Category Archives: Science

This category is organizing content that may be traditionally used in Social Studies classes.

Impact of personal energy consumption

Learning Outcome

Students relate electrical energy to power consumption.

CONNECT

Goal: Students will examine the impact of their personal energy consumption on the environment.

Task: Create an action plan for personal power usage and reflect on the impact on global populations.

Activate Prior Knowledge:

A) Brainstorm – With a partner, students generate as many items as they can that use power in their homes. What happens when the power goes out? How are people’s lives affected?

Key vocabulary to discuss: arteries, energy, dams, turbine, generator, transmission line, transformer, reservoir, hydroelectricity. (Definitions)

B) Key word review – write vocab words on the board. Partners discuss vocabulary and categorize words into three areas: Words they know/Words they have heard/Unknown words.

C) Discussion – Ask students to predict where energy comes from. What questions do the students have about power generation and energy consumption?

PROCESS

Please view the following two websites to see how hydroelectric electricity is generated.

1) How Hydropower Plants Work

2) Hydroelectric power: How it works

Video: Students watch the following video on how the demands for hydroelectric power impact local environments.

Videos

(Video Length: 1 min)

Students predict items in their homes that use electricity between the hours of 5pm and 10pm. Students record their items on the Power Observation Sheet. When the students take the activity for homework, they will identify the actual items that consume power during a chosen one hour period. Specific instructions for the homework activity are included on the Power Observation Sheet.

Students at home or at school, use the BC Hydro Power Smart Calculator to calculate the cost of power consumption for each item.

TRANSFORM

Create an action plan for personal power usage and reflect on the impact on global populations. This final project can take various forms like a daily journal, multimedia presentation/slide show, letters to local government authorities, written essay, etc.

REFLECT

Survey students to ask if they would choose to use power differently based on their new understanding. One survey method could be for students to write their responses on a piece of paper and submit them anonymously to the teacher.

Extend learning or next lesson

Visit the BC Hydro Website Education Page to explore further lessons on energy and power consumption.

Species distribution in aquatic environments

Teacher Note: Depending on the length of class time available, this lesson may take 2-3 sessions to complete.

Learning Outcome
Students will describe factors that affect productivity and species distribution in aquatic environments.

Steps to the Lesson

Discuss key vocabulary.
Watch a video on how human activity and government policy has impacted a river system in British Columbia.
Complete a Graphic Organizer while viewing the video.
Conduct an investigation on how to save endangered rivers in British Columbia.
Reflect on the process.

CONNECT

Goals:

Students will analyze how federal policies and human activity have affected aquatic systems in British Columbia.
Students will identify and analyze alternatives to issues affecting endangered rivers in British Columbia.

Task:
Students will conduct an investigation on endangered rivers in British Columbia and write proposals for alternative solutions on how to save the respective rivers.

Activate Prior Knowledge:
Students complete a mind map activity entitled ‘The Many Ways People Use Water’ found in the McGraw-Hill Ryerson textbook BC Science 8 (page 359). While completing the activity, students should focus specifically on what human activities impact river and lake systems.

Predict and Question:
In Canada, there is a plentiful supply of water and we rarely pay attention to how much water we use in our daily lives or how our actions impact local aquatic areas like rivers and lakes.

What are the students wondering about how human activity has impacted their local rivers, lakes and oceans?

PROCESS

Video Guidelines:

Before viewing the video, students need to understand the meaning of the following terms.

Key vocabulary to discuss: anadromous, confluence, extinction, fathom, mitigate, resident (Definitions)

Students watch the following video and track their thinking using the Graphic Organizer. Students should try to identify some key effects and implications of federal policy on the Sinixt Nation.

Reminder: It is important to stop throughout the story and give students (A/B partners) opportunity to talk or respond to the story.

Videos

Video Length (4 mins)

Having viewed the video above, students need to share their ideas from the video Graphic Organizer (A/B partner recommended). Teachers ask student pairs to share their main ideas and generate a list of ideas and evidence on the board or overhead. Teachers lead class discussion on the significance of the ideas generated (and those not generated) and how federal policies have impacted the environment and Aboriginal people on the Columbia River system.

TRANSFORM

Now that students have learned how federal policies and human activity have impacted a regional river system (Columbia River), students will now conduct an investigation on how to save other endangered rivers in British Columbia. Working in A-B partners or groups of four, students conduct an investigation activity found in the McGraw-Hill Ryerson textbook BC Science 8 (pages 444-445). Using the chart provided on page 445 in the textbook, students will choose a local river (or river of their choice) to research and write a proposal to save an endangered river. Student groups report out their proposals to the class in the form of an oral presentation, using either poster boards, written reports, or Powerpoint presentations.

REFLECT

Upon completion of the investigation activity, students complete a Reflection Sheet to reflect on what they liked/disliked about the investigation process and how their thinking towards how Canadian Federal Government policy impacts the environment and Aboriginal people has changed.

Extend learning or next lesson

One of the key ideas from the video is the impact that Canadian federal government policies have had on an Aboriginal population in British Columbia (Sinixt nation). There are many other examples of how government policies have affected the environment and populations in Canada. Some of these include:

Governments adopting (or not adopting) Kyoto Protocol emission targets.
The Canadian federal government imposing a moratorium on seabed oil and gas exploration off the coast of British Columbia.
The Canadian federal government policies regarding pollution standards in the Alberta northern Oil Tar Sands.
The Kashechewan Reserve water crisis in Northern Ontario.

Students can complete a research report on these and other issues affecting the environment and Aboriginal populations in Canada.

Analyzing Food Nutrients and Comparing Food Guides

Teacher Note: Depending on the length of class time available, this lesson may take 2-3 sessions to complete.

Learning Outcome:

Explain the relationship between cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems

CONNECT

Goals:
To understand:
a) how nutrients are essential to the body
b) how cooking processes transform the nutritional value of the food we eat.

Task: Students will select a natural food item, compare it with a cooked/processed version of the same item, and demonstrate the nutritional impact on the body.

Key vocabulary to discuss: nutrients, protein, fats, saturated fats, unsaturated fats, trans fats

omega-3 fatty acids, cholesterol, minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates.(Definitions)

Activate Prior Knowledge: Ask the students as a class whether they think they eat properly. Have students write down yes or no on a scrap piece of paper and have them put their answers into a bin so you can record the results on the board in an anonymous way.

Review with the class the categories and contents of the Canada Food Guide. In partners, discuss the food guide. Ask what two areas the students feel they are most likely to eat the recommended amounts. Have students share the information with the class and graph the results on the board using a food grid.

Question: What are the five different types of nutrients one can obtain from food? Students discuss their ideas with a partner and report back to the class.

PROCESS

Using the McGraw-Hill Ryerson textbook BC Science 8 (pages 64-69) or other classroom/internet resources, small groups investigate the five different types of nutrients obtained by food. Small groups should be 3-4 students. Some groups will have the same topic. Topics include: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins. Students must identify the function of the nutrient as well as examples from the food guide. Use the nutrient wheel to track their thinking. Students must share information with the class allowing others to complete their nutrient wheels.

In their same small groups, distribute copies of the Coastal B.C. Native Food Guide or food guides that reflect other cultures. Students discuss what foods are not included in the Canada Food Guide and add examples to their nutrient wheel.

Video: Students view the movie.

Guiding Questions: Do students think the nutrients will change when the fish is smoked from when it is raw? Why is smoking fish important/necessary?

Reminder: It is important to stop throughout the video and give students (A/B partners) opportunity to talk or respond to the video.

Videos

(Video Length: 6 mins)

The smoked fish in the video is Chum, but Chinook is close enough for comparison. Print out a nutrition guide for raw Chinook and smoked Chinook to compare. Students in partners or their previous small groups compare the information and discuss key differences.

Raw Chinook Salmon Nutrition Data

Smoked Chinook Salmon Nutrition Data

TRANSFORM

Students, in partners, will select a natural food item, compare it with a cooked/processed version of the same item, and demonstrate the nutritional impact on the body. An example may be a potato and McDonald’s french fries. Students can use the Nutrition Data Website to select and research their food information. Criteria should be developed with the class to determine the depth and completeness of the components required. How students present their learning can be up to the teacher or students. Examples for demonstration include: posters, debate – one partner argues for the potato and one argues for the french fries, t-chart, video, radio/TV commercial, written report, etc.

REFLECT

Students can reflect on their own eating habits and set personal goals for healthier eating choices.

Extend learning or next lesson

Students can make their own personalized food guide. Students could also find other foods they commonly eat on the Nutrition Data Website and analyze what these foods give them for nutrients, or create their own food list for a 24 hour period and analyze whether they got enough or too much of the different nutrients.

The Impact of Highways and Vehicle Traffic

Teacher Note: Depending on the length of class time available, this lesson may take 2-3 sessions to complete.

Learning Outcome

Students evaluate the human impacts on local ecosystems.

CONNECT

Goal: Students will discuss and evaluate the effects that highway construction and vehicle traffic have on local animal populations.

Activate Prior Knowledge: With a partner, students complete a T-chart comparing the pros and cons of highway construction. Conduct a class discussion on how the construction of highways affects local animal population and migration patterns.

Key vocabulary to discuss: air pollution, noise pollution, displacement, traffic, traverse, confused, vibrations, strewn, society.(Definitions)

Predict and Question: Ask the students what questions they may still have regarding the construction of highways and the impact on local ecosystems. Predict the most significant effect of local highway construction.

Task: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the impact of highway construction on local ecosystems through independent projects.

PROCESS

Reminder: It is important to stop throughout the video and give students (A/B partners) the opportunity to talk or respond to the video. Students can track ideas on the T-chart during the video.

Video

(Video Length: 2 mins)

A/B Partners – Students complete their T-chart sheets and share their ideas with both their partners and class.

TRANSFORM

Students then complete one of the following options to demonstrate their understanding and extend their thinking of how highways and traffic affect local animal populations.

Write a letter to the regional government authority detailing the effect of highway construction on local wildlife.
Create a poster which takes a position either for or against a proposed new highway being built near the community.
Create a television/radio commercial promoting a side for or against a proposed new highway being built near the community.
Write a play/dramatization of how a new highway will affect local animal populations from the animals point of view. (ie. Writing in role of a deer/bear etc…)
Write a newspaper article which covers the construction of a new highway being built in the community.

(Consider allowing 2-3 classes to complete these activities.)

REFLECT

On the back of their T-chart sheets, students write two new ideas they learned in the discussion around the human impact of highway construction on local animal populations.

Extend learning or next lesson

Students contact their local governmental authority and access an aerial map of their community to select the best location for a new highway corridor.

Organisms as Part of Interconnected Food Webs

Teacher Note: Depending on the length of class time available, this lesson may take 2-3 sessions to complete.

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

analyse the roles of organisms as part of interconnected food webs, populations, communities, and ecosystems.

CONNECT

Goals:

The students will gain an awareness of environmental stewardship from a West Coast Aboriginal perspective.
The students will understand the concepts of ecological pyramids and interconnected food chains.

Task:

Students will select one animal from a local ecosystem and create a presentation that represents their understanding of food chains and food webs.

Process:

Discuss key vocabulary.
Discuss the difference between a food chain and food web and complete a food chain exercise of a local ecosystem.
Play a game that highlights the process of how a food chain works.
Complete a graphic organizer while viewing the video.
Students complete a demonstration assignment of their understanding of food chains and food webs.

Activate Prior Knowledge:

Discuss the following vocabulary and brainstorm ideas of the respective definitions on the board.

Key vocabulary to discuss: Stewardship, indigenous, perspective, assets, potlatch, elders, traditional territory, hereditary chief, floodplain, fry, riparian, watershed, producer, consumer, primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary. (Definitions)

Predict: Discuss the difference between food chains and food webs and predict what would happen to a local ecosystem food chain if one element was removed.(A/B partner talk suggested)

Question: Teachers distribute a food chain diagram and students, in A/B partners, complete a food chain of local ecosystem. Reference Enchanted Learning for explanations of food chains.

Distribute the Krill Grill Record Sheet and play the game Dining at the Krill Grill. Students record results of the game on their record sheets. Discuss the questions at the end of the activity to reinforce understanding of food chains.

PROCESS

Video: Students watch the following video and use a What’s Important and Why sheet to highlight five keys points that focus on land stewardship.

Reminder: It is important to stop throughout the video and give students (A/B partners) opportunity to talk or respond to the video.

Videos

(Video Length: 6 mins)

TRANSFORM

Students will select one animal from a local ecosystem and create a presentation that represents their understanding of food chains and food webs. For example, a poster could be created with a food chain on one side and a food web on the other. Other possibilities include a Powerpoint presentation, drama presentation, modifying the Krill Grill game to one’s local ecosystem.

REFLECT

Students discuss what stewardship initiatives are in place in their local region/province/country and write, on the back of their video sheet, three ideas of how they can assist these initiatives.

Extend learning or next lesson

The National Geographic web site describes a ‘real world’ example of food chain disruption that may be occurring with Antarctic krill. Study more about the Krill at National Geographic and write a research report on the factors affecting global krill populations.
Create playing cards of animals in a local ecosystem (ie. bear, cougar, mouse, birds) and have students play a version of the ‘war’ card game to reinforce the levels of a food chain.

Fish Farming and Local Environments

Learning Outcome

Students evaluate the human impacts on local ecosystems.

Steps to the Lesson

Complete a video Anticipation Guide.
Watch a video on Salmon Gills Analysis.
Research the issues surrounding fish farming and local salmon populations.
Create promotional brochures supporting or refuting the benefits of salmon farming.
Reflect and review the information presented.

CONNECT

Goal:

Students will gain an understanding of the impact salmon farming has on local wild salmon populations.

Task:

Students will create promotional brochures advocating the position of a society either for or against salmon farming.

Activate Prior Knowledge:

Students complete an Anticipation Guide prior to viewing a video on how salmon are affected by environmental and human factors. Students answer the questions on the sheet prior to video viewing and then reflect on whether their answers agreed with the information presented in the video.

Predict and Question:

Ask the students what questions they may still have on how environmental and human factors effect salmon popluations. What are they wondering about?

PROCESS

Video

Reminder: It is important to stop throughout the video and give students (A/B partners) opportunity to talk or respond to the video.

Videos

(Video Length: 5 mins)

Break students into groups of five. Teachers print out and distribute information from the following links.

Why BC Lifted The Moratorium on Fish Farms

Fish Farms and Sea Lice

Lice From Fish Farms Killing Wild Salmon

Salmon Farms Teeming With Lice Threaten Wild Fish

Give each group one article and do a Jigsaw activity.

TRANSFORM

Students will create promotional brochures advocating the position of an organization that either supports or refutes the benefits of salmon farming in British Columbia. Using the above links or other research, students create a standard tri-fold brochure with images and text that advocates their chosen position. Once completed, the students will present their brochures to the class and defend their positions.

REFLECT

Teacher prints and enlarges a review activity commonly known as a ‘cootie catcher’. Students cut out the image and fold into the ‘cootie catcher’ shape. In A/B partners, students write their own review questions and answers on the lesson material. (Note: these questions and answers should attempt to balance both the Pro and Con sides of the fish farming issue.) For an example, print and enlarge a sample ‘cootie catcher’ with practice questions already prepared.

Extend learning or next lesson

Students complete an in depth research report on BC Fish Farming; considering perspectives from both the Fish Farming industry and the anti-fish farm movement.