This year, the annual Science Olympics began with the junior students participating in a cooking with science workshop while the senior students attended an interactive presentation about digital animation and graphic design. Afterwards, the junior grades divided into smaller groups and visited a number of stations throughout the school. Each station, organized and led by senior students, featured a science experiment. Activities included the Boat Float, Frozen Sock and Bridge Building. The junior students worked together to solve each of the experiments and collected points at each station based on their achievements. It was wonderful to see junior student cooperating and communicating in order to work through the experiments and to see senior students taking on leadership roles by running the individual stations and assisting the younger students. Thanks to the hard work of the senior students in planning the activities and faculty who supervised the organization of the event we all had a great afternoon!
Robot Sumo! - May 5, 2011
Check out this video of our grade 8 technology students pitting robot against robot in our annual Robot Sumo competition. The girls built these robots using Lego Robotics kits, and were challenged to think critically about which design elements would produce a winning prototype.
The Strength of Straws - April 11, 2011
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In science class this term, our students in grades 3 and 4 have been learning all about structures. They have discovered what makes structures stand, and why some are stronger than others. Last week, they combined their knowledge with their critical-thinking skills in the "Strong Structures Challenge".
Our grade 3 and 4 teacher, Stephanie, divided the girls into groups and gave each the same materials: drinking straws and clear tape. The groups then applied their knowledge of strong structural shapes and designs to create their own structure. Each straw-and-tape structure had to withstand two tests. They had to support the weight of 300-gram book, and survive a drop from a height of two metres.
Check out the video below to see how one group approached this challenge, and what they learned.
Do you know where your shrimp comes from?
- June 3, 2009
Using the skills they've acquired in a year
of Computer Studies, Beth's grade 5/6 class is making a difference.
For a recent project in this class, Beth
asked each of her students to find an issue she felt passionately
about, and to use her knowledge of computers to encourage
change in this area for the better. Each girl used the Internet
to research an issue or problem she was interested in, and
then worked with a variety of computer programs and strategies
to develop a way to make her voice heard.
Grade 6 student Meghan, after learning about
the negative impact shrimp fishing can have on sea turtles,
put together a thought-provoking video slide show for her
project. She wants to get the word out as far and wide as
possible, and because she knows the power of viral video on
the Internet, she hopes that making her project available
online will help spread her message.
The video is posted below, and can be viewed
using Windows Media Player. Please take a look, and help Meghan
spread the word by passing the link along.
Grade 11 math class reflects on learning
with parabolic mirrors- May 14, 2009
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Linden's Grade 11 Functions class put their
math skills to the test in May, using the knowledge gained
in their studies to build working parabolic mirrors.
The girls, who have been learning all about
parabolic functions in recent weeks,put theory into practice
by breaking into teams and constructing large parabolae, covered
in aluminum foil, out of cardboard. Each team then determined
the focal point of their parabola - the central point where
any incoming rays of sunlight, reflected by the foil, will
converge. If constructed properly, the focal point should
become very hot when exposed to the sun.
To test their creations, the class took
their mirrors up to the roof of the school on a sunny May
morning. Each group positioned a marshmallow at the focal
point of their mirror, held it up to the sun and waited to
see the results. Though none of the marshmallows were thoroughly
cooked by the end of the class, several had melted noticeably,
and the focal point of each mirror was clearly much warmer
than the rest of the structure.
The principle the girls applied with their
parabolic mirrors has a wide variety of applications, and
they aren't limited to reflecting sunlight; satellite dishes,
reflecting telescopes, microscopes and car headlights all
employ the technique of focusing energy, such as light, sound
waves or radio waves, at a common point. Parabolic mirrors
focused on generating heat, such as the girls created, are
beginning to be used more and more in developing countries
as solar cookers or water heaters; as one of our grade 9 students
discovered with her Science and Technology Fair project this
year, they are proving to be effective as anti-rape devices
in many developing countries as well.
Grade 5/6 works to protect vulnerable species
- March 31, 2009
Last term, the grade 5/6 computer studies
class accessed a variety of online databases, including Fishbase.org
and Redlist.org,
to learn more about vulnerable species of fish. After doing
some research, we discovered that there are restaurants and
fish stores in Toronto that still sell threatened species
like swordfish.
Each girl wrote a letter to a different organization to help
them understand the issues surrounding vulnerable species
better, and asked them to make changes if possible. Excitingly,
they are starting to receive letters in reply. For example,
Brie wrote a letter to the Heart and Stroke Foundation to
ask that they include only sustainable species of fish in
their recipes. Here is an excerpt from the letter she received
in reply:
"[W]e have changed the recipe to
read Pacific halibut because of your letter...Thanks for bringing
this to our attention. We try to make sure our recipes meet
the highest standards--and you now have helped us to do just
that."
The girls hope to receive more letters in reply, and are happy
to know that they've made some small difference in keeping
our ocean populations healthy.
Grade 7 students model green living - February
26, 2009
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Linden's grade 7 students learned all about
the benefits of off-the-grid living through a recent art project,
in which each girl was charged with designing her own environmentally
sustainable school, co-op housing complex or retirement home.
Armed with recycled materials, extensive research on going
green and a list of important considerations, the girls built
models of their proposed new developments.
Here are some of the sustainable materials,
green energy sources and energy-saving measures students Alex
and Mikaela used in their projects:
Recycled wood (particularly bamboo) for flooring and
interior structures
Recycled denim for insulation
Rain water collectors for storing water for household
use
Geothermal heating and cooling system
Solar panels and wind turbines for electricity generation
Clotheslines in place of electric dryers
Outdoor vegetable garden, allowing residents to grow their
own produce
Each student also added her own considerations
to her original list, focusing on those unique to the type
of building she chose to construct and the needs of its inhabitants.
As an example of the additional factors each student had to
take into account, here is Gwen's description of the elders'
home she designed:
"For my art project I chose
to make an elders' home. I focused on the special needs of
blind elders, and I chose to make my elders' home just for
blind elders. In each of the rooms I put a quilt with a different
object on it, which residents can touch to know they're in
a certain room. I also put a mechanical garden in it so elders
could feel and touch the objects to make them be able to feel
like a part of the building. I also put the objects in the
garden so residents can get a sense of where they are. I located
my elders' home at the harbour front so they can hear the
sounds of the ocean."
Look for some examples of these projects
at the Linden Art Show on Thursday, April 23, 2009.
Senior Art students take their work to
the streets- February 9, 2009
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When art and history collide, it's amazing
what can result. Art students in grades 11 and 12 discovered
the places the record books can take them in developing their
site-specific art projects, which they recently installed
in the Yonge and St. Clair area.
Because the girls planned to install the
projects in the Yonge and St. Clair area, it was important
for them to have a firm grasp on the area's history before
developing a project to speak to it. So Sharon and her art
class went straight to the source: the City of Toronto archives.
There, students learned about how the area has changed over
the years, and about the significant events and projects that
shaped the Yonge and St. Clair we know today.
The students prepared for their projects
in a number of other ways. They visited the offices of Spacing
magazine, a publication devoted to understanding the political,
cultural and social issues that affect Toronto's urban landscape.
They also studied the work of artists known for similar projects,
drawing inspiration and guidance from their pieces.
Each girl's piece, in both the form it took
and the place chosen for its installation, combined the workings
of her imagination with the reality and history of the area
surrounding the school. Inspirations were wide-ranging and
unique: one girl meditated on the building of the streetcar
tracks on St. Clair West and the story of a woman who rides
the streetcar every day; another commented on the tuberculosis
outbreaks in the city's past and the ability (or inability)
of contemporary medicine to deal with this disease.
Emma, a grade 11 student, chose to tackle
the subject of homelessness for her project. She tied cloth
"characters" to a subway grate, where homeless people
may seek refuge and cold weather, and a tree overhanging Yonge
Street, harnessing the wind and hot air to blow the characters
into the view of pedestrians and drivers.
"People turn a blind eye to homelessness,"
Emma says. "The character ambushes them, forcing them
to take notice before they have time to put up a shield."
Annie (grade 11) used ribbons to comment
on immigration, and the flow of people moving into the Yonge
and St. Clair area.
"Each colour of ribbon symbolizes a
different person and the reason why they decided to come to
Canada," she says. The site she chose for her installation
was originally a railroad track, symbolizing the constant
movement of newcomers into the area.
The pieces are constructed completely of
biodegradable material, as an important part of site-specific
installations is that they leave no lasting mark on the environment.
And each girl knows that her installation may be ripped down,
or rained on, or blown away in the wind - but this is a natural
part of the process, and one that won't stop them from going
forward with future projects.
Wen-Do an empowering experience for grade
7 students - December 16, 2008
As part of their Physical & Health Education
unit on Personal Safety, Linden's grade 7 students completed
a two-day basic Wen-Do course last week.
The course, which is offered by Wen-Do
Women's Self Defence, teaches a variety of physical and
verbal self-defence techniques, awareness and avoidance of
threatening situations, and discussions of psychological,
social and legal issues involved in self-defence. Once they
had completed 15 hours of basic Wen-Do training (over two
days), each girl also got the chance to break a board (with
the guidance and supervision of the instructor). The girls
kept their broken boards as proof of all they accomplished.
Though we hope they will never have occasion
to use their new skills, the course encouraged the girls to
feel more confident in every situation they face, and showed
them they have more power than they knew.
Thanks to Elizabeth, the grade 7 Physical
& Health Education teacher, for organizing this great
opportunity!
Grade 3/4 students learn unique art of
Shibori Dying - December 16, 2008
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On Tuesday, December 9, Linden's grade 3/4
class learned about the beautiful Japanese art of Shibori
dying. The activity was part of a novel study the girls recently
completed, and each girl got to take home her own raw silk
scarf at the end of the day.
Two special guests for the day, Liz and
Kathleen, explained the intricacies of the art to the girls,
telling them what each of the dyes they were using was made
of and demonstrating how to create patterns on fabric using
string, elastics, marbles and other items. After the girls
applied a base colour to their scarves (using a dye bath made
of onion skin or tea), they were able to create their own
unique patterns on the fabric, and then choose whether to
apply an orange or purple dye for the final colour. The end
results, some of which are included in the photo above, demonstrated
each girl's creativity and individuality.
Thanks very much to the girls' special guests,
Liz and Kathleen, for leading such an interesting and fun
activity!
Grade 3/4 class brings Medieval times to
life- December 5, 2008
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Yesterday, Linden's grade 3/4 class created
their very own Medieval village for A Day In The Life Of...,
a presentation for Linden students, parents and friends. As
a culmination of their unit on Medieval times, which they
have been working on since September, each girl took on the
persona of someone who lived during this time period, developing
a backstory for herself consistent with her knowledge of what
Medieval life was like. The girls explored many social classes
and occupations with their roles, embodying peasants, knights,
artisans, clerics and royalty.
Visitors had a chance to listen to each
girl's story and ask questions about her life, as well as
look at the many Medieval projects the girls worked on (such
as coats of arms and a model village). They also enjoyed some
yummy and authentic food as part of a Medieval feast.
Congratulations to the girls and their teacher,
Christine, for a wonderful job, and to all of the parents,
students and friends who came out to admire their hard work!
