David McCandless turns complex data sets (like worldwide military spending, media buzz, Facebook status updates) into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut -- and it may just change the way we see the world. A quiz, thought provoking question, and links for further study are provided to create a lesson around the 18-minute video. Educators may use the platform to easily "Flip" or create their own lesson for use with their students of any age or level.

Discover all that the Meewasin Valley Authority with a variety of different options in programming from grades 3-6.

Grade 3 Ecology Programs – Northeast Swale
Explore Nature in the City! The Grade 3 Program at the Northeast Swale is a half-day of learning in a unique prairie wetland habitat. This program includes a nature hike in the ecological core of the Northeast Swale and features the exploration of ecosystem connections, identification of grassland plants and wildlife, nature mindfulness, and discussions of Indigenous Worldviews and treaty relationships as well as other place-based learnings.

These half-day programs (9:30 am – 11:30 am OR 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm) are offered in spring (May & June) and fall (September & October).

Grade 4/5/6 Ecology Programs – Beaver Creek Conservation Area
Beaver Creek Ecology programs include a full day of learning out in nature! You and your students will learn about and observe spring/fall migration, and mating and nesting behaviors of common birds at Beaver Creek with a special focus on the resident Black-capped Chickadee. This program also explores the impacts of weather systems on plants and animals, sustainable grassland management, medicinal plant uses, keystone species, predator-prey relationships, and the importance of citizen science.

These full-day programs (10:00 am – 2:30 pm) are offered each spring (April – June) and fall (September – November). We are grateful to SaskPower for their support of Meewasin’s educational programming.

Grade 4/5/6 Cross-Country Ski Program – Beaver Creek Conservation Area
In this full day program, students have an opportunity to feed the resident Black-capped Chickadees at Beaver Creek and to learn about winter adaptations, the importance of snow as habitat, and animal tracks on the open prairie. Students are introduced to cross-country skiing through a short lesson, followed by a 60 – 90 minute ski on the upland prairie with stunning views of the South Saskatchewan River Valley.

This ski trail is both fun and accessible for all skill levels! This full-day program (10:00 am – 2:30 pm) is offered in winter (January – March).

Get ready to get weird. Mike Rugnetta teaches you about the Theater of the Absurd, a 1950s theatrical reaction to the dire world events of the 1940s. You'll learn about Jean Genet, Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, and the theatrical movement that left us all Waiting for Godot.

Students "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters, using lists of accurate, powerful adjectives.

Encourage students to become “Writing Thieves” Ruth Culham suggests that we pickpocket our way through the world of print and non-print as writers, not just readers. Be a cat burglar of great writing. Bring the great treasures you find into your teaching and learning. Use things that jump out at you, that are unforgettable. When you get excited by something an author writes about or the way they write it, steal bit of it in the hope that you can improve your own writing –BE A WRITING THIEF!

Is the case closed on the authorship of Shakespeare's plays? Student history detectives explore the evidence for and against one of the possible alternatives, Edward deVere, using the novel Shakespeare's Secret plus a variety of online sources.

The PhET project at the University of Colorado creates "fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena." This particular one deals with Beer's Law. "The thicker the glass, the darker the brew, the less the light that passes through." Make colorful concentrated and dilute solutions and explore how much light they absorb and transmit using a virtual spectrophotometer! The simulation is also paired with a teachers' guide and related resources from PhET. The simulation is also available in multiple languages.

The PhET project at the University of Colorado creates "fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena." This particular one deals with Beer's Law. "The thicker the glass, the darker the brew, the less the light that passes through." Make colorful concentrated and dilute solutions and explore how much light they absorb and transmit using a virtual spectrophotometer! The simulation is also paired with a teachers' guide and related resources from PhET. The simulation is also available in multiple languages.

Students will learn the life cycle of a honey bee and their importance to agriculture through pollination.

The study of biomimicry and sustainable design promises great benefits in design applications, offering cost-effective, resourceful, non-polluting avenues for new enterprise. An important final caveat for students to understand is that once copied, species are not expendable. Biomimicry is intended to help people by identifying natural functions from which to pattern human-driven services. Biomimicry was never intended to replace species. Ecosystems remain in critical need of ongoing protection and biodiversity must be preserved for the overall health of the planet. This activity addresses the negative ramifications of species decline. For example, pollinators such as bees are a vital work force in agriculture. They perform an irreplaceable task in ensuring the harvest of most fruit and vegetable crops. In the face of the unexplained colony collapse disorder, we are only now beginning to understand how invaluable these insects are in keeping food costs down and even making the existence of these foods possible for humans.

The following is a poster on "What a Good Listener, Reader, Viewer does Before/During/ After Listening, Reading and Viewing".

The following are three posters on "What Good Speakers, Writers and Presenters do Before/During/After Speaking, Writing and Presenting".

Students discuss a 17th-century painting that depicts musicians in the middle of a fight. They will write a one-paragraph description of the painting in the present tense. Students speculate about what happened before and after the scene depicted in the painting, and then use past and future tenses to write narratives based on their speculations. In the narratives, each student will add descriptive idioms about characters in the painting and draw a visual representation of an idiom.

This short video and interactive assessment activity is designed to teach third graders about before and after problems.

Before the Plate documentary is about the questions, the stories and the people behind where our food comes from and how it gets to our plate. We have developed a comprehensive, curriculum-linked Documentary Viewing Guide for Grades 9-12 students that meets learning outcomes in Science, Social Studies, Health, Careers, PAA and more! The teacher resource includes information about how to gain full viewing access to the Before the Plate documentary (pg. 3).

Before the Plate (1 hr 30 min) attempts to close the gap in perception between the urban consumer and farming in Canada. Modern consumers are increasingly interested in where and how their food gets to them, but accurate information isn’t always easy to come by and often feels out of reach. Before the Plate follows young farmers and industry experts in order to show the general population what a modern Canadian farm operation looks like, and answer the most pressing questions consumers have about their food.

Have you seen the Before the Plate documentary? Are you wanting to use it as a resource in your classroom? We have developed a comprehensive, curriculum-linked Documentary Viewing Guide for Grades 9-12 students that meets learning outcomes in Science, Social Studies, Health, Careers, PAA and more! Make sure you download the Before the Plate - Teacher Guide first to access the documentary, answer key, and for more information on the resource!

Have you seen the Before the Plate documentary? Are you wanting to use it as a resource in your classroom? We have developed a comprehensive, curriculum-linked Documentary Viewing Guide for Grades 9-12 students that meets learning outcomes in Science, Social Studies, Health, Careers, PAA and more! This resource includes full viewing access to the Before the Plate documentary.

Beginning Reading Instruction (BRI)/Advanced Reading Instruction (ARI) is a highly researched, and simple reading program that helps children learn to decode.

A teaching guide, along with the three sets of books, and the booster set (extra practice) are all you need to begin teaching a child to read. Additional materials, such as tests to make sure a child has mastered the skills after they complete each set, and ways to keep track of progress are included.

Each book set offers a drop down menu featuring the book, suggestions for looking through and discussing the book and story questions.