Kelly.McLaughlin Curriculum Documents, Curriculum Planning, General, Language Learning, Science

Word Study with different subjects

Earlier this month I posted about the work our intermediate team was focusing on in terms of word study and teaching our students how to read. The focus for my class specifically is multisyllable words- reading them in everyday contexts as a whole group and in small groups.

In science, my grade eights are currently studying the “Top 10 Green Technology Innovations”. I used an article that focuses on ten systems that are entirely green. They are doing a science project on this topic where they are asked to select one technology and study it further. In small groups, I read parts of the article to my students. I told them to raise their hand when they heard multiple syllables. That word they identified was then theirs to write on the board. I had them break up the word into syllables and asked them to try to read it. I then repeated that with all students in my small group. 

Additionally, I asked students to try to guess the meaning of the words after I read them the sentence for context. In most cases, my students could read the words once broken up into syllables but could not provide its meaning. This means that more comprehension work is needed in the future. 

After they each got to break up their multi-syllable word and attempted to read it, they went back to their groups. Each student from my small group got to pick a student from the class to read their word. We went through them all until they had all been read. In most cases, my students were able to read the words because of the syllable break up. However, earlier that week when we had read the article as a class, many students struggled at most multi-syllable words. It was good to see that breaking it up helped!

Later in the week, our school participated in “Joy Day” (which I blogged about in 2022) and I taught a Hanukkah lesson with a group of grade eights. We did the same activity, selecting multi-syllable words and attempting to read them. Students had to come up and underline the word and then read it out to the class. We then clapped out the syllables and read it together. It was great seeing the students trying to find the words in each paragraph all while learning about the history of Hanukkah.

 I look forward to incorporating more small group and whole class word study activities as we work on this new curriculum expectation: B2.1- use generalized knowledge of the meanings of words and morphemes (i.e., bases, prefixes, and suffixes) to read and spell complex words with accuracy and automaticity

 

Arianna Lambert Modern Learning, Music, Science, Technology

Infusing Tech in Music & Science

Computer Science Education Week is a little over a month away – December 4th to 10th, 2023. During this week, teachers around the world hope to inspire students to learn about Computer Science. While the learning is not limited to this week alone, many take advantage of some of the newer activities released around this time to create a buzz in their classrooms around computer science and coding in particular. In this post, I’m sharing about 2 applications that I’m considering using with students that infuse tech in some of the subject areas that I teach. I’m not sure how new they are but they’re new to me. 

Project Beats

I’m teaching a bit of everything this year, which includes music. I’m always interested in considering how I might incorporate tech into the music class and was really excited when I came across Project Beats. As part of Code.org’s incubator, Project Beats is a program that allows people to mix, remix and perform music with code. The incubator is where you get the chance to try new things inside Code.org, and while there are sometimes glitches, I’m pretty excited about the possibilities of this one. One issue is that in order to save my work, I have to be signed into my account. Using a third-party app has its challenges in terms of privacy but I would really love to test it out with students and see what they might like to create, even if we can’t save our work online. Perhaps part of our learning would be to note our code so that in a subsequent class, we might be able to pick up where we left off. 

Similar to other block-based coding applications, in order to create a song, you simply add blocks to the “when run” block and the possibilities are endless. Choose from a variety of beats to either play on their own, together or sequentially. You can also add drums or play notes from a piano, bass or synthesizer. 

While we might start out exploring the application, I think it might be a great way for students to create for a specific audience. Perhaps they can use the music they create to describe the specific feeling or mood in a story or book. I haven’t figured out yet how we might use it but I’m certain it will come to me the closer we get to December.

 

Minecraft Education – Reinventing Cities

For the last number of years, Minecraft Education has released an Hour of Code challenge around CSEd Week. I haven’t seen one as of yet but while looking through the different challenges, I came across the Reinventing Cities Challenge and it got me thinking about one of the projects that I am helping out with, in a grade 5/6 classroom for their Science unit. The class is a part of a Design Challenge based on sustainability. The students have started to create sustainable homes and will be working towards creating a sustainable town. Basically, they’re creating a physical version of a similar project that students around the world are doing virtually in Minecraft – Reinventing Cities. I think it would be really neat to see what this class might create given the chance to use a tech tool like Minecraft Education. 

Teachers can access a downloadable toolkit that supports learning about their particular region and ways in which to build sustainably. While the project might go on a little longer than we may have planned, I think there will be some students who will really jump on it and may possibly work towards creating during their own time. 

These are just a couple of ideas I have for infusing tech in Music and Science, both for CSEd Week and beyond. In what ways might you be celebrating CSEd week this year?

Arianna Lambert Literacy, Math, Outdoor Learning, physically active, Science, Year End Activities

Ideas for Learning in June

June is finally upon us. It might just be me but I sometimes find it hard to compete with the warm weather and the idea that summer is fast approaching. With cut-off dates for report cards set for early June in many boards across Ontario, keeping the learning going all month long can be challenging. In this post, I’m sharing some ideas that might make things a little easier as we work towards keeping learners engaged over the last few weeks of the school year.

Literacy – Podcasts

I’m a huge fan of listening to podcasts and over the years, I’ve seen first-hand how much students also enjoy listening to them. Here’s a list of some podcasts that I have listened to with students that have been a hit:

Six Minutes

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

Podcast listening is great but you might be wondering what else you might do beyond listening. 

Here are a few ideas:

  1. Have students draw what they hear as they listen to an episode of a podcast. In some series, the podcast is describing the setting. Have students draw what they imagine the setting would look like. For example, Mars’ room or The Marlowe 280 Interplanetary Exploratory Space Station where Finn and his friends live. 
  2. Have students make predictions and explain why they made their predictions. When finished, ask them to compare what they thought would happen to what really happened.
  3. Have students consider one thing that they might change in an episode and share how that might affect future episodes or change the entire podcast.
  4. Have students compare themselves to a character. How are they similar? How are they different? 
  5. In most of the above podcasts, there’s some form of tech involved. Give students materials and have them build a prototype of the tech. What improvements would they add to solve a particular problem for one of the characters in the podcast?

The ideas are endless! Take a listen and see what you and your students might come up with!

Literacy – What’s Going On in This Picture?

I’ve been a long-time fan of The New York Times’ What’s Going on in This Picture? Simply put, this site is a compilation of interesting New York Times images that have been stripped of their captions, and an invitation to students to discuss them by answering 3 questions:

  1. What is going on in this picture?
  2. What do you see that makes you say that?
  3. What more can you find?

When I have done these with students in the past, I’ve found that in the beginning, students are quick to provide an answer without sharing much of the reasoning behind their answer but as time goes on, I have found that many students take the time to really analyze the picture so as to justify their responses. I found this simple activity a great way to get the day started and get students thinking about inferences. 

Numeracy – Which One Doesn’t Belong?

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a fan of math and love a great math talk. When students are able to share what they know or are able to justify their thinking, I get excited. Which One Doesn’t Belong offers a great opportunity for students to share their thinking around a variety of Math concepts, often leading to some rich conversations as they battle it out to ultimately prove, which one doesn’t belong. In the past, I have printed out images from the site and added them to chart paper or to the whiteboard for students to come up and add their thoughts and ideas. Because the only way to get a wrong answer is to not justify your thinking, I’ve found that some of my most reluctant mathematicians are eager to participate and are often the first to write out their stickie notes and add them to the image that doesn’t belong.   

Numeracy – Coding

There are so many resources out there for coding. From guided activities on Code.org to lessons in Minecraft, there are so many possibilities for helping students to solve problems and create computational representations of mathematical situations by writing and executing code.  Recently, I was working with a group of grade 5 students who were working through the Artemis: Rocket Build. While the Educator Guide was super helpful, it was really my students who were running the show and helping guide me through some of the builds. I currently have a group of grade 4/5 students who are working in Minecraft to build their own town based on the work that they are doing with their classroom teacher for Social Studies. Don’t have access to tech? No worries, Code.org has some great unplugged coding videos and activities that you can try with students. Check them out here. 

Science – Scavenger Hunts

Create a simple scavenger hunt for your students with items found in the schoolyard or a local park and get students outside, checking out nature. I’ve done this with students from kindergarten to grade 5 and no matter the age, finding something out in nature and taking the time to explore it, is pretty cool. 

Science – Planting

The kindergarten students this year had a blast planting their Grass Heads. In classes around our school, students have been planting seeds and beans and have been recording observations and taking measurements. Some classes have been growing lettuce from existing lettuce heads while others have been doing experiments where plants are put in a variety of conditions to see what happens. Our kindergarten students have also been out planting in our garden with parent volunteers. Consider planting with students. Spring is a great time for planting as things are sprouting all around us. 

Physical Education – Student-Led Workout Circuits

Early in the pandemic, while teaching online, my students and I got really creative in designing our Physical Education classes. We were already used to student facilitators for our activities so when we went online, students were eager to create great lessons to keep the movement going from home. Students were asked to create short 15-minute workouts that they could challenge their peers with. The results were amazing. I haven’t taught Physical Education since we’ve been back in school but this is definitely one thing that I would incorporate if ever I teach Physical Education again.

French – Créez votre monstre

I recently facilitated a workshop for ETFO’s FSL Conference and shared this idea with teachers. Participants were asked to create their own monster using found materials and they had the opportunity to write 4 short sentences about their monster. From there, they used Adobe Express to create short videos about their monster. Half the fun was in building the monster and getting the opportunity to create. We used Adobe Express to create short videos but if you have access to tech, there are so many possibilities of what you might do. Some teachers mentioned using Flip while others considered recording short videos and including them in a Google Slides presentation. Why not create and have fun in the last month of your FSL program? 

I hope that there’s something here that might be of help as you navigate these last few weeks. Wishing you all the best for a wonderful end of the year!

Velvet Lacasse Anti-Racism, Assessment and Evaluation, Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Curriculum Planning, Differentiated Instruction, Equity, General, Inclusion, Indigenous Perspectives, Integration, Outdoor Learning, Play-Based Learning, Science, Social Justice, Teaching online

Buiding an Inclusive Playground

I am having a lot of fun learning how to center issues of disability justice and equity throughout the curriculum.

Every week, during MSI (Math-Science Investigations) the Grade 2 students solve problems using a variety of building materials. As part of the Science curriculum, we are learning about Movement and Simple Machines. We started this inquiry when we were face-to-face and finished on-line.  We have integrated this learning with disability justice, equity and community activism. For example, we went on a walk and collected data about barriers and “bridges” in our local community. Then, the Grade 2 students designed inclusive playgrounds where everyone is welcome.

Here are some other examples of how we are deepening our understanding of Structures and Mechanisms, and making connections to the local and global community.

World Water Day:
We celebrated World Water Day on March 22, as part of our year-long inquiry about water. Throughout the year, we have explored a variety of texts, including resources from The Junior Water Walker website. After reading “The Water Princess” by Susan Verde and “Anna Carries Water” by Olive Senior, our class simulated the experience of carrying a bucket around the track for 1 km, to represent the journey taken by girls and young women every day.

 

Then, we used building materials to investigate: How might you move water from one place to another?

We learned about a simple machine that was invented to help families carry water in rural India. We watched a YouTube video about The Wello Water Wheel, and talked about the impact it might have.



Toy Day:
On Toy Day, the MSI challenge was: Design a structure that moves or helps your toy to move.

Freda made a wheelchair for her doll.  Svea made a sled.

After building, we watched this video:
Science Max: Simple Machines

Outdoor Learning:
One day, we collected materials to bring outside to investigate simple machines. We worked with partners to explore: How might you use ramps and different balls to investigate levers and inclined planes?

Before schools went back to on-line learning, we went on a Community Walk.  I invited students to think about: “How might we make our community more accessible?  What are some of the barriers and “bridges” in our community?”  Students worked together to draw, write and collect data on clipboards.  We found ramps made by StopGap Foundation, and followed up our walk by reading books about children with different abilities.



Inclusive Playgrounds:
The summative task was: Design and build a model of an inclusive playground that includes a simple machine. The equipment must move a person up and down, or round and round or back and forth.

Students used a variety of materials to build their inclusive playgrounds, including Lego, recycled materials, clay, and Minecraft. Before building, everyone was encouraged to make a plan and draw their designs. Everyone worked on their project off-line and came together to share their VIP: Very Important Projects at the end of the week.

Clem used a glue gun to spell “PARK” in Braille letters.  Avery included an elevator.



Oral presentations have been an effective way to connect, share ideas and feedback, and assess students’ understanding. Technology/Being on-line has created space to hear each other, share our screens and look at photos of our work up close, and invite others into creative Minecraft worlds.  These integrated learning activities were engaging, fun, creative, and provided meaningful opportunities to explore inclusive design and disability justice.  

 

Arianna Lambert COVID19, Distance learning, Engaging students with online learning, Field Trips, Science, Teaching online, Technology in school, The Arts, Use of Technology

Virtual Field Trips: Connecting With the World Beyond the Classroom

The pandemic has changed the ways in which we can explore the world around us. Rather than being able to sign up to go on a field trip, many educators are opting for virtual field trips. With so many options out there, how might we ensure that we use these opportunities to connect it back to the learning in the classroom and to life in general? I ask this because I’ve been guilty of giving students these links to get them to simply explore but I wonder if there is more that we might do with these incredible opportunities. In this post, I’ll share a few ideas that I have.

Zoos & Aquariums

The San Diego Zoo and Ripley’s Aquarium are 2 sites for virtual field trips related to zoos and aquariums. I have to admit, these creatures are amazing to look at and I think it’s incredible that we have the opportunity to watch them live. 

While watching, it got me thinking about a debate we had in class several years ago about zoos.  After researching a variety of animal habitats, we used found materials to create our own zoo of sorts in our classroom. Students were tasked with determining what conditions needed for their animal of choice to survive and to build their habitat. Once all of the habitats were created, we organized the animals into areas that we thought made sense based on their needs. It was pretty cool and it led us to start talking about animals in their real habitats and in zoos. 

We researched and discussed differing opinions and feelings about zoos. 

A zoo supporter might say:

  • The zoo is a fantastic place to learn about and see animals from different parts of the world.
  • Zoos help to keep animals safe so that they don’t become in danger of extinction.
  • Zoos help to take care of animals who may become sick.  In the wild, these sick animals may die.
  • Because of pollution and deforestation, animals are having a hard time finding food.  Animals in zoos are well fed and taken care of.

Someone who is against zoos may say:

  • Zoos don’t teach us much about animals because the animals there don’t act the way they would in the forest, jungle, or ocean, where they belong. We can learn more about animals by reading books or watching wildlife programs on TV.
  • Animals are not happy in zoos. They want to be free to walk, run, fly, climb, hunt, and have families. There simply isn’t enough room for them in the habitats that are created at the zoo. 
  • When a zoo doesn’t want an animal anymore, the animal gets killed or sold to another zoo and might have to travel far away by boat, truck, or plane.

After sharing these ideas, students were asked to reflect on a couple of questions, and as a part of our classroom blog, they shared their thoughts and debated their points with their peers. The questions were:

  1. What kinds of things do animals need to be happy? Do you think animals in zoos get all these things? Why or why not? 
  2. Think about the animals you’ve seen at the zoo. Do you think there is somewhere else they would rather be? Something else they would rather be doing? Why or why not?
  3. Do you support zoos? Why or why not?

There was a lot of healthy debate going back and forth as students justified their answers about whether or not they supported zoos. 

Not only might heading on these virtual field trips be a great way for students to see animals they may not have seen before, but it may also be a great start to conversations around the need for zoos and aquariums and the ethics behind them. 

Museums & Art

Art has always been of interest to me. From studying Art from a particular part of the world to understanding how art is connected to culture, so much can be said by looking at a painting or sculpture. Here are a few sites that I’ve explored with students:

  • Christi Belcourt – Christi Belcourt is a Métis artist with a deep respect for Mother Earth, the traditions, and the knowledge of her people.  In addition to her paintings, she is known as an environmentalist and advocate for the lands, waters, and Indigenous peoples
  • Tomb of Menna – Located in Luxor, the tomb of Menna is known for the colorful and well-preserved paintings that adorn the chapel walls.
  • The Canadian Museum of History – The mandate of the museum is “to enhance Canadians’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of events, experiences, people, and objects that reflect and have shaped Canada’s history and identity, and also to enhance their awareness of world history and cultures.”
  • The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology – Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the study of ancient life.
  • The Aga Khan Museum – The Aga Khan Museum presents and collects art from historically significant Muslim civilizations as well as contemporary Muslim communities and diasporas around the world.

When exploring museums and art, I’ve asked students to reflect on pieces that stand out to them and to explain why they were of particular interest. I’ve also had students consider the elements of art – line, shape, texture, form, space, colour, and value – and how the artist used the elements to evoke particular emotions or feelings. I also tend to ask students if there is a particular style that they can attribute to the artists and consider learning more about their particular style. I’ve mentioned before that art is connected to culture. Perhaps posing a question such as, “Is art shaped by culture or is culture shaped by art?”, might spark meaningful conversations around the connection between the two.

Science

Ok…zoos and aquariums fit under this category too. Here are a couple of virtual field trips that my students enjoyed related to physical and earth sciences. 

  • Slime in Space – This is a 15-minute virtual field trip to outer space to see how slime, and water, react in a microgravity environment.
  • Hawaii’s Volcanoes – Take a trip back in time to explore the land shaped by the world’s most active volcanoes.

Everyone loves slime. Ok…well…maybe not everyone. I’ll admit. I’m not a fan. When I stumbled upon the link to Slime in Space, it got me thinking about the time I had a student teach the class how to make slime. It was an opportunity to see the connection between procedural writing for a science experiment and an exercise in problem-solving when it didn’t quite work out.  It was an experiment based on the student’s interest and it was amazing to watch them lead their peers with great enthusiasm. When thinking about student interest, last year I had a student who was so fascinated by natural disasters and when it came to exploring Hawaii’s volcanoes, he was all in. This interactive adventure allowed him to learn more about volcanoes and understand how the land was formed in a way that was more real than reading it in a book. How else might we bring student interest into the classroom through these virtual opportunities?  

The world is changing and it seems as though virtual field trips are a way to still connect us to the greater world around us. By no means is this an extensive list of what is out there in terms of virtual field trips. Hopefully, this gives you some ideas of how they can be used in the classrooms with students. Have other ideas to share? Please feel free to add them in the comments below!

Arianna Lambert Literacy, Science, Technology

Literacy, Science & So Much More!

During Distance Learning, I saw first-hand how engaged my students were in listening to the Six Minutes podcast. From learning to write summaries to engaging discussions prompting students to justify their thinking, the podcasts offered a new and exciting way to interact with media.

This year, I have some of my former students again so I knew that we couldn’t do a repeat on Six Minutes so I picked The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel, based on the recommendation of a friend. I have to say that it has definitely been a thrilling journey! Before listening, we started off the year by examining the elements of narratives. Once we understood the elements, we started to think about how authors use creative ways to develop their stories. In listening to previous podcasts, students realized that there were often many twists and turns and that each episode often ended up being its own short story with more parts unfolding as new characters are added.  After listening to season 1, students made predictions for season 2 and also wrote their own scripts for the first episode. Along the way, we had mini-lessons on quotations, punctuation and making revisions. After starting to listen to the season, many realized that they were so far off in their predictions, which made for great conversations as students explained the reasons for their predictions. During this time, it’s been incredible to see how attentively students have been in listening so as to not miss anything in each episode. To keep track of everything going on, students have been also writing short summaries. They’ve had quite a bit of practice so far and they’re learning how to succinctly write what has happened and how to apply this to other texts. 

Not only has this been great for Literacy but as we have listened, we’ve also participated in a couple of STEM challenges. These challenges have been great for building collaboration and problem solving skills.  After listening to season 1, episode 3, students were tasked with building their own boats to try to travel over to Gale Island. With minimal materials and limited time, they had to use what they knew about structures in order to create a boat that floated; withstood giant waves; and carried a load. They had 5 minutes to take a look at their materials and come up with a plan. After 20 minutes to build, we put the boats through a rigorous test – walking each boat a few meters in a giant bucket while shaking it to simulate the waves.  While many failed, it was incredible to see students cheering each other on as the tests progressed and how students were reflecting on what they would have done differently, given the opportunity to try it again. 

After listening to season 1, episode 9, their second challenge was to build catapults. This time, students seemed better prepared for the and less disappointed when things didn’t quite work out according to plan. This time, we visited each group to see their design and they tested the success of their catapult at hitting their target – Oliver Pruitt.  As we went from group to group, it was amazing to hear how students were giving each other ideas for improvements. Some were talking about changing the angle of their spoons while others were talking about the amount of force used to launch the marshmallows. I stood back and watched as they supported each other in the learning. It was pretty amazing to watch.

What was our work for Literacy has become so much more. It led us into our first Science unit on forces acting on structures and has led to building a space where students can discuss divergent ideas, all while supporting each other through their failures. Who would have thought that listening to a podcast would be so powerful? Certainly not me and I’m looking forward to where season 3 takes us!

Kim Cousin 21st Century Learning, Advocacy for change, Advocacy for public education, Black History Month, Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Equity, Gender stereotypes, Genius Hour, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Literacy, Math, Science, Social Justice, Women at Work

Social Advocate through Children’s Story

While many are marching to show the Ford Government our thoughts about the budget cuts, I am reflecting on how we can safely ride out this storm. As a Social Advocate for equal rights and positive outcomes for our children and this world, I am with my sisters and brothers at Queens Park today in spirit and via social media. I find myself planning ways to help the education team and students get through this next tumultuous time while supporting each other and focusing on self care. #ETFOstrong

This week I was privileged to be part of an audience engaged by the “beautiful” and talented writer, Helaine Becker. http://www.helainebecker.com/abouttheauthor.html

She presented to our school community to Grades 4-8 and then to Grades K-4.  I always enjoy an inspiring hero and artist who can inform and bring all those social justice issues that I am passionate about to the forefront with the power of words and books.

I am a woman science and mathematics teacher. This book excites me. It encompasses so many issues that I am passionate about.  “Counting on Katherine” tells the story of Katherine Johnson and the societal blocks she faced through her life.  She faced racism and sexism at every turn yet never stopped believing in herself. This story brings the truth to us about how she improved the world. She is one of the many previously unknown hero’s of my time.

countingonkatherinerevised_cover

During the very “beautiful” and talented Helaine’s presentation, I found myself and the school population, captivated with her presentation. She spoke of so many subjects which excite me. These topics open opportunities and possibilities for the many I educate. Helaine spoke of how she wrote about feminism, racism and suppression. She included topics of mathematics, science, space, and the “power of the pen”. She introduced the dream of writing to many during her amazing and dynamic presentation of her children’s books.

Thank you, Helaine for introducing me to another hero. I will now share Katherine Johnson’s story with many for years to come.

Deb Weston Advocacy for change, Climate Change, Global Warming, Science, Weather

Importance of Teaching Climate Change

climate change is a hoax

Most teachers agree that teaching climate change is important … but why is climate change really important? Given humans will be facing impending global climate change, why don’t all people care about climate change?

What climate change is and what it is not.

An important thing students need to know is the difference between climate and weather. Climate is seasonal and regional and weather is daily and local. Just because we have a big snow storm does not mean that climate change is not happening. Scientists look at trends over long periods to document regional and worldwide changes in climate.

Another thing students need to know is that climate change does not cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions but earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can cause climate change. In our recent past, earthquakes and volcanoes have lowered the Earth’s temperature on a short term basis.

In 1816, Indonesia’s Mount Tambora exploded in a massive ash and gas cloud, destroying the city of Tambora and killing about 92000 people. The ash and sulphuric acid cloud was so great it blocked the sun and cooled the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere by 3 degrees. That year, the explosion resulted in summer frosts in North American and widespread crop failures as well as outbreaks of diseases and famines in Europe and Britain (Williams, 2016). In 1816, another eruption caused the Earth to cool 2 degrees due to Mount Krakatau’s volcanic eruption.

Further, we need to know that global warming is caused by the release of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. Global climate change is the result of this burning of carbon creating a warming greenhouse effect on the Earth’s atmosphere.

What’s up with the importance of climate change?

When humans face serious hazards like terrorism, flu outbreaks, global market crashes, and the result of large exploding volcanoes, we deal with their short term impacts. These impacts do not have the chance of “ravaging the natural world and collapsing civilization” (Gardner, 2018) like the permanent changes that can happen to global climates. Most people understand and accept that global warming is happening, but they are not immediately and directly impacted by the change in climates as these changes come in increments. Global climate change is not an imminent threat … yet.

As humans, we have challenges understanding the long term abstract probability of climate change. We can understand the short term probability of weather as it is felt and directly experienced – like an 80% chance of a large snowfall and very cold weather. We also can understand local warming when our weather changes over time. Climate change is the probability of weather impacting humans (Gardner, 2018).

Humans don’t get long term risks.

We know that smoking causes cancer but people still smoke (Gardener, 2018). We know that consuming alcohol causes health and social problems but we still consume it (Bishop-Stall, 2018). Humans still build houses in flood plains and are surprised when their houses are periodically flooded – as a Red Cross volunteer, people showed me the flood lines in their basements over a 100 year period but were again surprised at the level of flooding in Calgary in 2013.

It is our human psychology that keeps us distant from the abstract impending consequences. Climate change is complex and abstract and we need to trust scientists to help us understand its impact on the long term of human well being.

Humans have stopped global impacts due to human activities.

In the 1980’s, governments met to put policies in place to limit ozone depletion and acid rain by managing the release of ozone depleting and acid rain causing chemicals into our global atmosphere. This is proof that when humans work together, we can affect change.

Real Impacts of Climate Change

As a human, I have been a witness to the impact of climate change on Canadians. As a Red Cross volunteer, I have listened to the stories of people who have dealt with flooding in Burlington, Ontario, in Gooderham, Ontario, and in Calgary, Alberta. I have listened to the stories shared as a result of the life changing impact fires had on people in Fort McMurray.

At home, I have lost 6 trees due to invasive beetles. I have a 3 year old snow blower that has only been used once. As a former geologist, I know that it took millions and millions and millions of years to capture all the carbon we are now releasing into our environment over 300 years up until today – that’s got to have an impact on our global climate.

People cannot feel the threats measured in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide but we can listen to the stories of others who have been directly impacted by the result of global warming. By making and following policies to limit gases that result in global warming and climate change, we can limit the imminent change in our global climate.

Below are some excellent teacher and student resources.

Have a safe and healthy 2019.

Collaboratively Yours,

Dr. Deb Weston, PhD

Resources

Climate Kids Canada- Information, Games, Activities, Advocacy

Climate Kids NASA – Big Questions, Weather & Climate, Atmosphere, Using resources wisely, Clean energy.

National Geographic- Climate Change for Kids

Tiki the Penguin’s Guide to Climate Change

Ecoschools Today

Ecoschools Lesson Plans for Teachers

 Videos

Climate Change (according to a kid) Video (all grades)

Crash Course in Climate Change Video (Junior/Intermediate)

Climate Change | Educational Video for Kids (Primary/Junior)

References

Bishop-Stall, S. (December 30, 2018) Drink. Hungover. Repeat. Why do we keep doing this to ourselves? The Globe and Mail. Downloaded from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-drink-hungover-repeat-why-do-we-keep-doing-this-to-ourselves/

Gardner, D. (December 22, 2018). Why don’t we care about climate change. The Globe and Mail. Downloaded from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-why-dont-we-care-about-climate-change/

Williams, J. (June 10, 2016). The epic volcano eruption that led to the “Year Without a Summer”, The Washington Post, Downloaded from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/04/24/the-epic-volcano-eruption-that-led-to-the-year-without-a-summer/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1908892a962e

Kim Cousin Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Constant Learning, Curriculum Planning, Differentiated Instruction, Flexible Classroom, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Math, Science, Students as Teachers, Technology in school, Women at Work

Coding for all

hourofcode.com 

This has become an annual event across the nations.  In Canada, 200,000 technology jobs will not be filled in the year 2020. Hour of Code is a great way to teach about some of the opportunities available to students. December 3 – 7 is also known as Computer Science Education Week and Canada Learning Code Week. I will have students participate in a variety of activities relating to these coding activities.  This is a way to introduce and enrich the learning of students from all grades.

 

Hackergals Hackathon

Hackathon has also become an annual event. December 12th schools from across Canada will participate in an event which they have been learning and practicing for this past few months. Hackergals vision is to empower young girls across Canada to explore the possibilities in coding. Women are under represented in technology and this event strives to expose many girls to computer science in the classroom.

 

First Lego League(FLL)-

www.firstinspires.org is another activity that students eagerly participate in.  It does have an extra cost unlike the Hourofcode and Hackergals which are both free.  FLL is an event that instills many skills and abilities to all who participate.  It is a team building, code learning, exciting journey for all who participate.  Lego League has many different avenues for all grade levels.  December is the competition time where students will participate in a Qualifying Tournament to determine who will move to the next level of play. Involvement of the community provides much success for may teams.

 

I have enrolled teams in all three of these events.  These individuals grow in many ways and often take leadership roles in next steps.  I encourage anyone who has the support of staff and community to become actively involved in any of these activities.

Kelly.McLaughlin Advocacy for change, Challenging Topics, Eco Heroes, Field Trips, Inspiring Students, Inspiring Teachers, Making a Difference Through Education, Questioning, Resources, Science, self reflection, Social Justice

David Suzuki’s message to us all

Today the grade seven and eights at our school were invited to attend the Eco Summit at Mohawk College. It was an exciting opportunity where we got to listen to motivated students from around Hamilton speak about the change they were making in their school community and beyond. Local poets, musicians and activists spoke as well about the changes we could be making and how the earth desperately needs our help.

I knew I had to prepare my students for in their mind what could have been a boring day listening to speakers. I needed to create an interest in them before they sat down in Mohawk’s auditorium. I shared with them a BBC article I had recently read about the key things we can do to keep the earth’s temperature from rising beyond what it can handle. I shared with them how we need to cut down and eliminate certain things or places such as Portugal (as I felt this summer) will be uninhabitable very soon.

I soon saw that this trip was a bit mature for some of our younger grade sevens and even for some of our eights. They did not quite have in them the interest in climate change. Only a few of our eights were brave enough to ask the student guest speakers some questions such as: how did you get your teachers or people in general to pay attention to your causes? How can we make a change? What is the most important issue facing us at the moment? Etc.

I did however find a few key takeaways in the main keynote address of the day. We were VERY fortunate to hear from David Suzuki via video conference. I wrote some notes regarding his message to our group today. Here are the main points:

  • we need to radically reduce our use of fossil fuels
  • we should research and read more about the blue dot agenda and we can do so by going onto bluedot.ca
    • once there, you can click take action
  • we can learn more by reading about the David Suzuki foundation
  • we can email the MP in our area and ask them to sign the MP pledge for environmental rights
  • anyone 18 or older needs to vote in the upcoming federal election for the most environmentally conscious leader
  • fight for the IPCC recommendation
  • it is important that we as educators offer solutions to our children without scaring them about the future
  • shift to what is called a biocentric view rather than what our world currently has, the human centric view
    • we need to see us a part of a web of living things
  • our students are the heroes of the future

 

That last point really stuck with me. Sure they may have been zoning off during David Suzuki’s talk or not listening to the inspirational music videos, but we cannot give up hope on our heroes of the future. Even if just a few of them take a stand, we can hope that they will be the change we need to see in this world. I encourage everyone to try to do some of the points as listed above. Also, a great read is this BBC article that challenges us to start making changes as well:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45775309
Also, here is an amazing message to get a conversation started with your class about doing their part to make the world a more liveable place
https://youtu.be/B-nEYsyRlYo

Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s NOT. -Dr Seuss