Urban Planning – Designing your Own City

Colleen Whelan Beyond the Classroom, Science and Math No Comments

After learning about the six major categories of land use in urban areas (Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Institutional, Recreational and Transportation), Grade 9 Geography students had the opportunity to design their own cities.

Students created their cities based on the standard percentage of land use in a typical North American city. For example only 7% of the city could be recreational, 32% had to be used for transportation, etc. Students were challenged to think about what types of land use should be located close to each other or further away from each other. They also had to consider questions such as: How would people move around the city? What types of industries would sustain the city? What types of residential buildings would work in the city?

As a final step in the project, students presented their designs to the class and received peer feedback about strengths and suggested improvements.

What does a can of tomatoes have to do with Geography?

Colleen Whelan Beyond the Classroom, English and Humanities, Science and Math No Comments

 

Unit 3 of the Grade 9 Geography course focuses on natural resources.  We use a “simple” can of tomatoes to explore what natural resources are, how humans use them and how we use energy resources at every stage of production.  The class had to brainstorm the production steps required to start with a tomato seed and end up with a can of tomatoes sitting on a supermarket shelf.

Once we brainstormed the steps in production, we traced back which natural resources were used in each step. As a class, we investigated several of these in depth.  For example, if you want to put the tomatoes in the can, you first have to make the can.  What natural resource would you gather?  What impact might gathering that natural resource have on the environment?  What energy natural resource would be required to manufacture the can?  What resources are used in transporting the can?

At the end of the lesson, students started to understand that there are hundreds of steps in the production of even a simple item, and that resources and energy are used in every step.  Ultimately this led us to a larger discussion of how to reduce the amount of natural resources and energy that we use in our daily lives.

Megathon: Academy Rowing Crew’s 24-hour row!

Colleen Whelan Community, Healthy Living, YMCA of Greater Toronto No Comments

The school is abuzz with this year’s MEGA Megathon challenge…

It’s just 2 days until the Academy Rowing Crew’s 24-hour row!

We’ll be rowing from 5pm on Friday, March 2nd through to 5pm on Saturday, March 3rd. We currently have 32 students, staff, alumni, families, volunteers and friends signed up to participate with our team!

The Megathon is the kickoff event for our school’s annual initiative to promote the connection between mental wellness and physical activity. The focus is to raise our students’ awareness about the role physical activity plays in mental health. Being active reduces the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression — issues that impact many young people.

Last year, we raised over $1300 and our goal is to surpass that number this year.

All fundraising from this event goes towards making YMCA programs financially accessible to everyone. Students at the Academy benefit directly from these funds.

Check out our Megathon page – Donations can be made here!

If you wish to row and haven’t signed up already, there’s still time to join our crew – email Colleen at cwhelan@ymcaacademy.org

Annual Earth Day Cleanup

Colleen Whelan Community, Environmental Stewardship No Comments

On Monday, April 24, as part of the Academy’s ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship, the Geography and Leadership classes participated in our annual Earth Day cleanup. Students and staff cleaned the area around our building and our neighbouring park. This year’s focus was plastic pollution. Students learned about the issues that are created when plastic ends up in our waterways and oceans. Many students were surprised by the number of small plastic pieces that were found on the ground. These pieces of garbage would otherwise not be picked up, but would remain in the environment for a very long time. Students had the opportunity to see, first hand, how every action affects our local ecosystem. This cleanup was done in conjunction with the City of Toronto’s “Clean Toronto Together – Spring Cleanup”.

Check out more photos from this event on our Facebook page!

It’s Megathon time at the Academy again!

Colleen Whelan Community, Events, YMCA of Greater Toronto No Comments

YMCA Academy students and staff promoting the upcoming Megathon event!

The Megathon is the kickoff event for our school’s annual initiative to promote the connection between mental wellness and physical activity. The focus is to raise our students’ awareness about the role physical activity plays in mental health. Being active reduces the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression — issues that impact many young people.

Tomorrow, Saturday, March 4th, our Academy crew of students, staff and friends will be rowing for 12 consecutive hours starting at 7am. Last year, 23 Academy students, staff and friends completed this challenge. Collectively they rowed a total of 203,451 metres and raised over $1200! Our goal is to surpass both of those numbers this year.

All fundraising from this event goes towards making YMCA programs financially accessible to everyone. Students at the Academy benefit directly from these funds.

Check out our Megathon page at the address below! Donations can be made through the same link.

http://my.ymcagta.org/netcommunity/ymcaacademyrowingcrew