Grade 4 to 6 students in South Canoe Elementary’s Outdoor Learning Program got a sneak-peek into the learning opportunities awaiting them in high school this week.
A group of South Canoe students spent a day at Salmon Arm Secondary’s Sullivan Campus to check out what the ‘big kids’ are doing and what kind of things they will get to learn about when they move to SAS.
Students started the day with a tour of the school, followed by a mini science lesson and experiment with SAS teacher Dave Ramsey. Next up, they paid a visit to teacher Chris Harrington’s class to learn about 3D Printing.
Related: South Canoe Outdoor School expanding to Grade 7
The students then headed to Graham Gomme’s classroom where Grade 11-12 Civics students teamed up to show them how to use the BC Tomorrow Simulator.
The BC Tomorrow software allows users to see the impact of many environmental and human factors on the environment, economy and society, and is being spearheaded by SAS teacher Dave Ramsey with help from the BC Tomorrow Society and staff and students of SD83.
The land-use simulator is a web-based mapping software that gives users the ability to view land-use relationships and understand how the effects of multiple, overlapping human developments combine with natural forces like wildfire and climate change to impact the land and environment.
Ramsey first demonstrated historical change in watersheds selected by students, and then set targets for various socio-economic and environmental values.
From there, the younger students teamed with with older students and tried to create their “perfect society” with a blend of economical and environmental factors.
A pilot version of BC Tomorrow is being run in SD83 and, when the bugs are all worked out, will be made available to the public.
Related: Shuswap school takes the lead on environmental sustainability
The project is being made possible by generous support from The Real Estate Foundation of BC, ALCES Land Use and Landscape Ltd, Vancity, Telus, The Shuswap Foundation, Integral Ecology Group, RBC BlueWater Program, Shuswap Naturalists, and CE Analytic. Science teacher Dave Ramsey commented that, without all this support, the development of BC Tomorrow would not be possible.
After the hard work, the Chef Training class baked and gave the visiting youngsters some cookies to go with their lunch. After the quick break, they toured the arts and cooking classes to see the older students in action and wrapped up the day with some math activities before heading back to their own school.
Related: Spirits high at Salmon Arm’s Outdoor School
