory animal to look at more closely. You will use Puppet Pals on the iPads to make a short presentation to share with us. 

Step one: Do research on your animal

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

Step three: Make a short script to go with the storyboard. No more than 3 minutes in total length.

Step four:  Create Puppet Pals backgrounds and graphics, then record your script.

Step five: We play the presentations in class, to share with one another!

Puppet Pals can only be done on our iPads at school. If you are absent for an extended period, you may use PowerPoint or another resource to create a presentation. The script would be written in the presentation. Just have a conversation with Ms. D. 

As you research your migratory animal and create a presentation on Puppet Pals to show your knowledge, 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 vocabulary from handouts and discussions in class)
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, a clear voice, enunciation, and expression 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 in listening to your information.

Due Date:  NEW — Script and Puppet Pals Plan is due by Spring Break. Recordings will happen during recess as soon as everyone is ready, which may extend past spring break.

Websites of Interest, Mainly on Birds:  (Ms. D may post more upon request, if you are having trouble finding info on your specific animal. There are also some posted under the Articles of Interest Migration Unit Links)

Here is a basic Puppet Pals Instructional Video to get you started thinking about this technology tool if you haven’t used it already.

Here are some websites on migratory animals you may find helpful or interesting!

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 a while ago, but I wanted to put the details we have talked about down on paper!

We are building a TINY HOUSE MODEL as part of our combined math and ADST studies.

In class, we watched videos of real tiny houses, 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 for the current 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 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:  Before Spring Break.

BUILDING HAPPENS IN CLASS — SO MS. D CAN SEE YOUR PROCESS. But, if anyone is absent for an extended period, we will talk about making acccommodations for that, okay? Thank you!!