Small but Mighty!

Through these few months in science, we have been focusing on the microorganisms all around us, whether in our body or our environment and expressing our knowledge through keystones.

Our first keystone we were observing things through the microscope, varying from leaves to our phones. We spent a week doing this, then we experimented and made a field journal to keep notes and observations. The experiment was to swab parts of the school to show how microorganisms are all around us. I decided to swab the science class door on one side of my Petri dish, and an empty shelf on the other, with my hypothesis that the more used surface had the most thriving organism. We observed them grow bacteria for 1 week, then made our final scientific decision. This keystone showed us that many tasks can be done by using the scientific method and that its used for more than projects.  

The second keystone was focused on the innate and immune systems and the roles they have in your body. We spent the first week of the project learning about both systems, gathering information from the slideshows so we can have the best understanding of our keystone. Once we learned all about our body’s many immune systems, we moved on to our project, which was one of my favourite projects this year. We had to make character cards for the 5 most important parts of our immune system (white blood cell, macrophage, T cell, B cell and antibodies), and create or find characters for each of them. I used my favourite characters from Brooklyn 99, and I’m proud to say that it was the best choice. 

Our last and most current keystone was focused on biases in science, especially around vaccines. We learned about the polio disease and vaccine, and how propaganda in the news can shape people’s perspective on things. Then after we were given all the necessary information, we got assigned our assignment, a vaccine infographic. We got in partners and chose a different rumour to write about, my partner and I chose the “microchips” in vaccines. I was very proud of my poster, as I spent lots of time perfecting it, and now have knowledge of how to use Canva!

All the projects are down below, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Field Journal Template

5 images

 

 

Exploring the world (Travelogue edition)

For our final Keystone in Humanities before the break, we were given the task of creating a Travelogue. We had 4 expeditions to chose from, and then would have to write the log from first person, from either a page get on the voyage, or the captain himself. I chose Vasco da Gama, the captain of the Expedition to India, as not a lot of people chose to write about him. This project was really fun to create and has taught me tons about the early explorations that shaped our world. So enjoy the travelogue, and hopefully it will improve your knowledge about the Portuguese exploration!