Hour of Code

This week our students had the opportunity to participate in Hour of Code.  What is Hour of Code? Well, the Hour of Code "is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics." (http://hourofcode.com/ca)

It is so much fun we actually signed up for the 20 hour online computing tutorial offered through the Hour of Code!  Learning computer science skills is essential for working and living in the 21st century.  While not everyone will have the chance or desire to work in the computing industry, learning coding basics "helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity"  (http://hourofcode.com/ca).  Over the last two weeks before our winter break, students will have the opportunity to work at their own pace through the tutorials.  Students will learn skills to create sequences, events, loops, shapes and stories, all using code.  Students can even work on the tutorials from home. Check out Edmodo.com for the link to our login page!

GIS Day!

November 19th, 2014 was International GIS Day, and the students of 5/6 We celebrated with an awesome morning filled with GIS related activities!

Thanks to Linda Connor, the Social Studies consultant from the Department of Education, we got the opportunity to connect with GIS specialists, Melanie Bell, Greg Carlson and Tony Viveiros from the Department of Conservation and Water Stewardship.  We learned all about the importance of data collection, and how scientists use map layers to store and share information.  We even found out that Greg once was a student at Beaumont School!

In addition to this new learning, students got the opportunity to show off their GPS skills with a geocaching activity that integrated Math and Social Studies questions.  The weather was cold and blustery, but everyone was a good sport- even the adults!  We used ArcGIS software to discover that students travelled over 800m around the school yard looking for waypoints- no wonder we kept warm! 

Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this day a great learning experience.  A big thanks also goes out to my good friend and colleague, Kim Burnett, who volunteered her time to help prepare our students for the day, and who braved some snowy and dark conditions to set up the challenging geocaching course.

The students and I are excited to find more ways to use GPS and GIS in the classroom over the coming months!

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