Thursday, September 5. 2019

Today's schedule is D-AG-CBA

9:05 am – 10:10 am – D Block
10:15 – 10:35 am - AG
10:40 am – 11:50 am – C Block
11:50 am – 12:35 pm - Lunch
12:40 pm – 1:55 pm – B Block
2:00 pm – 3:15 pm – A Block

D/C Blocks Environmental and Social Sciences - Yesterday we looked at worldviews and ecological value systems along with environmental assessment. Today we go outside. We are going to do an inventory and analysis field study of Towhee Creek, an intermittent or seasonal stream that flows between the Comox Valley Sports Centre and G.P. Vanier, through the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds to the Tsolum River.

Intermittent streams have flowing water periods during the wet season (winter-spring) but are normally dry during hot summer months. Ephemeral streams have less flow than intermittent streams, are typically shallow, and have flowing water for brief periods in response to rainfall. So Towhee Creek is an Intermittent, rather than an Ephemeral stream. Towhee Creek is important due to superior capacity for nutrient spiralling and fish habitat (particularly Coho and trout) providing winter habitat for Tsolum River salmon populations in the watershed. The headwaters of Towhee Creek is a rare 5.53 hectare Garry oak woodland behind G.P. Vanier Secondary School. This protected Garry oak woodland is a remnant of the most northern ecosystem of its kind in Canada. It also hosts a variety of unusual vegetation species.

First block sees us look at the headwaters through to mid stream and second block sees us look at the lower portions of the stream through the Exhibition grounds to the riparian second growth forests along the Tsolum.

FMI Check out the SD 71 - Vanier Oak Property Ecological Assessment and Protection Plan  from Current Environmental, Raincoast Applied Ecology, and MDI Design Inc

B Block Human Geography - Yesterday we looked at our first key question, "How do Geographers describe where things are?" So to help check out this video about GPS and Atomic Clocks

We briefly looked at scale and projection connected to the "language" of geography...maps. Today, in order to get ready for our next three key questions (Why is each point on Earth unique?, Why are different places similar? and Why are some human actions not sustainable?) we'll look at  the Five Themes of Geography (Location, Place, Human-Environment Interactions, Movement, and Regions).
 

No...we will not do this!

A Block Physical Geography - Today we'll work on the foundations of Geography starting with the Five Themes. In order to understand the increasingly complex and interconnected world we live in we need to find a way to make sense of information in a way that doesn't overwhelm us. I will not show you a video of the 5 Themes of Geography using Fortnite nor a really bad rap by J-Dub & The hip hop graphics...ugh! The Five Themes (Location, Place, Human-Environment Interactions, Movement, and Regions) are a framework for making sense of geographic data. It helps you to understand the holistic nature of geography (as a theme cannot be seen in isolation from the others). After this I'll give you time to continue your observing as a geographer activity from yesterday's class.