Capital Region Model United Nations (CAPMUN) is a simulation of the real United Nations, held at the University of Ottawa. This March, students from schools in the Ottawa area and surrounding areas gathered to participate in UN committees, where they took roles as delegates or historical characters to tackle real world issues based on the theme of ‘resilience against adversity.’ Students toured the House of Commons and Senate, then listened to the Ambassadors of Morocco, France, and the Netherlands, as they spoke about freedom of expression and climate change. Students then received some specific training on procedures for their committees. Two AcadeCap students were transported back to 1937, as they became Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, working with other Joint Crisis Committee members of the ‘Second United Front’ to vanquish the threat of Imperial Japan on China. Our third student represented Nepal on the Human Rights Committee, working with other General Assembly members to craft a working paper securing 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and access to healthcare.
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The grade 7/8 students completed their final TED style talks today! The goal was to present a polished and memorized short talk on a topic they were passionate about. Students worked to develop a throughline, a story arc, a hook, and a powerful conclusion for their talks. They also worked to perfect their stage presence. Topics included animal extinction, why pets are good for you, how drawings can represent emotions, what if World War III starts, becoming aware of animal welfare issues, and the power of names.
As a final Civics assignment, and an example of a collaboration with Science, students engaged in a model UN roleplay where they each became delegates on the UN Environmental Assembly, a UN committee meeting to discuss global issues related to the environment. Each student researched the topic of pharmaceutical pollution, its impact on ecosystems and the resulting contribution to climate change. They then explored the issue from the perspective of their chosen country, researching details about the pharmaceutical industry in their country, their country’s position on the issue, and their country’s current actions and policies. Finally, students researched possible solutions and participated in formal and informal committee debate to come to a resolution.
This was just a warm up for some students who are heading to CAPMUN, the local Capital Region Model United Nations conference, at the end of the month. GLOBE is an international science and education programme where students assist scientists from across the globe to understand, sustain, and improve the environment at local, regional, and global scales. GLOBE stands for ‘Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment.’ For our first project, ‘Mission SnowGLOBE,’ the OSSD students are partnering with NASA to do ground verification of atmospheric data collected for NASA’s ‘Investigation of Microphysics and Precipitation for Atlantic Coast-threatening Snowstorms’ (IMPACTS).
The HIVE students, in a fun collaboration between their Civics and History courses, participated in the ‘Clash of the Ideologies’ activity, which involved each student completing research on a specific political ideology and creating a short audio-visual presentation. For the presentation, we had some special guests in the audience, the Grade 5/6 students, who were also studying beliefs and ideologies for their PYP Expo projects. The presentations were followed by a question period and a rousing game of Ideology Jeopardy, for which the students had created a short list of answers and questions to test their colleagues’ understanding of each political ideology.
For the Metabolic Processes Unit, the Biology 12 students conducted investigations to determine the rates of cellular respiration and photosynthesis. They made predictions, explored direct and indirect methods of measurement, and investigated a variety of factors that influence metabolic rates in various organisms. Students practiced using their lab observations to draw conclusions and to support or refute their predictions.
In Science 9, the students have become inventors of bioplastic and other plastic alternatives. They are exploring the chemistry of bioplastic, reading the recent research on the use of waste materials from agriculture to make bioplastics, and thinking critically about the societal, technological, and environmental implications associated with bioplastic use and production.
Students build model ecosystems to explore concepts related to the cycling of nutrients, oxygen, carbon, and water. They explore the abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems and how they interact within the ecosystem.
In Biology 12, during the ‘open design inquiry,’ students explored the concepts of diffusion and osmosis in various cell models. They explored the significance of the cell’s surface area to volume ratio on the rate and extent of diffusion and investigated factors that influence the movement of water into or out of the cell. Students then evaluated and analyzed their results in order to improve their experimental designs.
Students of AcadeCap became informed voters as they learned about the candidate platforms and voting process, and participated in a week of activities that culminated with the Student Vote to elect the College Ward City Councillor and the Mayor of Ottawa.
The Civics class took on a range of roles throughout the campaign process, each running their own campaigns, creating summary information used to inform voters of the candidates' platforms and becoming polling officers at the Student Vote polling station. In another election, AcadeCap City elected City Councillors for each Classroom Ward and they elected co-Mayors for AcadeCap City. The elected officials will soon participate in a City Council meeting to review, debate, and hopefully resolve a key issue impacting AcadeCap City. |
AuthorsOur 2023-2024 teachers are: Lucie Lalonde: Français, Humanities Archives
November 2023
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