The Bones want their Stories Told... Glenbow School Grade 4 - Kim Kendal

We began our journey by learning about Alberta's natural regions in order to better understand our province's geography.

We used AB Tomorrow to examine our natural resource use/practices from past to present. The simulation models gave us an idea of how Alberta might look by 2040 if our current practices continue....what would our natural spaces look like?

From here we wondered: Why does Alberta have such rich deposits of fossils fuels? So....we explored the geologic time scale. Mass extinctions, changing environments, evolution and the development of life - we loved this! We started to notice that bones told many stories.

Fossils led us more deeply into bones and skeletons - what do they tell us about habitats and adaptations? How do living things 'fit' their environment??

The students were able to explore a wide variety of skulls (thanks to Fish and Wildlife, AWIC) and used an app to help identify them. Once they knew about dentition and other skull basics, they were hooked!

Although we had many questions... Will there be another mass extinction event? Will humans last forever? Will scientists figure out how to bring extinct species back? Will we always have the rich resources we have now? Will there be other planets to live on? What will happen to nature in the future? What will be here after us? We ending up focusing on....

Can living things adapt as quickly as we are changing the planet?

We had many experts come in to share their wisdom and thinking with us...

The students finished researching their chosen AB species at risk and created 'edu-tainment' pieces that were presented along the pathways at Cochrane Ranch.

Our intent for our celebration day was to get classes outside and to learn about the situation of these AB species.