Hello families,

As promised here are our completed beaver dams! Ask your child about how they created it and if it was able to stop the water from flowing to the other side. 

Did you know that this month Room 8 has been participating in the One Nature Challenge? The One Nature Challenge is asking us to spend 30 minutes a day in nature for 30 days. The goal is simple: to reconnect human beings with nature for the sake of their health and mental well-being.

Ask your child about some of our challenges so far...

• Nature names

• Snow Shapes

• Outdoor Maker Space

• Addition and Subtraction using Tens Frames

• What is in a cloud?

• Nature Wheels

And these are just some of the things we've been challenged to do. During the long weekend I'd like to challenge you to get outside for 30 minutes each day and see what you can explore!

Reminders

• There is NO school on Friday, May 20th and Monday, May 23rd. I will see all students back at school on Tuesday, May 24th.

• ALL green Teacher's Pet forms need to be paid for online ($16) and sent back to school by Tuesday, May 24th or your child will not be able to participate. 

 Alberta’s grade one seedling program

How to care for your new seedling

Seedlings are provided to every grade one student in Alberta annually.

Two species are distributed: the lodgepole pine and the white spruce. Both are native to Alberta and commonly found in our forests.

Lodgepole pine

The lodgepole pine is Alberta’s provincial tree. It is a tall, straight conifer tree (it has cones and needles, not leaves). It is often used for posts and poles, and in our homes as doors, windows and furniture. Lodgepole pine trees also provide excellent habitat for insects, birds, deer and moose. Sometimes bears like to eat the nutritious inner bark. This tree relies mainly on forest fires to reproduce. The heat of the fire makes the hard cones open up, releasing the seeds. Lodgepole pines can live up to 150 years.

White spruce

This is a large conifer tree (cones and needles, not leaves). It grows up to 147 feet – that is about 42 grade one students tall! It can live 50 to 100 years on average but some live to 200. It is a very tough tree. Many birds and animals

eat the seeds for food, its branches also provide cover and protection for wildlife. This tree relies on the wind and birds to disperse its seeds. The white spruce makes strong lumber and plywood which is useful for house building. Other uses include musical instruments, food containers, paddles and oars and shelving.

Caring for your seedling

Choose a location with plenty of space – many yards are not suitable within towns and cities. Your
white spruce could end up being 7 metres across, which is about the length of a full size pickup truck. It
should be at least 10 metres away from any buildings or other structures. Be careful not to plant it under any power lines.

Plant your seedling as soon as possible. If you are not able to plant for a couple of days, keep the soil around the roots moist and store your seedling where it is cool and shady. Plant it when the other trees in your neighborhood are sprouting.

Lodgepole pines and white spruce enjoy sunny locations that aren’t too wet. Dig a hole a couple of centimeters deeper and a couple of centimeters wider than the soil plug. There is no need to remove the soil around the roots. Place your seedling in the hole, as straight as possible, so that the top of the soil plug is about 1 to 2 cm below ground level. Replace the soil you dug out of the hole. Make sure there is good contact between the soil you are putting back in the hole and your seeding’s roots. If you want to be like a professional tree planter, you can even gently step down on the soil around your seedling, to lightly pack it down.

Slowly give it just enough water to wet the soil, but don’t make a puddle.

You can also plant it in a pot to grow outside for the spring and summer. Use a deep 10-inch diameter container or larger filled with potting soil. A potted seedling will dry out faster. A little plant fertilizer will help too. In the fall after the seedling has stopped growing for the season – around late September, you can transplant it. Remove your seedling and soil from the pot and place in a slightly wide and deeper hole in the ground, ensuring that there is good contact. Water your seedling.

If you don’t have a large yard, then a forested area outside of your town or city is probably a better place to plant your tree. Or, you may be able to find a natural area in your community, also known as an urban forest. You can contact your municipality for direction on where you could put your seedling.

 By law, companies must reforest the areas they harvest.

•   On average, forest companies plant two to three trees for every one that they harvest. That’s more than 80

  million seedlings every year.

•   Government and industry work together on forest management plans that cover 200 years into the future! These will ensure there will always be trees for your great-great-great-GREAT grandchildren to enjoy!

•   Less than 1% of Alberta’s forests are harvested each year.

•   Albertans can cut their own trees down from designated areas to use for Christmas trees, firewood, posts and rails with a Personal Use Forest Products Permit, or PUFPP. Go to alberta.ca/tree-cutting.aspx for your PUFPP. For more information regarding Alberta’s forests, go to https://www.alberta.ca/forestry.aspx.

  If you have a question regarding forest management in Alberta, email for-info@gov.ab.ca.

Alberta Forest Week - https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-forest-week.aspx

©2021 Government of Alberta | May 5, 2021 | Agriculture and Forestry

Hello Room 8 families,

What have we been up to in Room 8? Well...

Over the last week we began an inquiry about beavers. We received a Nature Kit from the City of Calgary with beaver artifacts to explore. Check them out below! We then listened to the  Ojibwe legend of How the beaver lost it's tail and talked about the lesson of this story being that you should be thankful for the things you have.

Next, we had some very important questions about beavers. What structural adaptations do they have? How do those adaptations help them survive? Where do they live? What is a beaver lodge? How do beavers get into their lodge? How many chambers (or rooms) do beavers have in their lodge? What is a beaver dam? Why do beavers build a dam? And so much more! 

Our next step is to build a beaver dam! Today we talked about the important materials we will need. We also created a 'bird's eye' blueprint of what our dam may look like.

Tomorrow we are going to create a model of a beaver dam using a tray with mud, rocks, and sticks. Our goal is to make sure that no water will get through.

We will keep you posted as to how our beaver dams turn out!

Volunteers 

We are still looking for parent volunteers for our in-school field trip on June 1st from 9:00-11:00am and our June 9th field trip to the Calgary Zoo from 9:00am-2:45pm.

Please contact the office to ensure you have your police clearance. Once your clearance is official you can email Mrs. Melindy to confirm a volunteer position. 

Upcoming Dates:

May 10th - Building beaver dams

May 11th - Jersey Day

May 12th - Fun Lunch OPA

May 13th - School Shirt Day

May 20th - No School PD Day

May 21st - No School Victoria Day

May 26th - Fun Lunch EDO (Order here)

June 1st - Teacher's Pet In-school Field Trip

June 9th - Calgary Zoo Field Trip

 Gymnastics 

We are continuing gymnastics this week with the Canadian Climber!

Safety routines, cooperation and sportsmanship are taught and reviewed in each class.   

This physical activity opportunity will help students acquire individual skills through a variety of developmentally appropriate movement activities. 

It is important for students to come to school prepared for being actively engaged. The following guidelines are very helpful…
  
HEAD TO TOE - READY TO GO!!! 

Head ....................... long hair pulled back in a ponytail

Ears/Throat/Wrist ............... jewellery off 

Shirt.................................. one layer shirt, no skirts or dresses

Waist ................................................tucked in 

Pants.........................sporty pants or shorts, no belts or zippers 

Ankles..........................pants rolled up if ankles are covered 

Toes...............running shoes or bare feet (no footed tights)  

 “Playing & moving safely is everyone’s responsibility”