Science term 1

Habitats

We took a field trip to the Vancouver Aquarium this week which covered many more subjects than I would have expected.  

We played a game of 'how many habitats can you see.'  Kyler pointed out all of the BC coastal habitats that were around him.  We also hypothesized what makes the African penguin more adaptable to the aquarium than a northern penguin. We looked at life in the Amazon and where it is on the map.  We took a close look at how animals blend into their habitat and what is unique about where each of them live.

We had some Bible time after we listened to the shark talk.  On the timeline below, the lady was telling us all about evolution.  She mixed that up with a whole bunch of facts and interesting reproductive information.  We spent time focused on what she said that was true and what was evolutionary fiction.  We then talked about the truth of the Bible and thanked God for his amazing love of diversity.

We had many talks about our impact on the oceans and rivers and listened to 5 talks (seals, otters, penguins, sharks, dolphins) that included ways we can reduce our negative impact on the sea creatures, and how to help them out.

We even managed to fit some sound learning in there.  There was a sound visualization machine that we could use to compare the sound waves made by the baluga whales with those made by humans, machines etc.  We also listened to many different frog sounds and marveled at how God makes their croaks mimic other creatures and even human laughter.

There was a fantastic display of Arctic habitat.  We spent a long time looking at all of the sea life, maps and the life for humans there.

It was an amazing day packed full of learning.

Weather

Kyler has done an outstanding job on his tornado model.  He drilled.  He hammered.  He screwed. He used wire cutters to cut chicken wire.  He used pliers to connect two pieces of chicken wire. He scrunched it and bunched it until it was the right shape.  Then he covered it with sheep fleece and made it look real.  Way to go Buddy!

          

Language Arts term 1

Trinity has been working on a Health and Careers project that has many Language Arts elements.  She has ha dream of owning a little cafe and serving the above items.  Writing the menu was a reward for working hard on the essay that is yet to come.  She researched the prices for some of the items and then we discussed the cost of ingredients, wages, and overhead that would come out of what she sold.

She also made a beautiful model of her restaurant while it was still summer.  Trinity has a real passion for business.

Below is Trinity's essay and the the steps she took to get there.

     In order to make my company successful I will need to know how to cook.  I will also need to treat and pay my workers well.   It is also very important to decorate my restaurant so that it looks cozy on the inside.

               I will need to learn how to make all of the sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts for my menu. I already know how to make many of these menu items.

               Customers like to be treated kindly and they also like to know that you are honest. They also like to know that you give generous portions.

               If I do all these things I will have a better chance of being successful.

               I will need good math skills so that I can charge the correct amount to my customers and pay my workers correctly.

               I want to learn to decorate my restaurant so that my customers will feel comfortable and want to come back.

               My interests and values will help me to succeed with my restaurant.  Because I am just learning to cook and I am only in grade 6 math, I will need to build more skills. I need to take a course in college about running a business.  

Kidsworld calendar

Social Studies Term 3

After reading a good portion of "Gold Rush Fever" by Barbara Greenwood, we decided to see what it would have been like to climb the 'Golden Stairs' to the Chilkoot Pass.   I packed their bags with 10 lbs, 1/5 of the weight that would have been carried up over and over again.  Our 225 cement steps paled in comparison to the 1500 ice carved stairs that 'Stampeders' climbed in winter conditions.  I think they got the idea though :)

Art term 3

Trinity and Mom made some veggie bags together from netted curtain fabric.  She did the serging and I did the top stitching.  I showed her how to pin the casing and she sewed it with the regular machine. 

This project stemmed from the "Bag It" project.

Term 3 Language Arts

Kyler recently finished reading Akimbo and the Elephants  by Alexander McCall Smith.  He always enjoys a story about animals, especially animal rescues.

Below is what he wrote after reading each chapter.  He has also done an oral book report on this book.

Oral Book report