Moist foods – like fresh fruit or raw meat – often have high water activity and spoil quickly. But some foods that seem moist – like jam or pepperoni – don’t spoil as quickly. Why is this? All living things need water to survive. Enzymes and chemical reactions also require water. If water activity is less than 0.6, almost all microbes, including bacteria, molds, and yeasts, stop growing. This means that food can be preserved against spoilage by lowering its water activity – whether by evaporating water away or binding it up. Virtual Labs – Understanding Water Activity familiarizes the user with food science lab equipment and standard techniques for measuring water activity. The interactive animation guides the user through both theory and practice, preparing them for experiences in a real lab. Complete this lab first, then follow up with Virtual Labs – Controlling Water Activity.

In my leadership unit in grade 9 health my students spent time reflecting on how
healthy decisions are important for a healthy future. In an effort to have students
dream positively for their futures, and really focus on the importance of healthy life
choices, I had them create vision boards. Students were encouraged to dream about
their visions for their futures and create a canvas that would display these future
visions. We talked a lot about how leaders spend time planning for the future they
want to have, and create visions and goals for getting to where they want to be in
life.

Students create a mixed media artwork about an at-risk species using black shapes on a white background. They paint each black shape with small, beadlike circles in a style similar to that of Métis artist Christi Belcourt.

Students learn about the mechanics of a lunar eclipse.
Students will use the Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness to assign an “L” value at three points during an eclipse. After the eclipse, students compare and justify their evaluations of the eclipse.

So, what happens when there's not enough water? Well... not good things. Do we let homes have more water for showering and cooking? Or do we let farms have the water for growing crops? There aren't any easy solutions, but in this video Sabrina chats with us about how water scarcity can cause problems.

How can we fix water shortages? Well, we know that shortages are a problem and can cause fighting because water is a resource. When you limit a resource, things get scary. But, in this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks about ways that we can help to fix problems like this.

Hank teaches us why water is one of the most fascinating and important substances in the universe.

The Sacred Relationship brings Aboriginal worldview right into your classroom and community. Download easy-to-teach lesson plans based on series of fifteen educational videos. The videos feature perspectives on water from Aboriginal Elders, leaders and Western Scientists.
Contact us and get access to the curriculum

Teachers across Canada can log in free of charge and get access to:
Grade 5 Science – Wetland Eco-Systems
Eleven Lesson Plans
Six Online Videos
Grade 5 Social Studies – Histories and Stories of Ways of Life in Canada
Four Lesson Plans
Four Online Videos
Grade 6 Science – Evidence and Investigation
Three Lesson Plans
Three Online Videos
Grade 6 Social Studies – Citizens Participating in Decision Making
One Lesson Plan
One Online Video

Of all of the water on Earth, most of it is saltwater and we need freshwater to live. There's not that much Freshwater for us (and other life) to get to. So how do different animals deal with different amounts of water where they live? In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks about the adorable Nerpa and how they deal with rough conditions to live in Freshwater!

Why is my weather app sometimes wrong? Well it has a lot to do with wind. Jet Streams, air cells, the shape and movement of the Earth... there are a lot of things that make weather a little unpredictable. In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks to us about how Ocean Currents actually work with Jet Streams to move weather around.

In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina gives us a real world example of how the Hydrosphere and Geosphere affect each other in the form of Weathering and Erosion. Think of Weathering as the force that makes a mess and Erosion as the force that cleans it up.

Weather and Climate... are they the same thing? No they are not. But they are both super important to how the geosphere is shaped. In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina chats with us about the differences between Weather and Climate.

This lesson from NASA explains how the Earth's tilt causes the seasons. There are also links to related resources on the webpage.

We know that the Earth is divided into four spheres (The Hydrosphere, the Biosphere, the Geosphere, and the Atmosphere). But, how do these different sphere interact with each other? In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina chats with us about how two of the spheres do, in fact, work together.

In our first episode of Crash Course Engineering, Shini explains what engineering is, and gives a brief overview of its four main branches (civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical) as well as a look at some of the other fields of engineering.

What's MATTER? In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina talks about what matter is and the three states of matter: Solid, Liquid, and Gas. She also does a quick experiment that you can do at home to prove that air is matter.

What exactly can we tell about an unknown substance by it's properties. We already know that a substance is matter that’s made of one kind of atom or molecule, and that has specific properties and that some substances are elements, which means they can’t be broken down into other substances through physical changes or chemical reactions. We also know that we can group substances and elements by their properties. We know that metals have high reflectivity and magnetivity. What else do we know about metals?

This awesome video introduces the field of engineering and how it has and continues to impact our everyday lives. It addresses how we are able to travel from place, communicate, cook, build things, search the internet and much more because engineers ask themselves how and why things work. They design and build things to solve problems.
Engineers ask themselves three very important questions while they are working:
1. What is the problem that needs to be solved?
2. Who has the problem that needs to be solved?
3. Why is this problem important to solve?
Each type of engineer is outlined with examples of how and why their work is changing our daily lives.

Hear words from the book in nēhiyawēwin

These activity sheets are from the book “When the Trees Crackle with Cold: A Cree Seasons Activity Book” by Bernice Johnson-Laxdal and Miriam Körner. We thank them for their permission to share these activities with you for Family Literacy Day in Saskatchewan!

Story Questions
Read and Find Activity Sheets
Look and Find Activity Sheets

Students will observe how plants increase in mass due to photosynthesis and apply ideas of the conservation of mass.