This week in Humanities we had a test on natural resources and regions on Tuesday. The test covered the work we have done in class about how are natural resources are used by Albertans. For the test, students were asked to review and be able to identify the location of sources of renewable and nonrenewable resources. In class we discussed how some resources are nonrenewable such as oil, natural gas and minerals. These resources are limited in quantity. The prime example of this in our province is the oil sands in northern Alberta. Renewable resources, such as forests, water, agriculture, livestock and fisheries, can be regenerated and can last indefinitely if used carefully. The test was marked and sent home on Friday. Parents/guardians are asked to please review the test results, sign the test and return it to school. Mr. Brewer will check to see if there are signatures on tests. On Friday, students received back their psyanky eggs. They were varnished over the past weekend. It was great that so many turned out well. On the right hand side you can see a picture of the egg that I made in class. I used three colours on my egg, though in hindsight I wish I'd used more. I never imagined my egg would look so nice!! In grade 4 Social Studies one of our primary areas of focus is on developing an understanding of how Alberta’s various peoples contribute to our own sense of belonging and identity. Ukrainians began coming to Alberta in the late 19th through the early 20th century and even more recently. The making of Easter eggs is one of their most important traditions. The first wave of Ukrainian settlement on the prairies was largely comprised of people who came to farm the land. The vast plains of North America resembled the homeland in Europe that Ukrainians had left behind. In the 1890s and early 1900s the Canadian government encouraged settlement of agricultural workers in Alberta from Europe. Vegreville Alberta has a big Ukrainian community and is the site of the biggest psyanka (Ukrainian Easter egg) in the world. I think my egg sort of looks like this one: In our study of Alberta we have learned about First Nations, Metis and Francophones in this province. In this week's lessons we also learned about Alberta's British cultural roots. British institutions provided the structure for the settlement of newcomers in Alberta. We learned that back in the mid-19th century Alberta was not yet a province. It was divided between the Northwest Territory and Rupert's Land. Only later did it in fact become the province of Alberta. We finished reading the novel Stone Fox on Thursday. Students were clearly engaged in the story and many connected to the story through their own experiences. For most students the end of the story was moving. In class we identified and discussed the main characters, plots, and settings to show our understanding of the novel. One means of understanding is through a variety of oral, print and other media texts. As a follow up to reading this novel, students drew a picture of what they imagined a movie poster for the book would look like. Here are the instructions given in class for this assignment: We will have some time to complete this in next week's classes. In the final week of May we will be doing a lot of writing: evaluating and publishing of various written assignments we have been working on in class.
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