This week was my last full week here for my internship! The main excitement this week was focused around social as we played an interactive fur trading game and we went on our field trip to the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. I also had my 'exit interview' and got to present my PD project to the rest of my PS3 seminar members. Here is the link for my Math Application PD Project. All has been going well here, but I know that this will be a tough week of good-byes. At the same time, I also look forward to what the next few months have in store!
Science
In science we wrapped up our refraction centers, then I had the grade 5s blog about something we have learned so far in science (while I was gone for the day with the grade 4s). Although many of them didn't go as in-depth as I would've liked, lots of them still reflected on some of our cool experiments and were able to recall many of the things that we had learned.
Next in science we moved on to learning about translucent, transparent, and opaque objects. After reading about the different kinds of materials, we discussed how the particles move through an object and what the different materials might look like. I had made a manila-tag worksheet that had the titles for transparent, translucent, and opaque dividing the pages into thirds. On this sheet, there was a spot to define each type of material, to draw an arrow picture of how the light responds, and then a cut-out area to cut a square, and insert either a transparency, a piece of wax paper, or a piece of black construction paper. I think that this piece of paper really helps to sum up each of the 3 types of materials. Once the kids had the "cheat sheet" all filled in, they were able to hold their paper up to the light to see how the light on the roof either looked clear, fuzzy, or you couldn't see any light passing through at all.
Next the kids had to complete an individual "scavenger hunt" to try and find the most UNIQUE yet accurate examples of the 3 types of materials. Then, as table groups, each group had to vote on their ONE most creative example for each transparency to share with the class. Below are some pictures of their brainstormed examples!
Finally, it was time to wrap up our science unit thus far so with a test so that I could pass the reigns back to my Teacher Mentor the next week. For a class review I created a Jeopardy review game which was a lot of fun!
Social
I created a "fur trader game" that the kids played to help solidify the different intertwining roles of voyageurs, fur traders (and companies), and the First Nations. One station required the "voyageurs" to use their small canoes to relay goods between Europe and the fur trading company (either NWC or HBC depending on what team they were playing for). The voyageurs would bring goods such as pots, fabric, guns, etc. to their fur trading company in return of furs to take back to Europe.
In the meantime, First Nations used their bow and arrows to "hunt" for animals (assorted into brown paper bags and they could only have one bag per trip to the fort). In each bag was a few beaver furs, as well as some other animal furs. After securing some furs, the Natives had to select a "tribal request slip" to see WHAT their tribe needed from the fur trading fort. Then the Natives would take their furs and their requests to whichever fort they chose.
Once at a fort, the Natives and the Fort workers would barter for a price by using the standard chart as a guide. Natives were trying to complete the most tribal requests, while trading companies were trying to get more furs than the rivalry company. The workers in the fur trading forts had to take the furs as 'currency' and determine how many goods could be bought by comparing beaver pelts to other animal pelts, and by doing some math.
We took a very educational and enjoyable trip to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Fort MacLeod! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, and it was awesome to see the kids applying their previous knowledge to answer questions! I especially loved that the kids got to handle artifacts during the "Living Off the Land" segment because that REALLY helped kids to understand the materials, craft, and labor required for these tools. Also, seeing the artifacts definitely helped them with their diorama accuracy later on in the week!
In social we also started our diorama projects! The point of these dioramas was to show how the native lifestyle differed from the fur trader lifestyle and to show how the two different groups interacted together (by showing some trading of goods or knowledge throughout the diorama). Pictures will be added next week!
Drawing Club
We have been so busy learning how to draw all kinds of neat new things, here are a few pictures to showcase our amazing talents!