Pioneers, trains, wars, masks, e-books and more!

We love our H.L.G.C. Home Learners Girls Congregation!

One day we made up a "pioneer girls" game. We grew our own food, carried our own water and made our own "campfire".

We made our own face and hair masks out of natural ingredients!

We visited the World War I battle exhibit at the Port Moody Museum and learned about our our great-grandfather fought in the war and was saved by a bible (or a prayer book) in his pocket!

We visited the railway museum and learned about the first trains that came to Vancouver.

We kept cooking and planing healthy meals for our family.

We made chicks and narwhals out of marzipan for Shakespeare's birthday.

Eleanor has been learning about air, water and soil, learning to plant her own plants and start her own garden.

Eleanor has been learning about toxins in detergents, and how they affect the water systems in our province. We compared laundry soaps and chose one that wasn't poison!

We did some math to learn about comparison shopping, and how to compare prices based on weights and measures (cost per 100g).

And of course, Eleanor wrote an e-book called "Tips On How To Bend A Bully." She learned how to use the e-book software, cut and paste and publish her own entries.

And.... here's some photos for the end of the year slide show!

P.E., Fine Arts, (and lots of other related awesomeness) Term 3

If our activities in Term 3 had a theme this year, it would be: variety! We both have been swimming, doing inline skating classes (sorry no pictures)

hiking and beach combing

we also practised our engineering skills by building beach forts

...got to try kayaking for the first time!

Sophia is already signed up for another kayaking course this summer!

hone those Grade 5 science skills about "force" with some extreme high wind kite flying (ask Sophia to tell you about lift and gravity:)

monkey around, run, climb and play,

Skateboard,

this term we all got new bikes, and have been able to go riding together! Sophia and her Dad even did a tandem bike ride around Stanley Park!

Eleanor and Ittle went bowling, and we've signed up for the Kids Bowl Free program this summer!

Eleanor rocks some fine arts skills with paper jewellery for Ittle.

She's also done fabric painting and collage, designing and sewing a skirt, and drawing this term, Sophia has done with water colours, model building, sketching and drawing.

Sophia and Eleanor both spent a day at the art gallery with their godmother, who is an artist, studying works and sketching. Sophia has been particularly interested in studying the work of M.C. Escher this term.

Sophia and Eleanor both went to camp this term, and spent time hiking and studying nature, learning about mapping and orienteering, outdoor cooking and fire safety, and new songs and games,

These are the worksheets from Eleanor's "which way" badge, learning about reading maps, compass and directions.

Eleanor has over 20 badges now!

Sophia has obtained her "B active" card from the City Of Burnaby. It gives her free swimming and skating and access to many other free activities for her grade 5 year. She very much wanted to go swimming alone, so we planned her route and did the research on which bus stops she needed to take, and what she would do in an emergency.

She not only had a great time swimming, but navigated her way home beautifully, asking for help from staff at the pool and from local business people when she needed help to call home or figure out what to do. Way to go, Sophia!

Girl Guide Badge: Farming by Sophia

Farming:

Help in some form of land work such as harvesting, potato picking, fruit, etc.

When I was at my farm field trip I helped to pick lemon cucumbers.

Identify two breeds of cattle, pigs or sheep in your area.

If you google horses for sale in this area, some of them are Iberian warmbloods, Peruvian Palamino, and Andalusian.

Identify 2 kinds of crops grown in your area.

2 crops in this area are pumpkins, lemon cucumbers and asst'd peppers.

Describe how farm products in your area are marketed.

I visited our local produce market and interviewed a man there.



He said there are 4 main ways of marketing farm products:
1) Roadside stands & farmers' markets
2) Community bulletins
3) Calling markets directly and asking if they can sell your product
4) Putting up ads online



Describe three types of farming in Canada.

Grain and seed farming, with crops like oats, barley, alfalfa and wheat.
Fruit farming, with crops like apples, pears, cherries, plums and apricots
Other things that are harvested in Canada are hazelnuts, maple sap for syrup, maple butter and maple sugar

Create a song or story (or poem) of life on a farm.

Farm Haiku

We wake up at dawn
We work at the ground 'til noon
Sprouts will appear soon

Brownie Badge; All About Canada by Eleanor

I did it my All About Canada badge. I painted a picture on a T-shirt of maple leaf flag. The Maple leaf is a symbol of Canada because the maple tree grows in Canada.

Here is a set of Canadian coins. The Twoney has a polar bear on it. The Loony has a loon on it because it swims in the lakes of British Columbia. On the back of a quarter there is a caribou. It has a caribou on it because the Caribou roams in Canada. The dime has the famous Bluenose on it. The Bluenose is a famous fishing ship which came from Nova Scotia. The nickel has a beaver on it because it is a symbol of Canada. In the fur trade people used to trap beavers and use them as hats and blankets.

I made a collage of the provincial flower, mineral, bird, flag, and tree of British Columbia. The the flower of BC is the Pacific Dogwood. The mineral of BC is Jade. The tree of BC is Western Red Cedar. The bird of BC is the Steller's Jay.

A bear would also make good Canadian symbol because it roams in Canada and is a part of our country. A killer whale would also make a good symbol. Because it also roams in the seas of Canada and there are not many of them left.

What it means to be Canadian is it doesn't just mean that you are Canadian if you were born in Canada. If you were born somewhere else in the world you can become a Canadian citizen citizen by going to a special ceremony. Canadians can be all different kinds of people. They can be white people, black people, and brown people. What makes us different from other people in the world that we are all different and definitely special. 

Some of the rights as a Canadian is we have a choice to vote and the government has to be fair to us and honest. As a little girl I have the right of people being fair to me and me being fair to other people and nobody's allowed to just throw me into jail. And also I'm not allowed to just throw someone in jail and blame them them for something that they didn't do.  I have some responsibilities. 

Responsibilities that I have is I'm not allowed to shoot anyone or any animal or cut down every single tree in the world.  I'm not allowed to shoot every animal in the world because they also help us by making food for other things and they lay eggs and help other things grow. 

The One and Only Silverback Gorilla and Other Animals by Eleanor

This term I did a novel study about a Silverback Gorilla, (SBG) called "The One And Only Ivan". it was about gorillas and other animals. The problem is the humans are so bad in this book!

This is a book which is made up of some true facts, all mushed together in a very good book, that is funny, good, helpful, meaningful, and lots of other things.

This video is what the real things are based on - a gorilla that really lived in a shopping mall for 27 years. This video was made in 1992 and after people saw this video they got so much notice about this video that he got moved to the Atlanta Zoo, and it was a good safe place for him to live and be, and be present there.

Here is what he looked like at the zoo:

They made this video they day he died, he was 50 years old.

I learned some facts about SBGs. SBGs are mostly herbivores, and eat mangoes, bamboo, plants and bugs

They live in the mountains of Africa, where it is hot, jungly and damp. They live in a special protected place because they are in danger because people are shooting them for their walls and decorations and their forest is getting destroyed and using trees for fuel and farming and houses - HUMANS! Why do you have to do so many cruel things?

Male gorillas get silvery grey hairs on their backs at about age 11-13 and its silver and on the back.

Gorilla troops are made of males babies and females, there is one main dude who is the protector of the troop and if an enemy comes he stands on his hind legs and beats his chest - "IIIIIIEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!" and scares the enemy away. The  other males in the troop are younger and when they get older they leave to find their own troop. Females leave their troop when they are 8.

They make nests in trees out of bent sticks and tied together leaves, if they are very heavy they stay on the ground and make a nest on the ground. The mamas and babies sleep cuddled together, and the babies travel on their mamas backs, like a piggy back ride, but they are not piggies.

Other Animal Growth and Changes
I also studied some animal growth and changes this term, and my favourite fact I learned was about ducks. In a duck's egg, the chicks of the ducks, the ducklings, have a little tiny pecking tooth, which they use when it's time for them to crack open from their shell. They peck, and peck and peck 'til they can squiggle out. And then the tooth falls off.

I visited Maplewood farm to see the animals, and I saw peacocks, chickens, bunnies, mountain goats, rams, sheep and mosquitoes.

I also participated in the GREAT CANADIAN SHORELINE CLEAN-UP with my Brownie troop, and we saw some goslings and geese. And I saw some goslings and geese at Granville Island too!

I learned how to use the Dewey decimal system at the library while searching for animal facts and I found out the Dewey decimal system connects to fairies, in a certain way I will not tell you unless you come to my house, because this can not be randomly posted on the internet. The end.

Girl Guide Badge: Reading by Sophia

Reading

Here are the types of books I was asked to read:

1. a book by a Canadian author or about a Canadian woman.
2. a book of poetry.
3. a work of fiction, fantasy, or fairy tale.
4. a book that is a part of a series.
5. a book in the categories of: travel, adventure, science fiction, biography, natural science or history.
6. a book of my choice by a different author than I used in 1-5
7. obtain & use a library card

So here they are:

1. Dear Canada-A Ribbon of Shining Steel  by Julie Lawson                                                                                          

2. Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

3. Fairest of All by Sarah Mylnowski

4. A Whole Nother Story by Doctor Cuthbert Soup

5. Another Whole Nother Story by Doctor Cuthbert Soup

6. Minion by John David Anderson

7. Basically all of these books came from the library. P.S. I go to the library about three times a month.

READING IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!