Pepto Bismol Lab

Megan Steciw Experiential Learning, Science and Math No Comments

The students actively extracted bismuth metal from pepto bismol tablets. A soft metal that has similar properties to lead, pepto bismol is widely used in medicine and cosmetics though does not have a specific medical purpose! Bismuth actually helps with the absorption of fluid across the intestinal wall!

To isolate the Bismuth metal, the students combined Pepto Bismol and HCl (hydrochloric acid). Students then filtered the solution. Student then pondered: “Hmmm… we have bismuth chloride…” We put aluminum in the solution to form Aluminum chloride allowing the Bismuth to precipitate out of solution. The students watched in incredible amazement as the Bismuth formed immediately as these little black dots in solution! We filtered and fired the bismuth sample. The students extracted 3.2g of bismuth from 96 Pepto Bismol tablets.

WoW! One student shared that this was a great experiment!

The students asked careful questions throughout as they extracted a solid from a solution. Incredible!

We got to extract an element!
We experimented with stomach medication
We turned a medication into an element!
We did science!

Quantitatively Measuring Peace

YMCA Academy Science and Math No Comments


November was “Peace Month” at the Academy and every class worked on a peace-related project. Alex and Arnold’s Grade 9 math classes learned about one way of quantitatively measuring peace : the Global Peace Index (GPI) published by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Students reflected on the validity of such a measure. They then used their data management skills to investigate how different factors are correlated with GPI.

The Grade 9s collected data using the GPI Score Map, as well as using their research skills to find data sets related to factors of their interest. They then used scatter plots and lines of best fit in google sheets to analyze correlation between the factors of their choosing and GPI.

Our classes came up with some very insightful ideas about what might correlate with GPI. Is the amount of protected terrestrial area in a country correlated to its GPI score? What about a country’s carbon footprint? Or the number of McDonalds in a country? Check out our findings!

Here’s what some students had to say about the project:

“I compared my chosen factor to GPI to see if they had a correlation, put it into a scatter plot and explained and described the correlation between the two. I learned how to write math on a computer and how to write scatter plots too. Math is related to peace because we need to factor the amount of peace in a country.”

“I wrote down the data, I was moral support and a whole lot of other things. This project was really rough but at the end of the day I am taking it as a learning experience.”

“I enjoyed doing this with my partner and we did a great job asking each other and my partner helped me if I am having trouble when finding the big mac index with certain countries. I would definitely do a good job with my partner in the future.”

Worms Compost Food Waste in Middle School

John Cuthbert Environmental Stewardship, Experiential Learning, Science and Math No Comments


Vermicomposting began by setting up two worm bins on the Academy’s main floor, preparing a habitat for the wiggly decomposers before placing them in their new home. From here, students used the worm bins to deepen their understanding of natural and human-made systems, learn worm anatomy, graph and analyze waste management and much more! The amazing vermicomposter was the perfect tool for integrating multiple curricula at the start of the middle school’s Living Things and the Land unit.

Extracting and isolating DNA from strawberry cells

Megan Steciw Experiential Learning, Science and Math No Comments


What is DNA? DNA is a molecule that contains the genetic code for our proteins. The students in the Grade 11 Biology class were actively lysing strawberry cells to extract and isolate DNA from the nuclei of strawberry cells. The scientists in training first used detergent to break into the cell membrane then lastly used ethanol alcohol to precipitate the DNA from solution. A sample of DNA was collected and observed under the microscope. The students recorded many observations while asking several inquiry questions throughout the DNA investigation. Everyone has been investigating the genetic code and the experiment was a great opportunity to observe DNA in living cells.

Cross Curricular Connections: Woodland Art Meets Ecology

Brydie Smith Native Studies, Science and Math No Comments


Last week two classes took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for walking field trips exploring Woodland art and Ecology.

The Indigenous studies class visited a mural by the woodland artist Philip Cote called The Original Family. After recording their descriptions of the mural, through audio notes and sketches, the class identified features of Woodland art, and learned about the history and significance of the art form. The class then sauntered over to Allan Gardens and applied their newfound knowledge to sketching native species in the woodland art style.

The science class is currently studying biology and we recently learned about the levels of ecology. We wanted to connect our learning to real life so we went on a mini adventure to identify levels of ecology in our own surroundings. We walked to Allen Gardens in order to observe the living organisms and non-living matter. We admired the scenery then categorized what we saw into either an organism, population, community, ecosystem or biosphere.

The science class and the Indigenous studies met up after they finished their respective activities and shared what they learned. As a final cross-curricular learning challenge the scientists identified the level of ecology of each species the artists had sketched.