Hello Division 9 Parents! I have really enjoyed working with your kids in the past two weeks. I am still hoping to get out into the community on most Thursday afternoons, but we need parent volunteers to make this happen. December is a busy month with the winter concert on December 4th and a school wide assembly on December 18th, but if you are free in the afternoon on December 11th or Thursdays (see list below) from January 8 until March 5 and would like to join us for the afternoon please let me know ([email protected]). We already have a seabird expert joining us in January and a marine invertebrate biologist lined up in February!
Topics studied so far in class include a Sustainable Seafood Search and What Makes a Fish a Fish. During our Seafood Search we looked at where our seafood comes from, whether it is wild or farmed, whether it’s from a sustainable fishery, what its natural habitat is and where it fits into the food chain. This past week we took a closer look at how to “read” a fish and discovered that the size and shape of the tail provides clues as to how much and how fast a fish swims, how the body shape provides clues as to what habitat a fish is from, how the mouth size and shape provides clues as to what it eats, and finally how the colouring of a fish provides clues as to how it protects itself from predators. We then put fish to paper (Yes! Real fish!) and tried out the art of gyotaku (Japanese fish printing). Next week we will mount our fish prints and look at the role each fin type plays in keeping fish moving through the water. The students will then expand on their knowledge of how to read a fish and they will apply their learning to determine how their particular fish is adapted to its natural environment.
Looking forward to teaching your children in the upcoming months,
Kathryn