KEEPING P.A.C.E. | NOVEMBER + DECEMBER 2020
THE PACE OF THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Firstly, we would like to thank the P.A.C.E. community for your continued support and patience as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate what each and every one of you are doing to keep our students, staff and families safe and healthy!
In November, we hosted our annual awards ceremony and celebrated a very successful 2019-2020 school year. We were so excited to deliver a live, virtual assembly for all of our students to enjoy, many of whom received recognition for their individual and group achievements and successes – we are so proud of all of them! To learn more please head on over to our 2019-2020 Achievements Blog.
NOVEMBER + DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
Discovering and exploring – our grade 9 science class examined the internal anatomy of the Perch. The students compared the anatomy and physiology of the Perch to other organisms, including humans. It was a fin-tastic educational exploration!
Our grade 11 students continued to develop their laboratory skills while discovering the importance of enzymes and catalyzing different reactions in the human body. In this Biology lab, students subjected the enzyme diastase to different conditions such as temperature and pH in order to determine the optimal ability of the enzyme.
While we haven’t been able to take advantage of the plethora of learning opportunities outside of the classroom and within the community, that hasn’t stopped us from bringing outside learning experiences to our students! Our Grade 2s were visited by Pawsitively Pets! The class examined the similarities and differences in characteristics of various animals and observed how they grow and change over time. They interacted with representatives from the numerous animal classes that they have previously learned about in science class. They also had a lot of fun with the animals, especially the parrot named Caesar and the chinchilla named Mulligan.
The Phylogenetic Tree – a diagram showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities—their phylogeny —based upon similarities and differences in their physical or genetic characteristics was of great interest to our grade 3s! They even had the chance to invent their own animal! The students were encouraged to create animals in the reptile, amphibian or bird categories, and some students got super inventive creating an animal that was a combination of all three! We loved the creativity shown and the class was able to grow their confidence by presenting their animal to the class.
Up, up and away – last month our grade 8s chose which area of Astronomy they were most interested in. Some chose to present on Aerospace Engineering while others built and designed spaceships of the future. The projects were not only thoughtful and inventive, they were out of this world!
Last month, our grade 11 physics lab was bustling with fun learning experiences! Our students took what they learned about projectile motion, and applied it to the trajectory of a basketball. Students went outside to gather video data of the trajectory of the basketball. They then analyzed the data using motion analysis software and made velocity-time and distance-time graphs.
The fairly mild months of November and December were conducive to many outdoor learning experiences for our students!
We were even able to take our Grade 5 math classes outdoors to explore shapes in our natural environment. The students worked in small groups to find different shapes around the school such as a semi-circle on the basketball court and a trapezoid on the play structure! The classes also used meter sticks and measuring tapes to take measurements, and then calculated the perimeter and area of each of the shapes.
SETTING THE PACE
While we are ready to close the book on 2020, which was filled with fantastic opportunities for our students to learn and grow, we are equally ready for the start of 2021! We are excited for:
- January 11 – Students in grades 1-8 are invited back for in-person instruction
- January 25 – Students in grades 9-12 are invited back for in-person instruction
- February 15 – Family Day (school closed)
- February 26 – Term 3 begins
Keep pace with what’s going on with our students with our bi-monthly blog updates. For an insider’s view into your child’s enriched learning experience, join the P.A.C.E. community on Instagram.
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