STEAM Ahead - GRAND OPENING of Grosvenor School Science Lab

STEAM AHEAD – Grosvenor School is committed to providing excellence in SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS, and MATH The Grand Opening of the GROSVENOR SCHOOL SCIENCE LAB took place in February 2013. Ms. Nizio provides science instruction to students in Grades 3-6. With the installation of grow lamps, the Science Lab supports our Education For Sustainable Development initiatives to grow herbs for our whole school pop bottle garden, the Indigenous 3 Sisters Gardens, and the Winnipeg Harvest Blue Box Gardens. A grant from Families Forward and a partnership with Urban Eatin’ local garden coo-operative will see the building of an on-site 3 bin composter, rain barrel irrigation system, and outdoor classroom garden beds.

Watch us GROW!

 In January W.I.S.E - Women In Science Education Program (in partnership with the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba) visited Grosvenor School to provide presentations in the field of science. The program is intended to challenge some of the stereotyped images of mathematicians and scientists and to promote equity across the curriculum. Below is a brief summary of the student’s learning related to education for sustainable development.

“Enough for all, For everyone, Forever” 

Kindergarten

The Women in Science presentation for Kindergarten students was entitled The Living Tree. Our presenter first explained the three different types of science; Chemistry, Physics and Biology. The children were quick to figure out that trees are included in the study of Biology. First she talked about the parts of a tree and what trees needed to grow. The children pretended to be seeds and our presenter had a watering can and sunshine. She shone the sun and watered the children until they grew into tall trees. The wind blew and their trunks stood tall while their branches swayed with the wind. The children each shared their favourite kind of tree. Then they sorted different objects by whether they were made from trees or not. After the sort we were all shocked to discover that all the items including things like deodorant and diapers were made from trees. Our presenter explained how not only wood is used from the tree but the sap and cellulose is used as well to make many things we need in our daily lives. It was a fabulous presentation and the children learned a lot. G

Grade 2

 On Friday, January 18th, the Grade 2 class had a visit from Chantal who works for Women in Science at the University of Manitoba. She taught us about the three main branches of science, biology, chemistry and physics and assured us that women do important work in all three fields. She helped us to draw what a scientist looked like and we sure laughed at what we came up with! Finally, she taught us some tricks to naming animal offspring. For example, did you know that monkey and orangutan offspring are also called babies or infants? We got to go “fishing” for offspring and played a game of tic tac toe using the terminology we had learned. It was a great class with Chantal and we would love to have her back sometime!

Grade 3 

 Student Report I had so much fun working with Chantal from Women in Science. What we did is dig into owl pellets. There were vole skeletons. We found lots of teeth! We also did a scavenger hunt. We looked for Manitoba animal pawprints. Some of the animals were white-tailed deer, beavers, foxes and caribou. After we went back to our seats and figured out which pawprint went with what animal. Some looked a lot alike, so it was a bit hard. Even though some parts were hard, we still had lots of fun! - By Amaya The Grade Three class had a lady from Women in Science come and do some fun stuff with us!!:) She brought in owl pellets, plastic gloves, a whole bunch of tweezers and special scissors and paper plates. Then we all got partners and got to dig through them! It was awesome, though disgusting! Me and my partner found a skull of I don't really know what! It was super duper fun!!!! P.S. Owl pellets are all the parts of the meal an owl was eating that it could not digest. ex. rodent bones and fur and a whole bunch of other stuff!!! - By Ruby Grade 3

Grade 4

Students were introduced to the topic of Women in Science. Female Science students from the University of Manitoba took time from busy schedules to come and instruct us in our classroom. A pre-discussion of the role and contribution of women in Science throughout history was conducted prior to the student visit. In the lesson, U of M students taught us how to distinguish the difference between various animal tracks through a fun an interactive game. Students were also given the opportunity to participate in the dissection of owl pellets while learning the scientific procedures required to analyze and compare skeletal remains of voles contained within the pellets. Students were actively engaged in the lesson acquiring great new scientific skills and understandings while also recognizing that women are represented and involved in this historically male-dominant field of study.

 Grade 5 & 6

The Grade students had the opportunity to take part in a Women in Science presentation and activity. The focus for the presentation was water. The students learned about what percentage of the earth is water and what percentage of the earth is fresh water. After learning that only approximately 2% of the water on earth is fresh water, the presenter discussed the importance of filtering systems. The students all received a plastic cup, a plastic cup with a small hole in the bottom, three cotton balls, sand, and rocks. They were also given muddy water. The students were then required to build a filter using these materials and try to build one that would allow the muddy water to pass through clearly. The filtering systems the students built were all successful. The students absolutely loved the presentation and experiment. This was a great learning opportunity for the students.