Now that my ICS3U students have completed the escape room this year, I can share what we got up to! If you make use of the escape room in class, I’d love to hear about it. Topics covered: conditional statements, loops, input/output, tiny bit of string indexing Theme: Retro games There were 3 phases to the escape room: Phase 1:…
Theme Week – (Ant)Arctic Week
We took a break from posting, but in reality ant(arctic) week followed right after insect week. The kindergartener is a huge fan of the arctic right now, so this was a long awaited theme. The info below is split up into the following categories: Activities to do as a family (experiments, outdoor activities, etc.) Independent activities that the kids can…
Theme Week – Insects
With the beautiful week full of sunshine we had, I’m glad that we had selected insects as our theme for this week. The kids, like most, have always been interested in insects and it gave ample opportunity to do some exploring outside. The info below is split up into the following categories: Activities to do as a family (experiments, outdoor…
Theme Week – Aeronautics
Following our two week foray into prehistoric creatures, the next theme we chose was Aeronautics. The inspiration for this theme was that our kiddos’ awesome grandfather is retiring next week after 39 years working as a radar technician. We thought it was a good time to look at what brings us to the sky! The info below is split up…
Theme Week – Prehistoric Creatures
Week four of themes has brought us to a big favourite – prehistoric creatures (also known as dinosaurs and all their friends). We spent two full weeks on this theme as we were having too much fun to switch it up. The info below is split up into the following categories: Activities to do as a family (experiments, outdoor activities,…
Theme Week – Gravity and Spacetime
There was a lot to unpack when looking at space and the kinder kid was intrigued by gravity, so that became the theme for the following week. The info below is split up into the following categories: Activities to do as a family (experiments, outdoor activities, etc.) Independent activities that the kids can do during quiet time Books & Videos Week…
Theme Week – Space
We’re into week two of our themes as we navigate life at home. Last week we looked at the microscopic world. This week, we went with a space theme, which gave tons of options for play, crafts, and experiments. They loved it so much they requested a gravity theme for next week. The info below is split up into the…
Theme Week – The Microscopic World
With our new reality of being home 24/7, we’ve been trying to find ways to keep our core values as a family while also investing time in teaching high schoolers online, running a podcast, and the host of other random things we do as a family. In order to find some modicum of structure, while still allowing for self-guided learning,…
Football Mania
Super Bowl is coming up so it’s a good time to share about a football-themed exponential investigation we did this semester. Full details below, including links to the task sheets. I had come across some work by Geoff and Mr. Honner and was totally inspired by the awesome math behind the NFL Draft. I had never given a lot of thought to all…
Rent-to-Own Put to the Test
To kick off the Financial Applications section of the MCF3M course, I wanted to introduce students to a simple interest problem in a way that helped them see what skills they already possess when it comes to interest rates, percentages, and problem solving. I saw this post from Dan about Rent-to-Own companies and thought it was a great application. I…