Symmetry

Final trip across the ice this year for groceries.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring! Things are finally starting to warm up here and the landscape is changing. Here in Manitoba we get a full 6 months of winter so it's a relief to see the end of it. Most of the snow is gone around the school and our houses, but the lake is still safe to walk across. We had over 3 feet of ice this year and it’s taking a long time to thaw. While there is a lot of water on top, below there is still plenty of solid ice to walk and Ski-Doo across. 

Steven Beckly sculpture and my example.

I subscribe Papirmass, so every month I receive a print with art on the front and writing on the back. So far it’s been a fantastic way to decorate our rather bleak apartment and I’ve learned about several new artists and writers that I otherwise would not have known about. This month was a bit different and the print I received by Toronto artist Steven Beckly was actually a small paper sculpture. This piece, a fortune teller, features the faces of Toronto based artists and twin sisters Hanna Hur and Laurie Kang.

Inspired by this month’s art in the mail and the patterns in Ukrainian egg decorating, I had my students make their own paper sculptures. Using a Cartesian plane, students created a symmetrical design and then transferred that design to a fortune teller template. If they reflected and measured their deigns correctly, then the image should line up. My students really liked the project and the immediate feedback it provided. They also learned a bit about a contemporary artist and how even the simplest ideas when executed with care can be quiet impressive and beautiful.

 

 

In other news the school ran an Easter egg hunt outside in the playground. The whole thing was kind of a mess but at least the kids were excited about it.

Easter Egg Hunt

Spring is also puppy season. This little guy is named Zereal and he belongs to one of my students.

And finally Korra is approaching her first birthday! She's grown 3 inches in height alone since we've gotten her. She's still kind of a baby though. Watching her try to escape the vacuum is always entertaining.

 

Though Ender makes an effective human shield when cleaning needs to happen.

Science Fair 2014

This year we took 4 girls from the Elementary school to Winnipeg for the MFNERC Science Fair. The trip was pretty similar to what we did last year but I felt it ran a bit more smoothly. Their projects asked “How does animation work?” and “What is water made of?” 

Off to the airport!

Starr playing with animation.

Once we arrived in Winnipeg we went straight to the Manitoba Museum. We had enough time to play around in the Science Center before checking out the main collection.

Kyra

Flight lesson

Mirror Room

The whole group.

Science!

Jaylin

Starr

 

Métis embroidery and beadwork

The main collection of the museum has a whole bunch of displays and artifacts from the fur trade up till the completion of the railway. Because grade 6 Social Studies covers from Confederation to the present day, it's really unfortunate that I can't take my whole class to this museum. The girls were especially interested in the clothing worn by the First Nations and Inuit people around the time of the fur trade. We were able to talk a bit about how designs and fashions changed with access to glass beads and exposure to European designs from the nuns. I don't have any photos because that section of the museum has very low lighting in order to help preserve the collection.

Coat check

After the museum we headed over to the University if Manitoba to set up for the Science Fair. The next day the girls presented their project to three separate judges. They were scored mainly based on their ability to present their projects to the judges.

Gwen and Jaylin

Starr and Kyra

After being judged, the girls were able to play with some of the robotics labs set up by Manitoba Robot Games.

Starr programming commands for a robot.

Before the medals were awarded guest speaker Senator Dr. Lillian Eva Quan Dyck spoke to the audience about the importance of an education in science.

Gwen and Jaylin realizing they had won gold.

We were so proud of Gwen and Jaylin for winning a gold medal for their project using electrolysis to demonstrate what water is made of. 

Gold!

After the medals were awarded we celebrated our wins with dinner and a movie. If you haven't already seen it, The Wind Rises is absolutely beautiful and one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen this year.

Before returning to Winnipeg we had breakfast at Stella's and a quick visit to the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG). There was a really great exhibit featuring the work of contemporary Winnipeg artists influenced by the gallery's Inuit collection. And we all enjoyed Ragnar Kjartansson's The End-Rocky Mountains video installation. 

Our trip was unexpectedly extended because of poor weather conditions in Garden Hill. We flew all the way there only to turn back once the pilot realized he would be unable to land. The girls didn't really mind; it meant they were able to go swimming one last time!

Dirty Paws

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to write anything. We’ve just been so busy! The lead up to Christmas is full of additional work and activities, Ender and I just finished our course work on Monday, and we have both been super busy adjusting our lives around her….

That’s right, she’s ours! After a waiting a few days and returning with a solid offer, the owners changed their minds. We’ve had Korra for over a month now.

Other than the pain of having to rearrange our Christmas travel plans (we are now driving) so far things are going well. And now that our course is finished I can really focus on training her.  

Earlier this year Ender ordered a reflector telescope. So far he's only been able to take the kids out once to see the moon. It’s been constantly overcast and on the rare occasions when the clouds do let up it’s too cold to be outside for very long. This week has been the coldest so far, dropping down to -40 with the wind chill. We will likely need to wait until the spring before an evening class can be arranged.

Because our class has been reading Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, Ender has been going over survival skills with our students. We spent an afternoon last week making a fire and cooking bannock outside. That day the Northern store held a snowman building competition as well. It hasn't been warm enough for packing snow for weeks so our snowmen were pretty pathetic.  

This year for the Christmas concert we are joining our two classes together to sing two songs, Ho Hey by the Lumineers and Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men. The kids are having a great time singing and we’re all really excited to perform. For Dirty Paws we have also created a shadow puppet show which I’ll be running while they sing. I absolutely love the puppets they have made so far.

There are only two school days remaining and then it’s time to go home for two weeks to visit family and friends.