Skulls Project: Student Voice

Hello, Grade 7 students and families! I’d like to formally welcome our first post from Div. 2’s ‘News Crew’. They will be periodically updating our class blog with information about projects, assignments, etc.

Below an excerpt from their overview of the clay skulls activity our class completed for Socials:

“This project was a great overview of what we learned in Socials. Creating skulls that represented our earlier ancestors. These skulls ranged from early Ardipithecus to our generation Homo sapiens. We started by using clay to put together our skulls. We needed to round out the clay and then use tools like chopsticks to help make the eyes. Ms. Jesse Lyn (our artist in residence) taught us about clay making and how ceramic is made.

To make the ceramic skulls we first need to learn how it happens. The first material is clay which can be found at the bottom of streams and riverbanks. Then we need to model the clay like we did with our skulls. After the clay sculptures or in this case skulls, gets taken to a giant oven [kiln] that warms up between 2124’f and 2264’f (1162-1260’c). After it is done being fired it is given back to us to glaze.

After about 2 days or so Ms. Jesse Lyn brought back out hominid pottery. As we were going to start the 2nd phase, glazing. (Please note: glazing is a pottery term of when you put color into your pottery, but it could also be the icing on a cake. The first phase is what we’re going for!).

You grab a brush of a color you think fits your skull and then you paint. There is red paint, a couple of different grays, [beige and white], and a darker color. “Why would you paint your skull red?” you might ask. Well, the reason is quite simple. When the clay gets fired the colors change drastically so when you get your skull back the red will now be a pinkish-gray. Each group took about 10 minutes, so with 5 groups the glazing took roughly 50 minutes. And so, we had to wait 2 more days. There would be a chance that you wouldn’t recognize your pottery after it was glazed, but that’s why the teachers thought ahead (like they always do from years of experience) and made us engrave our initials into the back of the skeleton’s skulls.

So, we wrapped out skeletons into some wrapping paper and brought it home. It should now be at your house and you’re staring at it while you’re reading this. Or, your kid might have lost it.”

Thanks so much, News Crew!

-Ms. Ward

Skull Sculpting: Blending Art & History

Did you know that some historians have found evidence that sculpture as an art form has been around since 25000 BCE? Today, we had the privilege of learning the fundamentals of clay and sculpture from our artist in residence. Our classes began creating a clay model of hominid species of their choice. Later, we will glaze them and reflect on our experience. Take a look at some of our progress photos below:

Chocolate Tasting: Analyzing and Observing

Would you be able to tell how much a bar of chocolate costs just by tasting it? Our class put our skills to the challenge yesterday but investigating the appearance, smell, texture, and taste of 6 different chocolates (of varying price points).

Many of us were able to try and make educated guesses about how much each chocolate cost. We learned that usually, chocolate with a smoother texture and more defined cocoa flavour could be more expensive due to ingredients and labour. We also learned that most fair-trade and rainforest-certified chocolate is more expensive.

Lunar New Year: Making Dumplings

Today, Ms. Lee came to talk to our class about Lunar New Year. We discussed how many cultures and countries celebrate the Lunar New Year, often with a special meal with family and friends. While not all people eat dumplings during this time of year, many families may choose to make dumplings as a symbol of wealth and fortune. Our classes created our own dumplings using pork, cabbage, green onions, eggs, chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, and dumpling wrappers.

Here are some photos of the process, below:

Stay tuned for the recipe, which will be posted later this week!

Best wishes,

-Ms. Ward

Game Design: Where Language, Art, and Science Collide

What does it take to design a video game? Our Grade 7s are beginning to examine the skills and strategies that game designers use, including character creation, instructional writing/walkthroughs, mapping and level design, and more!

We began today by viewing this interview with one of the creators of the Mario series! We learned that video games have been around since the 1970s, and have continued to grow and change as technology, culture, and trends shift and change! Feel free to check out the video below:

Some questions to discuss at home:

Have you ever played any video games (including PC, mobile, etc.)? What was your experience like?
What skills do you think a game designer should have and/or develop? Why?
Try playing the ‘original’ version(s) of Mario. What did you notice?

Super Mario Game:

https://supermario-game.com/

Information about the history of Mario:

https://mario.nintendo.com/history/

Clay Skulls: Our Socials and ADST Project

Our Grade 7s have been hard at work learning about early humans with Ms. Ramen in Socials class! We invited a artist in residence to come in and teach us how to sculpt a human skull out of clay. After sculpting, they were fired in the kiln. Then, we glazed the skulls and they will be fired a final time. We can’t wait to see the final product soon!

Some questions we suggest parents/guardians can discuss at home:

What features did you include in your skull model? What species of hominin did you choose to create?
How does your model skull look similar or different from our own (real) skulls?
How old do you imagine your skull is? What conditions was it in (ex: desert, water)?