Welcome to Division 2

MyPersonal Inquiry.pdf

PYPx 2020 - EXHIBITS

You are invited to view the online exhibits created by Division 2!

Parents, please note, you will only be able to view many of the products on this site if you are accessing it from a deltalearns account. This means the best way to view the amazing artifacts and slideshows that were created by students in our class is to sit down with your child and look at them together!

These inquiry projects were self-directed, but students consulted with their mentors: Mrs. Leroy, Mme. Ramsbottom, Mrs. Elkin, Ms. Charlton, and Mrs. D'Aoust. We'd like to thank these teachers for their invaluable support!

Finally, I am very proud of the students in Division 2. They have all worked under "unusual" circumstances to complete their Exhibition Inquiries. Self-directed inquiry is rewarding, but challenging even under normal circumstances when students have the full support of in-class learning and a teacher to help organize time and provide structure. Your children did this from home, and independently. Thank you for helping them to conduct these inquiries. They - and you - should be very proud!

Ryan A. Plastic Pollution in the Ocean

Ryan is a 12 year old student who lives in Tsawwassen and plays rep hockey and club basketball. Her topic was plastic pollution in the ocean and how to prevent it, She chose this topic because she loves the ocean and realized that the fish and the sea are being filled with plastics. She has changed her ways for the better and is now using more biodegradable substitutes.

Exibition

Danielle B. Covid - 19

Danielle is a student at English Bluff Elementary, she has a huge interest in almost all physical sports and activities. One of her favourite hobbies is climbing trees. She also really likes a video game called ROBLOX. Her favourite meme is

“peace was never an option” from the video game;

“Untitled Goose Game.”

Her chosen topic was on COVID-19, and her inquiry question was;

“How does COVID-19 effect on the environment?”

She chose this topic because she found it an interesting topic and no one else in her class (div 2) had chosen it. She also already knew a lot about the topic, mostly thanks to her Dad having the news about it on 24-7 on her TV at home.

As everyone probably knows COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic so Danielle’s topic is very important in the world.

As Danielle researched she learned more and more about COVID-19 though she says with everything she learned she doesn’t think anything different about COVID. She still thinks of it as a virus that has robbed her of her visit to grade six camp this year and is not very happy about it.

Mountain Pine beetle

Nathan B. What if the Mountain Pine Beetle Spreads to Delta?

Nathan is a student at English Bluff Elementary. His inquiry question is what if the Pine Beetle spreads to Delta? What effect could it have on our environment? He chose this topic because he likes the environment. He said it’s important because it's affecting the logging industry and they're losing money to it. It changed his way of thinking because more deviations are happening and we aren't noticing them before they get out of hand.

Isla B. Delta's Focus on Green Living

Isla is a student at English Bluff Elementary. Isla loves to dance and bake, during the Exhibition unit Isla has been very focused to keep to her schedule and work very hard. She is very excited to show her final product and Isla want’s everybody to take action for our community.


some things you can do
Exhibition product

Paige B. Homeless and the Environment


exhibition product by.Lucas

Lucas C. Plastic Pollution in the Ocean

Lucas is a student at English Bluff Elementary School. During the Exhibition unit, he learned a lot of new things like how much oxygen the ocean makes and how much percent of plastics never get recycled. His question was how to let sea animals eat their food, not plastic. He thought it was important because he likes the sea and having fun like going fishing and swimming in the ocean. He feels sensitive about using less plastics in daily lives and recycling them properly.

THE EFFECTS OF OVERFISHING

Joel C. The Effects of Overfishing

Hi, my name is Joel and I go to English Bluff Elementary. This year for the Exhibition Project, I chose the topic of overfishing. I chose this because fishing is one of my favorite things to do and I was interested to know why people overfish. Overfishing is a huge problem and I wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention who may not think about it. If everyone had the same view on saving our fish stocks, there wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, bad habits of the past still happen today. Education, awareness, and following rules and regulations can make a huge difference.


Kyler P. Pollution

My name is kyler and I love drums and all kinds of sports. My enquiry topic was how we can stop air pollution effecting our environments. I chose this topic because if people don't know what air pollution is then they will just keep doing it. Their are 8 to 9 million deaths a year. My topic is important because we need to stop air pollution or itl get really bad and could lead to a bad world.


Thomas D. Climate Change

Thomas Dannhauser is a student at English Bluff Elementary in grade 6. He chose to do Global Warming for his exhibition Inquiry topic. He thought this topic was important because everyone will die if ignored. He is working with Kyler who is also a student at english Bluff Elementary. Thomas likes to play sports, go biking, watch T.V., and play video games. He also really likes to bake and cook with his family members.

Exhibition

Zimo H. Sustainability

Zimo is a student at English Bluff Elementary. During exhibition time, Zimo learned about ways to protect the environment and how to be a zero waste person. Her question is “How to persuade people to protect the environment?”. She chose this topic because there is a lot of plastic in the ocean and trash on Earth is increasing. She thought that people should do something about it.


exhibition

Zeina K. Artificial Intelligence

I am Zeina and the topic of my project is AI. I've always liked technology and AI always fascinates me. Other than technology, I play piano and I am a competitive swimmer. I chose this topic because AI will affect our future for sure and will reshape humanity. Our jobs are being replaced by programs and robots in real time. These events raise the question of whether we should continue to develop AI or is it too risky? After I did my research, I realized how threatening it can actually be and how many famous people in the field of technology think it is a bad idea to continue.

Invasive Species

Aiden L. Invasive Specie - Flora


Kai K. Invasive Species - Pathogens

Kai is a student of the English Bluff 2020 grade 6 class taught by Mrs.McDonald. During the practice run of the very important exhibition unit, he learns about invasive species along with Aiden and Liam. They discovered the invasive species topic when Aiden decided that the topic fit with the theme and has been a bit of an issue for a while now. Many people think that invasive species are just one of this world's many problems and don’t look into it that much, but the truth is that invasive species are destroying many people's lives right now in the form of COVID-19. Some of their inquiry questions included “What is Pathogen/Flora/Fauna?”, How can Pathogen/Flora/Fauna be invasive?” And “Are all invasive species bad?” Now that the world is slowly returning to normal, maybe we can address this situation a bit more.


Liam R. Invasive Species - Fauna

Gray Wolves in Yellowstone Park

Wilson K. Gray Wolves in Yellowstone Park

My name is Wilson and I am 11 years old, I live in Tsawwassen with my mom, uncle, brother and my fish Charlie. I enjoy comicing, video games, and riding my scooter.

The topic I chose to research was “Yellowstone National Park and the wolves being eliminated.” This was an important topic for me to research because I learned about the history of Yellowstone park and how unfair it is for humans to put their needs first. This topic made me think about the animals and how I feel bad for them. I think we should take care of the animals more and their environments.


Ethan T. Gray Wolves in Yellowstone Park

My name is Ethan and I am 11 years old. I live in Tsawwassen with my mom, dad, brother and cats. In my spare time I like to draw flags and comics.

The topic I chose to research was “The wolves in Yellowstone National Park.” I was interested in learning about Gray Wolves and how they are the top predator in Yellowstone Park. I felt this was an important topic to learn about because I learned how humans can play a positive and negative role in an environment. My inquiry taught me that everything in an environment plays an important role.


Untitled presentation

Madison M. Ocean Pollution


Exhibition

Brianna M. Improper Disposal of Medication

Brianna is a 6th grade student at English Bluff Elementary. She enjoys spending quality time with family as well as playing rep volleyball and softball. She grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and moved to Tswwassen 4 years ago. For this year's exhibition, she chose to investigate the environmental impact of improper medication disposal because she feels this topic is not emphasized enough in society. Throughout this presentation, she hopes to educate individuals about programs available in her community. She also wants to spread awareness about the negative impacts improper medication disposal may have on families and the environment.


Exhibition

Lyla R.

Copy of Carissa's Exhibition Project

Carissa R. Ocean Pollution

My name is Carissa, and my interests are baking, swimming, biking, and art. I chose my topic, ocean pollution, because I want to let people know how hurt the ocean is right now, what we do to it, and how we can help. My topic is important because the ocean has so much garbage in it right now, and not all people know that.




Olivia V. The Rwandan Civil War and the effect it had on Virunga National Park

A Little Bit About Me:

My name is Olivia, and I am a grade 6 student at English Bluff Elementary. I love things to do with animals and sports, and I am always excited to go to school and get things done.

What is Exhibition:

Every year, the students in grade 6/7 at English Bluff Elementary do an exhibition. They start in mid-March and work on it until early June. At the end, the students show off their work to their classmates and the rest of the school. This year, students in grade 6/7 were given a sentence to help them choose their topic. It was: “Groups make decisions that impact the environment.” With this sentence fresh in my mind, I chose my topic.

Choosing a Topic:

After many days pondering over ideas and debating with myself over what to do, I finally settled on a topic that best suited me. It went along with the curriculum sentence, it was a topic I was interested in, and just overall hit me where it matters. “The Rwandan Civil War and the effect it had on Virunga National Park” was my final decision.

Why I Chose it:

My mom gave me the idea of doing this, because I had a few requirements that I wanted my topic to meet while I was choosing it. It had to be one I knew that no one else would be doing, it required lots of thinking and research, and finally, it had to be able to keep me interested the whole way through the process. Now, that criteria didn’t really narrow it down very much. There are lots of things to choose from, even with that scratching off ideas. What brought me to my final decision was this: What is something that affects me and my audience? This was one story that was heart-wrenching, captivating, and got me thinking about ways to make a change.

Summary:

The Rwandan Civil War between the Tutsi and Hutu turned into a full-fledged genocide against the Tutsi people. An estimated 50,000 Tutsi people fled to Virunga National Park in the neighboring country, Democratic Republic of the Congo; a reserve for endangered wild animals, and set up a refugee camp there. I wanted to find out some lasting effects the refugees had on Virunga National Park, how it is still affecting the park today, and what we can do to improve it.

I’ve researched and worked hard on this final project, and I can’t wait to show you what I’ve learned.

Exhibition

Yooki Y.

Yooki is a student at English Bluff Elementary. She is interested in BTS which is a k pop group that she likes and she also is interested in animals too. During the quarantined times we had to do exhibitions. So my topic is guerrilla gardening. Also my inquiry question was how guerrilla gardening affects the environment and why it is important to us. I chose this topic because it is unique and nobody knows about this topic so that I could talk about this more interesting. This topic is important because guerrilla gardening affects the environment pretty much and it affects the environment by making the air around the world cleaner. The inquiry didn’t change anything for me.

Nate Y. Urban Green Spaces

SCHOOL AT HOME RESOURCES

NEW: Indoor and Online Family Fun from Deltakids

EXHIBITION:

EB Library Learning Commons Research Databases

This link is to THE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP: Resources

Here are some more ideas:

GOOD FEELS!

SGN Ep. 2 with John Krasinski (Do you like Hamilton?)

3 Minute Motivation from Soul Pancake

SCIENCE AND STEM

NEW: Pandemic Science😷

Science Buddies ROBOTICS Activities

Science Buddies ENGINEERING Challenges

Science Buddies STEM activities

The Learning Partnership - Coding Quest

LANGUAGE ARTS

Story Studio at THE HIVE has great story-telling resources for kids

Read Theory Online Reading Comprehension Click HERE

Dr. Tam recommends THE KIDS WRITE for literacy ideas

MATH

Khan Academy is GREAT!

FRENCH

Access Madame R's Blog HERE

SCHEDULING

This Huffington Post article contains thoughts about how to schedule time during physical distancing...Click HERE

EXTRAS

Mrs. Elkin's Blog!

The Learning Partnership has ideas for kids of all ages: Resources

Farley says "do your math homework!"

Farley encourages everyone to do their math homework!

_____________________

Contact the teacher:

Ms. McDonald can be reached via email at: samcdonald@deltasd.bc.ca

To join her in her virtual office, please select a time that it is OPEN (see calendar below) and:

⇨ go into the google waffle

⇨ select hangout or meet

⇨ type in "Coolest Class"

:)





Ms. McD's April 6-9 Schedule

Check-in on our IB learning

Exhibition:

Trans-disciplinary Theme: How We Organize Ourselves

Central Idea: Groups (governments, organizations, etc.) make decisions that impact the environment.

OUR FOCUS: The PROCESS of inquiry

GOAL FOR STUDENTS: to demonstrate the IB Approaches to Learning while exploring a topic of their own design

DATE: Thursday, June 11th

Breaking it down (due dates):

  • Step One (April 24): Topic Selection - it must be something you can sustain your interest in!
  • Step Two (April 29): Finding basic facts (closed questions) for background knowledge about the topic
  • Step Three (May 1): Formulating Open Questions that guide our research and inquiry
  • Step Four (Webinar with Mrs. Elkin - April 29): Use of school Databases for research, and how to record sources and facts.
  • Step Five (ongoing): Self-assessment of your approaches to learning (Research, thinking, and self-management skills)
  • Step Six (ongoing): Connection with teacher-mentor for support in the process
  • More to come...

PYPx - Exhibition Overview!

PYPx Rubric and Weekly Focus

CURRENT UNIT OF INQUIRY:

Unit 5 - EXHIBITION!

Trans-disciplinary Theme: How We Organize Ourselves

Central Idea: Groups make decisions that impact the environment

Key Concepts: Causation, Perspective, Responsibility

Related Concepts:

  • Natural resources are developed and used in different ways
  • How governments and organizations make decisions to develop local resources (eg. ALR, Southlands development, Tsawwassen Mills Mall, Deltaport, Massey Tunnel, etc.)

PREVIOUS UNITS OF INQUIRY:

Unit 4: Mid-February - Early March

Central Idea: Cultures have formed and changed over time

Key Concepts: Perspective, Change, Form

Related Concepts: Geography, technology, art and literature

  • What physical features allowed Ancient Civilizations to form?
  • What was the role of technology in shaping Ancient Civilizations?
  • How did culture influence the art produced in Ancient Civilizations?

Lines of Inquiry:

  1. Why did civilizations form?
  2. What characteristics led to the development of Ancient Civilizations?
  3. How have we been influenced by Ancient Civilizations?

Unit 3: November - Early February

Central Idea: Living things, including humans, have adapted and evolved over time.

Key Concepts: Form, Causation, Change, Perspective

Related Concepts: Survival of the fittest, artificial selection, Darwin's Theory of Evolution, Environment, Geography, Fossil Records, Climate change, etc.

Lines of Inquiry:

  • Species have evolved through natural selection
  • Humans have evolved over time, becoming more complex
  • Humans shape, and are shaped by, their natural environment


Unit 2: Mid-Oct - November

Central Idea: Electricity can be generated in many different ways with different environmental impacts

Key Concepts: Form, Change, Responsibility

Related Concepts: Sustainability

Lines of Inquiry:

  • Exploring energy and how its transformed.
  • Different forms of electricity.
  • How we use electricity and the impact on the environment.


Unit 1: Sept - Mid-Oct

Central Idea: Media sources have a powerful impact on people’s perceptions and decisions.

Key Concepts: Form, Causation, Perspective

Lines of Inquiry:

  • Different forms of mainstream and social media
  • Evaluating information
  • Different media sources impact our perception of major events