Last week we realized that there are many different things to consider when designing and creating nest boxes. Before getting started, we chose a specific local bird to focus on to determine their shelter needs. Although we have many different bird species here in BC, the local birds that have been impacted by habitat loss are secondary cavity-nesting birds (birds that use natural or abandoned cavities), such as wrens, chickadees, tree swallows, flickers and nuthatches. Different birds need different sizes of nest boxes depending on their size and behaviour, and also to avoid predators. We gathered lots of helpful information about our specific bird’s needs so that we can start the design process for a suitable shelter. Grade 6s were busy exploring the human nervous system and comparing it to an animal’s. It was their turn this week to share what they had discovered in an engaging presentation. Although the nervous system is a complex body system, our grade 6s gave clear summaries of what they learned. It was a busy but memorable week, decorating gingerbread houses, singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town in our Christmas concert, and collecting last-minute donations for the food bank! Hope you all have a relaxing winter break with your families. Looking forward to hearing stories in the new year! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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Last week we gathered helpful information about birds and the challenges they face with finding shelter, challenges such as local construction and invasive predators. That is the first step in design thinking – understanding context. We identified a problem and we wanted to find a solution to help local birds. Our next step in our design thinking involved determining a bird’s needs - what keeps a bird safe (ventilation holes, drainage)? What dimensions are suitable for a species? What size should the entrance hole be? Understanding these needs leads directly to the ideation stage that involves trying to expand our thinking by brainstorming many different birdhouse designs. Trying to think of new and different design ideas allows creativity to flourish. It was great watching students share their birdhouse design ideas and get feedback from peers. Next week we’ll move on to building prototypes. “Habitat loss due to human settlement, industry and forestry has caused a 35% decline in characteristic bird species since 1970[i]” We also built our oral language skills and presentation techniques by focusing on our tone, volume, pace and gestures when speaking to a large group. We all have different strengths – some of us maintain eye contact with our audience but we speak too quickly. Others have great expression and volume but don’t include eye contact. We are going to set personal goals on how we can improve our presentation skills so that we can be even better next time. December 5-11 is Computer Science Education Week so we joined other classes around the world in the #HourofCode. The Hour of Code is a basic introduction to computer science. It includes an hour-long, self-guided game tutorial designed to make coding easy and fun. Right from the start students were focused on the design of their game. Although there are challenges when writing code - an incorrect line of code could easily make a character turn the wrong way or move backwards instead of forward – it was great to see students persevere and find solutions. This week included our first snowfall of 2016! We haven't seen this much snow accumulate in over two years! Who doesn't love making snow angels and playing soccer in the snow?? Good times :) [i] North American Bird Conservation Initiative Canada. 2012. The State of Canada’s Birds. Environment Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
During our exploration of natural selection and survival needs, we realized the important role that shelters play for animals and that many species are impacted by local development. That is a clear challenge for animals who need trees for shelter so we wanted to know what we could do to help. That has led us to a design thinking project that will involve making shelters to suit local birds. To get started we’ve been gathering information to respond to our inquiry question: what needs to be considered when designing and building a suitable shelter for a local bird? We need to know the purpose of a nesting box, what attracts specific birds to a shelter, as well as ways to deter predators and invasive species. We’ve spent time accessing helpful online resources and our next step will be using that information and the design thinking process to design a suitable shelter. Woodworking is part of the new Applied Skills, Design & Technology (ADST) curriculum for grades 6 & 7. In the construction of our birdhouses we will be using woodworking techniques (cutting materials to plan, sanding, etc.) and basic joinery (screws and nails) using hand tools. Thanks to myclassneeds and our district, we have many tools that will be put to good use! (Check out the ADST curriculum here: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/adst/7) This week also included Identity Day - an opportunity for us to share what we're passionate about! It's so nice to see the pride in students as they share their passions with other students. It builds a sense of community within our class and our school.
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AuthorWe are a curious group of kids who are excited to share our learning with you! Archives
March 2020
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