This morning we started by meeting with the portable to examine our two amaryllis plants. When we got together we shared our observations and measurements. When we shared our measurements we discovered that our classes had been measuring differently and that meant we had very different results. We had been measuring from the soil and the portable had been measuring from the start of the new growth. We decided that next week we will both measure from the dirt so that it will be easier to compare our plant growth.
Then it was time for our first outside activity of the day. We began by talking about the words prey and predator. We learned a little rhyme to help us remember a way to tell if an animal is a prey animal or a predator animal: Eyes on the side, ready to hide. Eyes up front, ready to hunt. We talked about the strategies that prey animals use to hide from their predators. Some of the strategies we knew were that animals will have fur that matches their surroundings, that animals will stay really still so their predator's eyes aren't attracted by movement, and animals will stay very quiet so their predators won't hear them. This includes keeping themselves quiet and also moving through their environment without making loud noises. After we had talked about these strategies we went outside and gave them a try by playing a game of Camouflage. Ms. Boyer was the predator and stood at the edge of the Whispering Woods. We were the prey who went to hide. When Ms. Boyer yelled "Camouflage" we had to try to stay really still and quiet so that she wouldn't see us. If Ms. Boyer saw us she would call our name and we would go join her at the predator spot. We really enjoyed the game and discovered that the designs of boys snowsuits are much better for Camouflage than girl snow suits...all those pinks and purples were tricky to camouflage!!
After that we had our recess break inside and then we did our next outdoor activity. This activity was called the rainbow chip walk. Ms. Boyer brought out a big bag of paint chips and our job was to see how many of the colours we could find in nature. The job was challenging since lots of the world is covered in snow right now, but once we started looking closely it was amazing how many colours we were able to find.
When we were finished outside we came in to have our time with Saa'Kokoto (Randy Bottle). Today he was here to help us learn more about colour and the importance of colour to the Blackfoot People. We learned that all colours come from the earth and that we can even made paints from natural materials found in the earth like stones, clay, berries, and grasses. For the Blackfoot there are 5 important colours: red, yellow, blue, white, and black. He showed us some pictures of his great grandfather White Clay who was dressed all in white. This is because white is a very important colour. He also told us that we can still see some very old painting that is done in the red ochre paint at Writing on Stone provincial park. These paintings are called petroglyphs and were made by mixing the red ochre powder with buffalo fat. He told us how colours would be used to paint a Moyiss (lodge/tipi). He told us that blue is used to represent mountains and yellow can mean the sun or fire. Black is used to show the dark night sky and sometimes brown is used to show the earth. He also told us a story how the horse was given its name in Blackfoot (Ponookomita) and how the Blackfoot people were introduced to horses. Saa-Kokoto told us this story and he has also published the story as a graphic novel which he gave us as a gift. The story is called Ponookomita. On Monday we will get to visit with Saa'Kokoto again.
Our helper on Monday is: Joachim
