#cdnishk

Come join our discussion on Intersex identities and visibility in the LGBT+ community at lunch today! :)

My Brain

For grade 12 spirit week the students all dressed up as scrabble tiles! We spent the last 20 minutes of class spelling out biology related words. Ok - so we could only write "evolutian" - close enough!

Students used whiteboards and beads to model the movement of ions across the membrane of an axon. This activity was done after students had already explored the nerve impulse through an interactive MOODLE lesson that included quizzes, screencasts and animations. It was used to formatively assess the students' understanding and their ability to communicate that understanding.

Students created a working ventilation system out of a plastic bottle, balloons, straws and tape. This activity helped debunk a misconception that air is "sucked in" through the nose and helped explain the mechanics of breathing via volume and pressure changes in the thorax.

For our group four project this year students found themselves in the middle of a natural disaster! A tsunami had hit Hong Kong and residents were relegated to five neighbourhoods with limited supplies. Within each neighbourhood students had to work together to complete as many science based challenges as possible. The challenges included in the images above are to design a stethoscope and thermometer to monitor resident health, to create ink for communication, to build binoculars and a catapult to keep the neighbourhood safe, to test the pH of the drinking water and to make glue! There were many other challenges students had to complete in order to survive. At the end they presented their best ideas, explaining the science behind each one. At the end of two days students wrote a reflection on what they had learned about the process of science and themselves as learners.