Final 2018 Project

Part I

Develop an experiment that uses the scientific method.  You will need to demonstrate how you met each of the steps including

• Inclusion of field notes (longitudinal field notes and diagrams)
• Documentation of your questions and final hypothesis using an “if…then” formulation
• Description of your testing methodology including variables and control
• Conclusions from your testing
• An evaluation of your testing method and suggestions for future improvement

Part II

Create a Family Tree (Family Pedigree) that traces a genetic trait back through at least two generations of your family.  Only include information you are certain of – don’t guess!

Part III

Choose one of the following 2 options:

1. Draw and label an animal cell. Include the scientific name of each organelle and a brief description in your own words of that structure’s role.
2. Write a short story using metaphor that describes an animal cell, the organelles and their role in the cell

Part IV

Build a 3-D representation of DNA using found objects.  Ensure that you not only show the backbone and the bonds, and differentiate the bases by using different colours

Part V

Choose and research a technology that has been created to work with our knowledge of genetics.  In a 1-2 page essay,

1. Describe the invention its impact on the world
2. Evaluate the ethics of that technology in the following three ways

• Do you think that the benefits outweigh the costs? (Is it worth it?)
• What rules ought to be in place surrounding this technology? Explain your thinking.
• Does your technology have an impact on the planet or biodiversity

3. Any other information you think is relevant

Date Due: Tuesday, June 19

June 4, 2018

Today we had an egg drop. This whole school day we worked on it. We had to make our EPD (egg protection device) out of recycled materials, and it also had to deploy a parachute.

Some of them survived but some cracked us up because they didn’t see the sunny side.

We started by drawing and planning our EPD, then we decided how to build it. After we gathered our materials and built out devices.

After that, we dropped them to the ground from the rooftop garden to the ground. 23 eggs survived and 11 cracked in the fall.

We learned that:

Parachutes are actually easy to make when you build them properly out of strong material.

If you have good enough materials you can probably drop them from quite a distance

You have to make sure your egg stays inside the device

A parachute makes a difference

What worked was a lot of plastic containers and cushioning the egg with paper

Ones without a parachute didn’t survive

The best way to make sure it survives was a big parachute, making sure the egg was protected and make sure it’s still light.

By Div 17

This includes the artwork from Divisions 17 and 18! Artwork was installed today, please stop in and have a look!

Updated: here is a link to pictures from the art show!

https://www.bandidastaqueria.com/news/2018/4/19/earth-day-student-art-show

Our teacher created a scenario about secondary and elementary schools banning cell phones from schools.  Here are some of the pros.  Most kids in elementary school are under the agreed hand held device age.  Teachers will still have phones but they are more responsible.  Teachers won’t have to tell their students to get off their phones.

Here are some of the cons.  There could be an important change of plans and parents don’t know the school’s number.  Students could research a lot faster if they had their phones.

by The phantome blade and black circle

 

Recently, Divisions 17 and 18 read a newspaper article and wrote reflections on what cell phones are doing to people around the world.  We would like everyone, whether they have read the article or not, to read about what we think cellphones are doing to us and what we may be able to do about it.  Hopefully this will help people to realize the cons of technology today in hopes that we will be able to fix this problem.

These are some of the pros and cons of cellphones that we found:

Without cellphones, kids can focus on school without the distraction of their alluring notification beep and the guiltiness of not answering phone calls, emails, texts or game news.

If we discontinued cell phones as a whole, we believe there would be huge protests, fights and arguments from every cell phone user that would have just had 7 years of their life taken away from them.  And yes, the average cell phone user will have spent 7 years of their life on their phone!  Now imagine how much of a hard core phone user’s life would be spent on a cell phone!

Also, many people have learned the hard way what happens when you look at your phone screen for too long.  It affects your eyes, your brain, your social life AND your IQ!

by Catzrule and Spirit Heart

This year in gym we did a lot of games, old and new ones like sideline basketball or a new one, delivery ball.  some of them are kids choice and some of them are not kids favourites but things that crack people (make them happy) is usually tournaments.

Gym can also happen out of school too, like the times when we went to bowling, it was part of P.E.

Some people have different perspectives like one person might like it and other people don’t, but I think gym is very helpful for keeping kids active!

by I’m _Pickle_Rick!

Our classes of Division 17 and 18 are reading a book together called Paper Things.  It’s an emotional read, full of eventful experiences where you will feel Ari’s emotions and feelings with the main character and many of us have already gotten hooked so that we’re all looking forward to “read aloud”.

ABOUT THE BOOK

If Ari’s life wasn’t hard enough after her parents died, it definitely was when she and her brother Gage became “floor surfers”, which is how Gage’s friend politely calls what is basically homelessness.  As she becomes more and more thankful for things she used to take for granted, Ari realizes how much harder these problems are, once she’s actually experiencing them.

by Arty-choke

Hi, I’m from Charles Dickens and I am talking about my class daily read aloud.  We usually do read aloud after Math and before we go to Lunch.  our current read aloud book is called Paper Things, written by Jennifer Richard Jacobson.

The book is based on a twelve year old girl named Arianna and her brother Gage.  Arianna’s dad died in Afghanistan and her mother died of sickness so she and her brother Gage were taken care of by Janna but when Gage turns 19 he leaves Jenna and takes Arianna with him.

by mistacheeseman

 

We’ve learned many things this term. Among them is Media Literacy.  This means being able to read media effectively and critically.  Here are some of the activities we’ve done so far.

Jody and Tami put out all kinds of newspapers and magazines and we explored them and reported what we had noticed. We noticed things like colours, pictures, ads, articles, opinions, captions, life hacks, reviews and much more.  Then we looked for themes and different forms.  We coded our observations into categories.  We decided upon: money matters, food and dining, shortcuts, apparel, family, reviews, technology, print, events, real world problems, home, transportation, entertainment, job opportunities and health.

We looked for articles and ads.  We each chose one ad or article and thought about who wrote it, who it was written for (author and audience).  We shared those and thought about who was affected by them.

We did a brainstorm about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  We looked at Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.  When we discussed that, we saw that the Charter could cover more things but that it did a good job protecting most things.

Freedom of Speech includes speaking, thinking, agreeing, disagreeing, opinions, clothing, beliefs, art, language, feelings, but not hate speech or violence.

Freedom of the Press and other media of communication includes the right for people to share information that they discovered including newspapers, TV, online, internet news, social media, radio and community meetings.

Last week we did a drawing about Freedom of Speech that would tell the viewer what we meant without any writing, only a few words.  This was about the importance of Free Speech in a Democracy.

A democracy is typically where there is a leader but the leader can’t decide everything.  If the leader says something the people have to agree on it. They show that they agree or don’t agree by voting.  We elect people to make speeches and to debate.  In a democracy you also have the right to protest.

Some of the ways we thought Freedom of Speech was important in a democracy were: opposition to government decisions, our court system, protesting in front of City Hall, public debates or discussions, using your own language even if it’s not English or French.

 

We discussed and wrote a reflection on the impact of smart phone use on brains.

We made a T-chart about pros and cons of banning smart phones from school. We used the pros and cons sheet to write persuasively. Writing persuasively means trying to convince your audience of your point of view.  Writing persuasively might include giving reasons for your opinions, using strong words, using good facts, knowing who your audience is and starting with a hook.

Overall, this has been one of the best subjects that we’ve worked on because it’s interesting and we’ve worked a lot on it this term.

by snapshot10101, Day Dreamer, Flying Pinguin, chiefblobfish,  Pug_Life, Lizard Man, Awesomeness, hockey101, yourbrozeke, sleepingsquirrel64, Snort.