Matter & Energy
Grade 8: Matter & Energy
Fluids
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 investigate the impacts short and long term impacts of fluid spill on the environment. 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 statement "I wonder..." becomes very important at this age all the way up to 18 years as students deepen their understanding of the world around them. 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.
Sweet Water to Sweet Syrup
An important part of this land is the trees. We, in Southern Ontario, are extremely fortunate to live next to our special Sugar Maple trees. Long before Europeans arrived on this land Indigenous people received the gift of sweet water from the maple trees. This provided them a much needed first harvest of the year. Sweet water, commonly known as sap, contains minerals, oligosaccharides, amino acids, organic acids, and phenolic compounds.
There are many ways sweet water is harvested and used. At the PDSB Field Centres we use taplines to collect sap from Sugar Maple trees and then bring the sap to the sugar shack to be processed. Research how sweet water (sap) is processed and answer the following questions:
When is it the best time for maple sweet water to be harvested in Ontario? Time of year and time of day, why?
How does sweet water become maple syrup? How does the viscosity of maple syrup play an important role in this process? At what point does sweet water become maple syrup (grade A)?
Why are there different colour classifications of maple syrup?
Now get outside and thank the trees for all they provide. Remember they are alive even in the winter time, but need to slow down and conserve energy during the cold months. Sound familiar?
NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity at the top of the page.