World Bee Day was on May 20th. We’ve been learning about bees in class and how important they are to our planet!

Turkey Jay is a beekeeper part-time and let us touch and explore the various bee equipment he uses for his many hives.

We looked at a bee smoker, bee wax, a bee suit, bee tool, honeycomb, propolis, a frame from a bee box, and so on.

There is so much to know about these incredible creatures. 

What are some questions you might still have?

Do you want to test your knowledge? Let’s play KAHOOT!

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We were excited to invite Mr. Tyler Waddilove in our classroom. He is from the Munsee-Delaware Nation. He came to teach us about many different ways his Indigenous culture uses nature as medicine or in ceremonies. 

He made our learning very hands-on by bringing in different medicines to show us. He started by showing us a container of Minigan which is bear fat. It is mixed with pine resin and is a healing salve used to treat cuts, scrapes, wounds.

He introduced us to 4 major medicines used during ceremonies.

• Sage (used in smudging)
• Tobacco (used as an offering and held only in the left hand because it’s closer to our heart)
• Sweet grass (often seen braided as it is believed that earth is female)
• Cedar–the most powerful medicine. It is used for making tea, for bathing in.

Tyler showed us male and female eagle feathers that are used in the smudging ceremony. He also showed us the large shell that is used to burn the sage. He demonstrated what smudging looks like by using the feathers to move the smoke around the body. We didn’t want to set off any fire alarms, so he just simulated the smudging.

Tyler explained the creation story and why North America is called “Turtle Island” and how his culture believes that everything is connected. We are one with nature. 

Thank you, Tyler, for taking the time to visit us!

Last week, we went on a trip out to Fanshawe Conservation area to kick-start our upcoming Plants and Soils science unit. The weather cooperated nicely and we learned a lot of information through fun activities.

We rotated through 3 stations during our visit. 

First, we played some interactive games about how plants absorb water and nutrients through their root systems into the stems and then into the leaves. The larger the plant, the longer it will take and the more water and nutrients it will need.

Next, we learned about how to use a flow chart to figure out what type of coniferous tree we were looking at. We needed to inspect the tree carefully. Were the needles individual or in bunches? Were there pinecones, and if so, how long were they? 

Finally, we went into the forest and played a game which taught us about the enemies of the forest such as fire, disease, drought, insects, human impact, and so on. We learned how quickly these things can spread and how they can impact different ages and types of trees. 

What was your favourite activity and why?