A Rocha

We went on an A Rocha field trip Friday.  Below are a list of the activities we did:

Station 1: Forest Explorations
  -Habitat walk (senses-K)
  -All about Plants (characteristics, families, uses, identification, as resources, relationships, --gr. 1, 3, 4,5, 7, 11)

  -Forest creatures &  food chain/web: (gr. 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11
Station 2: Water explorations (pond, river)
 -pond-dipping (food chain, webs, animal characteristics-gr. 1,2, 4, 7)

 -human impact, stewardship, water-testing (gr.7, 8)
 -Natural resources, how creatures are 'fit' for life (gr. 5,6)

Station 3: Ecological footprint/'Fair Share'
 -game-general relationship to the earth-responsibility for/caretaking of resources, human impacts (gr. 5,7, 11)

The group was given many talks about human impact on the environment and given many tangible examples of how ARocha is restoring the natural habitat to encourage the native wildlife to return. 

The group was also given a talk about biodynamic farming and the prevention of overuse of the land.

Chilliwack Museum

At the beginning of this field trip our host talked to the children about fire safety and the routes to use in the event of a fire.  Good way to start I think :)

During this presentation Trinity and Kyler were given a very in depth look at one of Chilliwack's forefather's diary.  The diary was from Charles Evans who traveled from Ontario to the Gold Rush via Panama.

During the edited reading of this diary the children in the group were given sticky notes with a date and day of Mr. Evan's journey.  They were asked to plot his course with the sticky note.

The presentation covered types of transportation used, cost of transportation, length of journey and hardships along the way.  Charles Evans talked about meeting other Canadians in New York who were on the same journey and just how dangerous it became to be on the steamers.

The children also heard about yellow fever, spoiled meat, burials at sea and bug net protection.

Our host engaged the children with questions about the types of fuel used on the steamers and how the weather changed from North to South and South to North.  She also made note of the different species of sea creatures encountered by Mr. Evans and how they changed as the water grew warmer.

Finally, the kids were told about how Mr. Evans journey ended in, not gold but politics, as his body was not cut out for tent life.  After his early death, his wife and sons became dairy farmers, supplying the CPR workers in Yale with fresh butter. 

A subsequent slide show gave the children a look at how people, ships and places looked in the early to late 1800's.  They saw not just Chilliwack but New Westminster and Yale.

As seen above,  the children matched a photo with information about that local, famous, settler.  They had a page to fill out with that information and they had to search for that person's picture on what used to be the wall of the town hall meeting room.

In a second activity the children identified artifacts from the First Nations peoples in the area, the Chinese settlers and the local farmers.  At the end they all helped make bannock and learned about how many people relied on it as a staple food.  They were able to taste it with a bit of jam.

What fun!

Karate!

In Karate Trinity and Kyler learn defensive and offensive punches, kicks and blocks which involves a great deal of practice, self control and physical exertion.  Our traditional dojo also teaches these moves in a special format called a kata.  The children practice this kata, perfect it and then are tested for the next level of belt.

Karate has given Trinity and Kyler more body awareness, strength and stamina, but also helps them focus and listen clearly to instructions....in Japanese!  They can count to 10 in Japanese and all instruction is given in both Japanese and English.

Science World

Our family, plus one, went to Science World on Saturday.  The kids were able to experience quite a few different aspects of science.

In this picture Trinity making a DNA bracelet.  One of the volunteers explained how our DNA makes us different.

They read the interpretive signs with each science 'experience' and made hypotheses.  As much as possible in a crowd, they learned from everything they did.

The kids really loved the giant red cedar that they were able to climb inside.  We haven't made it to Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island yet so this is the biggest tree they have been close to.

On Friday we looked at Discovery Learning videos on Astronauts, their space suits, their training and their space adventures.  The kids were  well prepared to meet rookie Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.  He gave us an outstanding presentation and Q&A period.  Kyler was very interested in a slide he showed of a nebula in Orion's belt.  He couldn't believe that it would take several years to cross it.

They learned about Canada's contribution toward Curiosity on Mars, the International Space Station, Canadarm, and the Orion Capsule.  He talked about how the ISS was assembled and what life was like there.  He inspired the kids to think of ideas for experiments in space.  When we got home we looked up Google Moon which has photos taken from the ISS. 

Mr. Hansen talked about how diverse the education base is within his training group.  He also answered Trinity's question about why asteroids burn up entering our atmosphere.  All in all...a good and educational day.

BC Rivers and World Rivers Day clean up

After the clean up there was a lunch provided as well as learning activities.  Inside this tank were some very large salmon for the kids to observe. We talked about stewardship of the rivers and why it is important for us to pick in to help keep the rivers clean.