Sunday January 26, 2014
Dear Parents,
As I mentioned in the week-at-a–glance, we are ‘waist-deep’ in the liquids unit. We are learning all about water droplets, surface tension and dissolving, with much more to come.
A major focus of this unit is on the environmental implications of water waste and water pollution. We will be creating ice cream pails of polluted water that we monitor over time, recording our observations to answer self-generated questions about the effects of pollution on water. We would like to ask parents to send in washed, empty ice cream pails, litter, bits of net, rubber bands, cork, Styrofoam or other items that could pollute the water.
Another part of the unit assessment is going to be a Pollution Poster prepared by your child at home (although there will be some time for research during class). They will be provided with a sheet of A3 paper on February 2, 2014and will be expected to create a colourful poster that exemplifies how water pollution is caused and how we can make it better. They will make up an interesting title related to the topic and a sentence that has a positive message for the future. I have attached a copy of the rubric that will be used to grade this project to give clear expectations and help your child be as successful as they can be for this project.
There will be a presentation element of this project where your child will talk to the class about their poster, identifying the reasons for the examples they have chosen and answering questions related to these topics. Support guiding your child through the research process and preparing to orally present (speaking clearly and knowledgably) at home will give your child an advantage. We do not take the grade 2’s to the computer lab to do research at this stage. The completed posters will be due on February 23, 2014.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me.
Have a wonderful day!
Robyn