C/D Blocks Social and Environmental Sciences - So we lose a bunch of you to the EFP 11 Field Trip to the Big House. Both Benton and I hope you soak up as much there as you possibly can. For those here at Vanier, you'll be spending the morning with Benton, you'll be in the lab building plankton nets using nylons, tape, stapler, water bottle and cord (samples to be taken at the government dock in Fanny Bay tomorrow). Plankton are very small and often difficult to see. Scientists usually use a plankton net made of very fine mesh to collect plankton. Scientists generally drag a plankton net behind a boat for collection. The mesh used in a plankton net has holes that are large enough to allow water to pass through but small enough so that plankton cannot pass through.
There are several methods that you can use to tow for plankton. The standard method involves pulling the net behind a slowly moving boat. Lower the net vertically into the water until the bottle (at the end of the net) is filled with water. Then pull until the net is extended and begin to tow. After a few minutes, bring the net in and let it hang for a few minutes. Wash all the plankton into the bottle by running fresh water from the outside of the net. You will capture more plankton if the boat moves slowly. If a boat is not available (like for us on Friday), you can tow the net as you walk along a dock. You can also throw the net from a bridge or a pier into a fast-moving current.
When you do the associated lab, you'll learn more however, Plankton are floating or drifting plants and animals, generally microscopic, that live near the surface of the ocean or other bodies of water and scientists must use special equipment to gather plankton.
This, however, is not Plankton...
and we are searching for Plankton not using nets to catch Jellyfish like Spongebob and Patrick Star
A Block Legal Studies - This afternoon we're off to the library for researching charges, defenses to charges, finding out punishments and beginning to write your case memo assignment. Here's the format...
How to Write and Format a Legal Memo - The legal memorandum is the most formal, polished, and comprehensive written document for reporting the results of legal research. It summarizes and analyses the relevant law and applies it to a particular fact situation. In practice, the memorandum can be a crucial document to a case or file. It explains a specific area of law, analyzes a given fact pattern in light of the law, and makes a recommendation for a course of action based on the analysis. Writing a legal memorandum requires that you think like a lawyer. Accordingly, given its importance and potential uses, your memorandum should adhere to the hallmarks of excellent legal writing, including organisation. A well-organised memorandum conveys a lucid, methodical way of thinking about the problem. When structuring your memorandum, you should show that your writing is a transparent window into your thoughts. There is no one right way to organize a memorandum; you can appropriately structure your memorandum in many ways. For the purposes of this assignment, however, you can use the following template
Legal Memo Model Template Memorandum...
TO: Assigning Lawyer
FROM: You
DATE: When Memo is Due
RE: [Case/Matter Number] [Client Name] [Matter Name] – [Subject of Memo]
Summary of Assignment: This is a brief summary regarding the memo. Lawyers are often busy, juggling dozens of cases at once. They might not immediately recall why they asked you to investigate the matter at hand. A quick summary will help jog their memory. Describe the context. State briefly what you have been asked to do and why (e.g., upcoming court appearance, client seeking legal opinion, legal question arising from draft agreement, proposed legislation, bench memo for a pending case).
Here is an Example: [As per our discussion on (date)]/[In response to your email request on (date)], this is a discussion on the state of the law regarding…
Issues Presented
1. Whether [issue X applies to this situation]
2. Whether [issue Y applies to this situation]
Short Answers
1. Yes, [short explanation].
2. No, [short explanation].
These are short answers. Often new lawyers want to expand, clarify, and qualify themselves here. This is not the place for that. This is where you take a stand and state your opinion in two or three sentences. There will be time to address all aspects of the issues in the main portion of the memo.
Facts: Present an overview of the case/matter at hand. State the legal question(s) asked or the issue(s) considered in the memorandum. They map your approach to the problem. Make sure to include details that are of importance to the specific issues presented. Summarize all legally relevant facts from the cases as you understand them - AND explain how they connect to the potential charges. If appropriate, do so in a chart, table, or diagram. In any case, be concise and precise. Chronological order is often most helpful (unless another order seems more logical and makes the information clearer, such as grouping sets of facts that raise separate issues). Separating and numbering the facts might make them more understandable. If there is some disagreement or uncertainty about the facts, say so and state both sides. Articulate briefly, clearly, simply, concisely, precisely, and accurately. Break down each question into all relevant sub-issues. Present separately issues and sub-issues as questions. Deal with pivotal issues first. List issues and related sub-issues in a logical order.
Discussion: Describe the relevant law (e.g., legislation, cases) and commentary on the law (e.g., texts, encyclopedias, policy statements), then apply them to the facts of your case. Analyse each issue separately. Show your reasoning, using a step-by-step approach. Address fairly any arguments on both sides of an issue. Identify any pertinent missing information and potentially outstanding issues. Anticipate what positions and counterarguments might be advanced by the opposing side. Make any suitable recommendations about a course of action. Be creative. Think strategically. Focus on getting results. Give an opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of your position. Present persuasively the best arguments based on any relevant legislation and common law principles. Show your reasoning. Reach a conclusion. Ensure that it is supported by the law. [Subheading – first issue] Generally speaking, always lead with the most important issue first. [Subheading – second issue] Address second issue here.
Conclusion: This part is a terse summary of your answers to the issues you have identified above based on your assessment of the likely application of the law to your case. Answer the question(s). Be direct, clear, and complete. Do not be indecisive, hesitant, or inconclusive. Take a stand. Identify any doubts about the outcome. Any qualifications of your opinion should be based on reason and supported by the law. Do not reiterate your legal analysis. Do not introduce “new” information (i.e., information that does not appear in your discussion). Wrap it up with a statement of what you expect happen. “Given the case law and the facts of this particular matter, issue 1 should…”
**Sources Consulted**: List the authorities you reviewed, starting on a new page, or add a completed standard checklist of sources consulted. Include full, accurate citations for cases and secondary sources for current and future reference. Identify any helpful Web sites visited. List your sources in a logical order
PLEASE REMEMBER...we are a high school law class and not in first year law at university. If you would like, you can check out The Canadian Legal Research and Writing Guide which has a section on writing legal memorandums (they even have a sample memorandum of law you could look at for formatting or you could check this sample here too).
So for case 1 (Corley Hoogans) consider this as a structure/start
TO: Crown Counsel Young
FROM: You
DATE: Tuesday, November 27. 2023
RE: R. v. Hoogans (2023) - Preference of Criminal Charges
FROM: You
DATE: Tuesday, November 27. 2023
RE: R. v. Hoogans (2023) - Preference of Criminal Charges
Issues Presented:
- Whether Corley Hoogans should lawfully be charged with Possession of a Prohibited Substance under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act of Canada. R.S.C. 1996, c. 19 , s. 4 (1)
- Whether Corley Hoogans should lawfully be charged with Trafficking in a Prohibited Substance under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act of Canada. R.S.C. 1996, c. 19 , s. 5 (1)
Short Answers:
- Yes or No (think actus reus and mens rea here)
- Yes or No (think actus reus and mens rea here)
Your next section should be facts. Lay the facts out with a brief overview and in your own words... Then state the facts connected to the charge (so if yes to trafficking then what facts support that charge and if possession then what facts fit that charge). You don't need to address the defense issues in this section.
Next comes the discussion section. Here apply the actus reus and mens rea required for the charges you identify to the facts of the cases you are reviewing. What does the law require and did the people involved meet the threshold required to lay criminal charges moving forward? This is where you add information about possible defenses and how to address those with facts from the case. Also, suggest a punishment. What should the punishment be and why? Look for similar cases to identify similar penalties. Here is also where you can bring out the defense and also the "interests of justice". Make any suitable recommendations about a course of action against the defense arguments. Be creative. Think strategically. Can you find any case law to back up your opinions here (are there examples of R. v. person) that you can insert in this section to back up your points?
Lastly, in your conclusion answer the question(s) in the issues presented section. Be direct, clear, and complete. Do not be indecisive, hesitant, or inconclusive. Take a stand. State Corley Forrest should be charged with...as a result of... or not and why.
B Block Human Geography - Today, we are in the learning commons/library working on a language project. Your job will be to create an information graphic poster on an endangered language. For your endangered language you’ll need to:
- Show where the endangered language originated and diffused to (yes on a map).
- Show the connection to the family, branch, and group of the endangered language. (Use your best judgment on this).
- Show where the language is spoken today, indicate how many people speak it.
- Show Unique features of this endangered language (What makes it different to and similar than others?)
- Show examples of how the language is written and or spoken
- Show why your endangered language is important to save
- Show how your endangered language is both being threatened (contributing factors) and being saved
- Show how people can find more info (links...sources cited)
A hallmark feature of human intelligence is its adaptability, the ability to invent and rearrange conceptions of the world to suit changing goals and environments. One consequence of this flexibility is the great diversity of languages that have emerged around the globe. Each provides its own cognitive toolkit and encapsulates the knowledge and worldview developed over thousands of years within a culture. Each contains a way of perceiving, categorizing and making meaning in the world, an invaluable guidebook developed and honed by our ancestors. Research into how the languages we speak shape the way we think is helping scientists to unravel how we create knowledge and construct reality and how we got to be as smart and sophisticated as we are. And this insight, in turn, helps us understand the very essence of what makes us human.From A silenced tongue: the last Nuchatlaht speaker dies
Without a geographic and population base to cling to, minority languages seldom tread water for more than a generation or two before going under. Chances are, if your grandparents came to B.C. speaking something other than English, you can’t speak their mother tongue...The question has to be asked: Why fight the tide? The answer: Language is key to retaining culture...That’s not just important to those within the culture, but to all of us. “What the survival of threatened languages means, perhaps, is the endurance of dozens, hundreds, thousands of subtly different notions of truth,” argued Canadian author Mark Abley in his book Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages. Lose a language and you lose the nuanced perspectives it contains, the ones that offer a different view of the world.And from Wade Davis
“Language is not merely a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, the means by which the soul of each particular culture reaches into the material world. Every language is an old-growth forest of the …mind, a watershed of thought, an entire ecosystem of spiritual possibilities.”UNESCO has six factors that identify the vitality and endangeredness of a language. They are:
1) Intergenerational Language Transmission;
2) Absolute Number of Speakers;
3) Proportion of Speakers within the Total Population;
4) Trends in Existing Language Domains;
5) Response to New Domains and Media; and
6) Materials for Language Education and Literacy.
*Hint* Start on page 9 (of 27) on the pdf document above for help
So, today you’ll need to choose an endangered language and research the points above. Start here:
http://languagesindanger.eu/
https://www.ethnologue.com/
http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/
http://www.fpcc.ca/language/ELP/
https://www.firstvoices.com/
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered
http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php
http://www.eldp.net/
https://festival.si.edu/2013/One-World-Many-Voices/smithsonian
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/enduring-voices/#
http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php
http://www.eldp.net/
https://festival.si.edu/2013/One-World-Many-Voices/smithsonian
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/enduring-voices/#
Today's Fit (Vanier Colours)...
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