This year for “Earth Week”, 12th Avenue students participated in the Plastic Bag Grab Challenge. Students learned about the importance of the 3Rs (Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling), strategies for keeping our Earth healthy and clean, and how to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags.  Together, we collected a grand total of 1176 bags, which will be recycled instead of sitting in the landfills.  Many thanks and congratulations to our all students, staff and our families for all their support and contributions!  

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Throughout the month of April students in Div 9 are getting the opportunity to learn gymnastics.  They are working on balance, strength, and agility.  Some of techniques they have been learning include: rope climbing, cartwheels, jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, hula hoop, bear/crab walks, circus wheel, juggling, grapevine, superman, sloth crawl, sky train, handstand, spider walk, squat-on/straddle-on, monkey with a broken leg, arabesque, v-sit, knee scale, stork stand, straddle/tuck hang, chin/pike hold, forward/log/egg/safety/pencil rolls, frog/monkey/rocket/360/star/tuck jumps, and skinny cat on bars.

In this art lesson students of Div 9 learned about the Japanese art form, Notan.  They used paper cutting, contrasting colour, and lines of symmetry to create unique positive and negative designs.  They also learned that space is the area above,  below, between, within, and around the main objects in a piece of art and that space is present in all 2D and 3D art.

In the fall Div 8 and 9 students planted daffodil bulbs that were donated to us by the BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation (BCAITC). Through the Planting a Promise program students gained hands-on gardening experience while exploring the life cycle of a plant and what it needs to grow. They were able to connect positively with nature and learn science through observation. Also the cheerful, yellow daffodil blooms that greeted the students when they returned from Spring Break, gave them a sense of pride in contributing to their school and community.  As the daffodils continue their lifecycle they will continue to beautify the school grounds year after year.

Right before Spring Break Div 9 students planted their seed potatoes.  When they returned to school after the break they were amazed by how much the potatoes have grown. Today they learned about the hilling process and how to check if their potatoes need water.  Students then hilled the soil around the young potato seedlings so that only the top leaves were sticking out of the ground and gave them some water.  They will continue this process every 2-3 days as the potato sprouts grow taller.  The hilling process will force new tubers and new potatoes to grow under the new mound of soil hopefully yielding more potatoes when it comes time to harvest them in June.

Before Spring Break Div 9 students 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.

Today we celebrated International Pi Day with a mathematical investigation into circles.

After reading the story Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi written by Cindy Neuschwander and illustrated by Wayne Geehan students tested out the formula for calculating the circumference of a circle by measuring various circular objects in the room.  What they discovered is that the circumference of a circle, regardless of size, will always be 3.14 or 3 1/7 times the diameter of the circle.

Students also learned that Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3/14 in the month/day format) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant digits of π.

To end our investigations we tested the formula on some apple pies.  Not only did the pies taste great but they also proved that the formula to calculate circumference is accurate and works every time.

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In this activity, students designed their own superheroes using only fruits and vegetables. Throughout the lesson students were required to use their knowledge of vegetables and fruits, as well as their imagination to describe their superhero’s physical characteristics and superpowers.

Students also learned that they need to eat five or six servings of vegetables and fruit every day and that vegetables and fruit provide us with the vitamins, minerals and fibre we need to stay healthy.

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On February 28, 2018, students from Div 8 along with their big buddies from Div 2 wore pink in support of Pink Shirt Day.  They also came up with these messages to encourage everyone to practice kindness and that together we can make a difference to help combat bullying.

On February 15th to honour the anniversary of our flag students from Div 8 and 9 assisted Ms Carson with the ceremonial flag raising. The students also learned about the history of the Canadian flag and its symbolism, as well as the reasons for Flag Day.