Teas Around the World

Have you ever tried hibiscus tea? How about cacao mint rooibos? Labrador tea? This week, we examined some very interesting teas from local and global sources!

Take a look at some of the teas we investigated this week!

Top left: hibiscus tea

Top right: wild rose white tea

Middle left: ‘cabin’ tea (foraged from forests in Whistler, B.C.)

Middle right: Labrador tea (an important tea in many Indigenous cultures)

Bottom left: turmeric-ginger tea

Bottom right: jade fir tea

Water: Our Most Valuable Resource

This week, we began our discussion about water scarcity both in Canada and around the world. We learned that a very small percentage of the water on Earth is fresh, clean, and drinkable. Many people across the world do not have access to clean water, which effects their lives in many ways.

In The Water Princess, Gie Gie tells the story of her daily routine with her mother. They wake up before the sun rises, walk many miles to a water source, wait in line, gather the water, make the trek home, and then boil the water to try to remove some of the impurities as microorganisms. The cycle repeats the next day, and the day after.

We will continue to discuss water preservation, scarcity, and purification over the next few weeks.

Tea Tasting: An Optional At-Home Activity

Hi everyone! On Thursday, November 26th I will be sending home a sample of one of the teas we have been learning about in Science. Please feel free to brew and taste the tea together at home! Here is some information about the tea:

    • The tea is Jade Fir tea from the Namasthe/Ranger Tea Company, a Canadian-owned handcrafted tea brand
    • This teas ingredients are: Spring harvest mountain green tea and Douglas Fir tips 
    • The Fir tips are sustainably harvested from unceded Coast Salish territories and forests by Indigenous members of the company
    • Because this is a ‘wild’ brew, you might see some large pieces of pine, sticks, etc.
    • Douglas Fir tea has been used for centuries as a ‘thirst-quencher’ (rehydrating and energizing properties)
    • This tea has citrus-y, pine-y flavours that may be new or unusual to many people, but it has been enjoyed by many Indigenous cultures for thousands of years

 

  • Please ensure that there are no allergens in the tea, and always consult with a doctor if you are pregnant/taking medication before drinking this tea

 

To serve: Steep the tea in hot water for 3 minutes. Strain and enjoy. You may also want to add a little maple syrup for sweetness, or a slice of lemon for flavour. 

Please let me know if you try the tea, and I hope you enjoy this unique blend of Green tea and Fir tea! I’ve attached a video of an Indigenous chef discussing how he sustainably harvests ingredients for tea:

 

 

Learning at Home: Designing a Science Experiment

Hello Scientists,

Please don’t forget that your homework for tomorrow is to brainstorm an idea for an experiment involving our bean sprouts!

For Thursday, please come prepared with an idea of what you’d like to ‘test’ in your experiment.

For example: I am going to test whether the beans grow larger if they are watered with tap water or bottled water.

We will design our hypothesis, control, etc. tomorrow in class!

Tea Time Science: Diffusing Different Teas

Did you know that tea is the most popular drink in the world (other than water)? People all over the world drink different kinds of tea. You might drink iced sweetened tea, hot mint tea, or even fruit-flavoured tea with boba! Today, we examined some of the Science behind making tea.

We started by making observations about the tea. What colour(s) did we notice? What texture/size were the particles? What scents/smells did the tea have?

We made observations about 6 kinds of tea: Earl Grey, Vanilla Rooibos, Chamomile, Green Tea, Honeybush Orange, & Red Raspberry. Then, we predicted what colour the tea would be when we diffused it (steeped it) in water.

Then, we added hot water to our tea and let it steep. We observed how the tea changed in colour and scent when steeped in water. Finally, created a Science Journal page by painting a small ‘swatch’ of each tea.

One of the most surprising discoveries for our class… the Green Tea was not very green, and the Earl Grey tea was not grey at all!

Innovative Inventors: The Crayon Man

Today, we learned about the inventor of Crayola crayons. Edwin Binney was a fantastic, successful innovator because he worked hard, listened to others, and always wanted to solve problems. He heard many children complain that the old style of crayons weren’t bright enough, were too bulky, and too expensive. So, with his team, Edwin created a new kind of crayon… the Crayola crayon!

Over the next few weeks, we will be learning about innovators and inventors like Edwin Binney, Leonardo Da Vinci, and many more!

Check out the video below to see how Crayola crayons are made today!

STEM Challenge: Da Vinci & Parachutes

After our very successful catapult STEM challenge (pictures/video to come), our class will be exploring the genius of Leonardo Da Vinci and his amazing flying machines! We will first be examining his blueprint/design for a parachute, and using his journals as inspiration to design our own parachutes!

When we design our parachutes, students may bring up to 2 OPTIONAL MATERIALS from home (ex: paper towel roll, fabric). We have just begun blueprinting our designs, but stay tuned for our results!