Throughout our Planting a Promise unit students in division 4 and 12 will be learning that:
✱ Plants are diverse in the way they grow.  They are different in their appearance, in their use and in their life cycle.
✱ Seasonal changes happen in plants as well as animals.
✱ Plants have basic needs (air, water, soil and light) that must be met in order for them to grow.
✱ Air, water and soil have different physical characteristics that can affect the growth of plants.
✱ Personal choices have environmental consequences that can affect living resources, like plants.

This week students from Division 4 visited the Burnaby Village Museum to learn from Indigenous Educators about hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwxw̱ú7mesh history and culture. Using the First Peoples Principles of Learning, they explored the Indigenous Learning House and the Matriarch’s Garden at Burnaby Village Museum.

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This week students of Division 4 and 8 harvested 242 potatoes that we have been growing and tending to since March. Students thoroughly enjoyed digging in the dirt and discovering the different insects that decided to call our potato plants home. They were fascinated by the root system and had no problem locating the original  mushed up seed potatoes.

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In class students have been learning about simple machines and how to build their own.  Here are a few of their designs.

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Students were very excited to see that their spuds sprouted while we were away for Spring Break and began the process of hilling and caring for their growing potatoes yesterday.

Our daffodils are officially in bloom and beautifying the front of our school.

Students enjoyed the challenge of building gum drop structures with their older buddies from Burnaby Mountain last week.  Students had to test their knowledge of engineering as they tried to figure out:

Which shapes made by the toothpicks and gumdrops were the strongest? Squares, rectangles, or triangles?

Did the width of the base make a difference?

When the structure collapsed, which portions stayed in one piece? Why did those parts not collapse?

They were then tasked with using their discoveries to create a stronger structure that would support more weight.

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On Monday students in Division 4 and 8 had lots of fun playing in the dirt while they planted their seed potatoes.  After the break  we will continue to tend to the potatoes and observe their lifecycle before harvesting them in June.

This week Div 4 and 8 students were surprised to see that the daffodils we planted in the fall have begun to sprout and are preparing to bloom.  Some students were also puzzled by how much they have grown already especially since the ground has been covered in snow for the past week or two.  Over the coming weeks students will continue to track and document the growth of the daffodils, review their life cycle, and investigate factors that can enhance or hinder growth.