Structures & Mechanisms
Grade 6: Structures & Mechanisms
Flight
For PDSB Educators: if you are looking to reach out to the Peel Field Centres for further ways to connect your learning to the environment visit the PDSB Field Centre Share Point site.
Nature Journaling: I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of...
Nature Journaling is an incredible tool for students to observe birds and insects in flight. Their nature journal allows them to write/draw their observations helping to cement the concepts being taught.
At this age all three prompts "I notice..., I wonder...?, and "It reminds me of..." become very intuitive. However the last statement becomes very important for connection making. Encourage students to begin writing using single words, simple sentences, lists, point form, paragraphs and even poetry. Please note that spelling is not a focus in the nature journal. At this age you may start to see art fears - please ensure you are re-iterating it is not about a pretty picture. It is about their observations. Please see the link feedback at the bottom of this lesson for tips on this. Using words, pictures and numbers allows the students multiple tools to document their observations. With permission Bethan Burton has allowed us to link to her website as she has written a blog post for Teaching nature journaling at all ages.
Here are some more ideas to get you started.
Engage the fives senses (whenever possible)
Make leaf prints ( paint the leaf and press the print into the journal)
Make leaf rubbings
Trace the items they are looking at
Add leaves into the journal using tape
Count the birds/squirrels/insects etc.
Measure as much of the phenomena as the students can using non standard and standard units of measurement.
Here is a downloadable lesson from John (Jack) Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren book: How to Teach Nature Journaling. All resources shared with permission. "I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of..."
GIVING FEEDBACK here is a fantastic resource from Jack and Emilie
NOTE: You are encourage to spend time in the outdoors Nature Journaling. However, you can also bring nature inside, look out your wonder window, have a refrigerator Safari or even observe a house plant or pet.
Build a flying Bug or Bird
Did you ever want to fly?
Go outside or look out your window and find birds or bugs that fly, watch how they do it. If you can't find any look at some videos online. Your task is to build a bird or bug that flies, follow the instructions below:
Pick a bird or bug you are interested in or use your imagination to create one
Collect items from around the house for your creation for example toilet paper tubes, cardboard from the recycle box, tape, paper clips, paper, pencils, popsicle sticks or straws. Items can also be collected from nature for example leaves, sticks and branches.
Build your bug or bird
Head outside for its maiden voyage or ask permission where you can fly it in the house
How far does it fly, what was its flight pattern like, what was its landing like?
Can you improve any aspects of the above?
Make multiple flying bugs or birds and ask a partner to fly them with you. Have a competition
Draw a picture of your bird or bug, listing what special features it has. Label it with the following if you can: lift, thrust, drag, glide, weight, propel (use Peel BYOB library or other sources to help you).
NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity at the top of the page.