The Integrated Arts class attended a workshop at the Apple Store, learning about the software ProCreate to create digital art. Students enjoyed drawing a self-portrait or another portraiture but thought that drawing digitally was not as challenging as traditional art.
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In the Communication Technology class Animation Unit, students recently undertook a project centered around the 12 Principles of Animation. The objective was to create animation that effectively showcased their understanding of these principles. The students demonstrated their creative skills and knowledge in basic 2D Animation. The project was an opportunity for students to put what they had learned into practice and explore the captivating realm of animation. All animations are then put into one collage which can be watched here in our school’s official YouTube page!
The two Civics classes in the Academy have joined together to work with Student Vote Canada to bring a realistic voting experience to the school.
Before the voting day, students first create informative videos about the municipal election, then create posters for candidates to investigate their stories and platforms. On the voting day, students take on different roles such as deputy returning officer, poll clerk and scrutineers to help guide other students through the voting process.
It has been an authentic and engaging learning experience for all of us!
Early in the school year, the grade 10 science classes learned about quantitative and qualitative observations in the field. The groups headed out on a single-period walking excursion to Queen’s Park where they could conduct some observations in a dynamic environment. Students began by engaging their senses; feeling textures, smelling scents, observing colours, and listening to the sounds around them. Learning how terms like “lots,” “green,” “good,” and “cold,” represented judgements that could be considered qualitative was useful. Students also developed knowledge around how countable measurements of distance, weight, amount, temperature, volume, and area using standard units would be considered quantitative.
Students toured in small groups around the park, making both qualitative and quantitative observations. They were instructed to return to the whole group with three qualitative questions, and three quantitative questions that could be posed about features of the park. A group discussion was held about how that data could be gathered and verified.
Have you wondered what is the quality of our water and soil in the city? The students in Environmental Science actively performed water testing at the waterfront and soil testing in the parkette beside the YMCA! The students enjoyed collecting the samples, especially the water sample from Lake Ontario. We were surprised at the results we received for the oxygen levels at the waterfront. The results were either invalid or Lake Ontario is heavily polluted since we received a reading of 0ppm. The students factored into their results that we were testing near the shoreline where human pollution collects including microplastics and boat oil. A low amount of oxygen suggests that the water ecosystem is unhealthy. The students have also been engaging in possible solutions by investigating local and global environments. The students observed that there is “too much construction” in our city.
At the lakefront, the students also investigated the levels of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in the soil collected from the parkette. The students can be seen in the photographs performing chemical analysis of the soil samples. “We got good results,” said an environmentalist in training! The students were fascinated by the unique opportunity to engage in a field study in their local community! One student expressed:
“We could not have picked a better day. It was not raining. It was sunny.”
As we continued our field study, we compared the disturbed location (heavy human traffic area) to an undisturbed location (limited human traffic area). What area did we choose? The Green Industries terrace! We wanted to determine how healthy the soil is where the Green Industries class is growing plants and vegetables. If nutrients are too high, nutrients can become contaminants! What were the results? The students are still actively comparing the data though, most intriguing, nitrogen was high in the disturbed environment. Nitrogen is a common ingredient in fertilizers. Another student shared:
“We learned a lot about our city and the biodiversity.”
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