Week Two has been progressing quickly. Barron read these books:
- National Geographic Kids Rosa Parks by Kitson Jazynka
- The Story of Michelle Obama A Biography For New Readers by Christine Platt Ilustrated by Katie Crumpton
- Zoom in on Incredible Inventors Alexander Graham Bell by Jennifer Strand
We discovered that Michelle provided a beautiful gift to the White House and everyone, which was a community garden created April 9, 2009. In her book the sales go to the Parks Foundation Fund. These are a glimpse of thr contents:
In our Vanderbeekers book reading we were inspired to take better care of our recyling after reading about the things the children had to do after the gardening soil mishap. We learnt about recycling and caring for the environment. The City of Missisauga has great videos for those confused and we learnt that one should not place recyling in plastic bags, just place them in your bin as the machine cannot sort bags out and your bagged recyling will be thrown away despite your good intentions. Interested? Kindly view this: https://peelregion.ca/recycleright/ Barron filled in the following free worksheet from KTPonTPT shop: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-freebie-675488 which we felt suited our learning topic quite well:
We learnt to repurpose items, use both sides of paper, and to be aware of extra packing on items purchased. Discussing famous environmentalist a passionate Canadian from my childhood memory came to mind, Mr. David Susuki. With the help of an encycopedia entry and YouTube video I was able to share David's Journey with Barron. It has been noted that, "David Takayoshi Suzuki, is a CC, OBC, geneticist, broadcaster, environmental activist (born 24 March 1936 in Vancouver, BC). A Japanese Canadian, David Suzuki was interned with his family during the Second World War. He later became one of Canada’s most popular scientists and media personalities. He is best known as the host (1979–2023) of the longest-running science show on television, CBC’s The Nature of Things, and for his work as an environmental activist. He has received ACTRA’s John Drainie Award for broadcasting excellence and the Canadian Screen Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award. A Companion of the Order of Canada, he has also received the Order of British Columbia and been inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. David Suzuki and his twin sister, Marcia, were the first of four children born to second-generation Japanese Canadians. His father, Carr Kaoru Suzuki, and mother, Setsu Nakamura, owned a dry-cleaning shop in the Marpole neighbourhood of Vancouver. Their third child, Geraldine, was born in 1938. In 1942, while Canada was at war with Japan, the federal government forced all Japanese Canadians off the West Coast, effectively declaring them enemy aliens (see Internment of Japanese Canadians; Japanese Canadian Internment: Prisoners in Their Own Country). Carr Suzuki volunteered to leave Vancouver to help build the Trans-Canada Highway, hoping to reassure authorities that he was loyal to Canada, his country of birth. The effort was in vain: the rest of the family was forced to move to an internment camp in Slocan, British Columbia, and had to give up most of their possessions. Their new home was one room in a dirty, run-down old hotel.In Slocan, the family’s fourth child, Dawn, was born. A year into their incarceration, a school opened. David began Grade 1. He was an avid student who did well in class. In David Suzuki: The Autobiography, he relates mixed memories of this time. The Slocan Valley was a “paradise” with its wilderness and wildlife, but he was bullied by other children in the camp because he could not speak Japanese. Toward the end of the war in 1945, the Suzukis were moved to another camp in Kaslo, BC. After the war, the family was forced to leave the province, resettling in Leamington, Ontario, where they were the first visible minority family in the small community. In 1950, they moved to London, Ontario. " Source: Source: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/david-suzuki#:~:text=David%20Takayoshi%20Suzuki%2C%20CC%2C%20OBC%2C%20geneticist%2C%20broadcaster%2C%20environmental,of%20Canada%E2%80%99s%20most%20popular%20scientists%20and%20media%20personalities.
Interestingly that same resource shared this, "In 1945, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King issued an order-in-council giving Japanese Canadians two options: resettle east of the Rocky Mountains or choose “repatriation” to Japan once the war ended. The Second World War restrictions prohibiting Japanese Canadians from living within 160 km of the British Columbia coast were not lifted until 1949." I have some mixed feelings about this gentleman being on our $ 50.00 bill after learning about this however we will be doing aome more learning about Prime Ministers in the future. As mentioned before there is a wonderful YouTube video created by David that empowers youth to be active in their lives and future. Learn about how everyday things work and know more. Share by asking people what they used to do for fun. Do spend time exploring parks, trees, flowers, etc. We hope you enjoy the message: https://youtu.be/e9V7znUfuQ0?si=0fvwGobjet6mWkHz. These are some screenshots:
Since David's heritage is Japanese I thought this might be a time to refresh our memory about Haiku's with this gentle explanation,"Haikus are one of the most important forms of traditional Japanese Poetry. A haiku is s a very short poem with just 3 lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables, and the last line has 5 syllables. Usually haikus are about nature, but modern day poets have also written haikus about city life. Haikus can also be about a moment that is important to you such as holidays, school, hobbies, or chores." Source: https://members.10minutesofqualitytime.com/japan-free-lesson-plan-and-worksheets/
Based on David Suzuki's nature message to youth I created this haiku:
Let's learn about stuff (5 syllables)
Share info with everyone (7 syllables)
Do begin today (5 syllables)
Barron inspired by David's love of the environment chose a winter nature theme to write a haiku poem about and brainstormed these thoughts: snow, snowmen, snowballs, christmas, santa, festivals, stars, moon, sun, snow fights. His finished product:
Snowball fight near us
Snowmen watching all the fun
Someone won and ran
Campbell Company of Canada makes delicious chicken noodle soup and they became quite creative with their can designs this year, which compliments Barron's haiku:
Barron also learnt about informal and formal letters. In his Complete Canadian Curriculum Grade 5 book he wrote an informal postcard and then decided to type an informal letter to our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to thank him for his peaceful resolution of the Hans island issue with Denmark. He resolved the island teritorry dispute with peace and not war. Should you wish to join Barron and thank our PM write him electronically, by fax, or via snail mail at: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact. I am thinking Justin would make a good replacement for the $50.00 bill in the future.
He also learnt about the three levels of government municipal, provincial, and federal. Federal has control of money, passports, and military, Provincial has control over roads and education, and Municipal has control over parks, garbage collection, libraries, street lights, etc.
To make sure he had a grasp on Alexander Graham Bell facts that he read about (and studied in Grade 4) I tested his knowledge with the following quiz: https://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/People/Alexander-Graham-Bell-24608.html. He achieved 6/10 average score 5/10.
1. What country was Alexander Graham Bell from? Scotland. Yes, the telephone was called an 'Ameche' for a time in the 40's because Don Ameche played Bell in the movie version, but the real Bell was a Scotsman.
2. What was Bell's first vocation? Teacher of the Deaf. Not only did Bell follow in his father's footsteps(the elder Bell's work in Visible Speech for the Deaf inspired Shaw's Pygmalion) but Bell's mother and wife were also deaf!
3. Whom did Bell beat in patenting his telephone? Elisha Gray. Yep, Bell beat Gray to the patent office!
4. Who was Bell's assistant? Thomas Watson. 'Mr. Watson, come here, I want you!' cried Bell when he spilt acid on his pants. The other Watson hung out with that detective...
5. What still-popular magazine and society did Bell help to found? National Geographic. It was in the 1880's that Bell was one of the founders of the society and the still-popular magazine.
6. Where did Bell settle? In Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia, of course, means New Scotland!
7. Which invention was Bell NOT involved with? The light bulb. The light bulb was {Edison's;} Bell was involved in aviation and hydrofoil design, and his photophone, while an initial flop, pointed the way to fiber optics.
8. True or false: Bell was involved in genetics. True. Bell conducted genetic experiments on sheep on his Nova Scotia home.
9. True or false: one of Bell's inventions was the forerunner of the iron lung. True. Bell's vacuum jacket for reviving drowning victims pointed to the iron lung.
10. Which geometric shape did Bell work with? Tetrahedron. Bell's work with the tetrahedron (four-sided trianglular solid) preceded Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome by decades.
Refreshing what we learnt last year we recalled that Ahoy was the first words spoken and this confirms it, "DID BELL REALLY SAY 'AHOY'?Alexander Graham Bell proposed ‘ahoy’ as a standard phone greeting before Thomas Edison popularised the use of ‘hello’, which has stuck up to today. SHOULD OTHER INVENTORS GET EQUAL CREDIT? As well as Bell, Italian inventor Antonio Meucci has a claim to the invention of the telephone, having managed to demonstrate electromagnetic transmission of his voice in 1856. Meucci did file a caveat patent for his invention, but didn’t renew it on expiry in 1874, perhaps because of a lack of financial resources. Still, in Italy, Meucci is credited as the official inventor of the telephone. Elisha Gray, who filed his caveat patent on the same day as Bell, also laid claim to the invention of the telephone, but Bell was legally awarded the patent in 1878." Source: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/ahoy-alexander-graham-bell-and-first-telephone-call
We made a few versions of a phone:
Barron did a seed journal update with our two calendula seeds being damaged so we replanted them. We discovered that plants enjoy music so we played some european folk music.
I began reading The Vanderbeekers Lost and found by Karen Yan Glacer and finished it.
In our basement apartment we have discovered some neat spiders that enjoy vising barron's computer area. Barron is holding onto one that spun a web:
We made some kites to honour Ben Franklin's experiment with a key, lightening, and a kite:
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