Rouge Valley Tepees (Part 2)

Here are the finished products of our class tepees:

Tepee Dioramas (Part 1)

Combining the Science (Forces and Structures) and Social Studies (First Nations) units, the students began constructing some tepee dioramas. Students were provided with bamboo skewers for 'tepee poles', burlap fabric for 'animal skins', yarn for 'rope' and toothpicks for 'fasteners'.

The students were not given explicit instructions on how to construct their tepee. They were asked to figure it out on their own. We'd studied the tepee at Rouge Park up close, so the students had a good conception of how the tepee needed to be built. We've also studied a variety of photographs in class so they also knew how they were usually decorated as well as the environment that the tepees were usually found.

The task turned out to be more challenging than the students initially thought, but they demonstrated good collaborative skills while problem solving. The class quickly discovered that one of the biggest challenges was to keep the skewers from sliding around and staying in place on the 'ground'. Different groups tried a variety of different strategies on how to keep the skewers fixed. When one group found a solution, they would quickly share it with other groups, just like a First Nations community would have done.

Here are some initial photos of the tepee construction in progress.

Walking RV: Aboriginal Studies

At Rouge Park last week, we came across a modern reconstruction of a tepee. This tied in with our Aboriginal Peoples unit in Social Studies and was a wonderful opportunity for us to practice our descriptive writing and observational skills. Students made dot jots about what they observed of the interior and exterior of the tepee. This information was brought back to class for a writing assignment.

A fascinating observation that some of the students made was that vapour was rising up from the sunny side of the tepee. We observed that the canvas was wet from the early morning dew (condensation). Now that the sun was getting brighter, much of the moisture was evaporating back into the atmosphere. What a powerful learning opportunity to see the water cycle in action. These are the experiences that make learning real!

Descriptive Writing - Three Tepees

This picture gave our class a wonderful opportunity to look at concepts in Science (Structures and Forces), Social Studies (First Nations) and Language (Descriptive Writing). In Language, students were asked to brainstorm words to describe this scene. We focused on elements in the background/setting, the middle ground and the foreground. Here is a descriptive piece that the class wrote collaboratively to serve as a model for future writing:

Three Tepees

By Room 208

On a gloomy,overcast day, there are three tepees in a grassy field surrounded by a forest. The tepees are in a peaceful, wilderness area. The meadow is covered by fresh, luxurious grass. The clouds look stormy, like it is threatening to rain. The wall of trees in the background is massive and green. In front of the trees are two tepees. The first tepee is mostly yellow and has a thick red stripe. It is taller than the second tepee, which is white with a green stripe. Its flap is slightly open and the poles are on the outside. There is a large cone-shaped tepee in the foreground. It is white with two thin red stripes. There is also a tiny red stripe at the top. The ends of the poles are sticking out the top. There are wooden sticks that pin the hides together.