This thematic unit from Comox Valley Schools (SD71) in B.C. is aimed at Grade 6 Core French students, but is suitable for younger grades and would be easily adaptable for older ones. It is focused on oral practice and participation and would also be useful in French Immersion classes!Content Authors: Comox Valley Schools, Learn71, Beth Peddle

The culminating art and writing projects for each of the Comox Valley Schools (SD71, B.C.) middle-grade Core French units (also searchable on the Resource Bank). All would be adaptable for younger and older students. These could also been done as separate assignments, but are best scaffolded by the activities in each unit!
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Ces projets d'art et de rédaction sont destinés aux élèves de Core French, mais pourraient également être utiles dans des cours d'Immersion!

UNIT THEMES (those with art/writing projects, searchable on the Resource Bank):

-Greetings & letters (saluer & alphabet)
-Numbers & calendar (chiffres & calendrier)
-Who are you? (Qui es-tu?)
-Body parts & monsters (le corps & les monstres)
-Clothing (les vêtements)
-Sports (les sports)
-Hobbies (les passe-temps)
-Animals (les animaux)
-High-frequency words (Les mots de haute fréquence)
-Food (la nourriture) - unit 2/2e unité

Card and board game kits for many of the Comox Valley Schools (SD71, B.C.) middle-grade Core French units (also searchable on the Resource Bank). All would be adaptable for younger and older students. There are also flash card sets with the units themselves.
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Ces jeux sont destinés aux élèves de Core French, mais seraient également très utiles pour susciter la participation à l'oral dans les cours d'Immersion! Des cartes flash sont aussi disponibles avec chaque unité (recherchables dans la Banque de Ressource).

UNIT THEMES (those with flash cards and games, searchable on the Resource Bank):

-Greetings & letters (saluer & alphabet)
-Numbers & calendar (chiffres & calendrier)
-Who are you? (Qui es-tu?)
-Body parts & monsters (le corps & les monstres)
-Clothing (les vêtements)
-Sports (les sports)
-Hobbies (les passe-temps)
-Animals (les animaux)
-High-frequency words (Les mots de haute fréquence)
-Food (la nourriture) - unit 2/2e unité

Students use a small quantity of modeling clay to make boats that float in a tub of water. The object is to build boats that hold as much weight as possible without sinking. In the process of designing and testing their prototype creations, students discover some of the basic principles of boat design, gain first-hand experience with concepts such as buoyancy and density, and experience the steps of the engineering design process.

Students learn how the force of water helps determine the size and shape of dams. They use clay to build models of four types of dams, and observe the force of the water against each type. They conclude by deciding which type of dam they, as Splash Engineering engineers, will design for Thirsty County.

Students design and build model landfills using materials similar to those used by engineers for full-scale landfills. Their completed small-size landfills are "rained" on and subjected to other erosion processes. The goal is to create landfills that hold the most garbage, minimize the cost to build and keep trash and contaminated water inside the landfill to prevent it from causing environmental damage. Teams create designs within given budgets, test the landfills' performance, and graph and compare designs for capacity, cost and performance.

Students determine the mass and volume of soil samples and calculate the density of the soils. They use this information to determine the suitability of the soil to support a building foundation.

Students measure the permeability of different types of soils, compare results and realize the importance of size, voids and density in permeability response.

Waste disposal has been an ongoing problem since medieval times. Environmental engineers are employed to develop technologies to dispose of the enormous amount of trash produced in the United States. In this lesson, students will learn about the three methods of waste disposal in use by modern communities. They will also investigate how engineers design sanitary landfills to prevent leachate from polluting the underlining groundwater.

Students take a hands-on look at the design of bridge piers (columns). First they brainstorm types of loads that might affect a Colorado bridge. Then they determine the maximum possible load for that scenario, and calculate the cross-sectional area of a column designed to support that load. Choosing from clay, foam or marshmallows, they create model columns and test their calculations.

The Observation Survey includes 6 tasks:
Letter Identification - Students are asked to identify capital and lower case letters in any way they can.
Word Test - Students read a list of 20 words.
Concepts about Print - This task identifies what children know about how print works.
Writing Vocabulary - Students are given 10 minutes to write as many words as they can.
Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words- A short story is dictated and students are asked to record the sounds they hear.
Text Reading - Students are asked to read text and their level is identified

Students will show that plants grow more successfully in fertile soil when compared to other materials.

Students learn about soil properties and the effect biochar—charcoal used as a soil amendment—has on three soil types, sand, loam and clay. They test the soils’ water retention capability before and after the addition of biochar. During the activity, student teams prepare soil mixtures, make observations (including microscopic examinations), compare soil properties, conduct water retention tests, take and record measurements, and analyze their observations and data. They see how the physical properties of soils—color, texture, and particle size—can be indicators of nutrient content and water retention capabilities to support plant growth. From their findings, they consider biochar’s potential benefits for environmental and agricultural applications, especially in conditions of drought and depleted soils. An activity lab sheet is provided to guide experimental data collection and analysis.

Students learn about one method used in environmental site assessments. They practice soil sampling by creating soil cores, studying soil profiles and characterizing soil profiles in borehole logs. They use their analysis to make predictions about what is going on in the soil and what it might mean to an engineer developing the area.

This site looks at soil fertility, nitrogen in soil, soil chemistry, soils as electrical systems, soils as filters, soil physics and particle sizes (silt, sand, and clay), microorganisms in soil, nutrients that plants need, soil morphology, judging soil by feel, structures and shapes of soil, and soil profile images from Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and other states. Learn how soil is formed and how long it takes to create an inch of soil.

Students apply their knowledge about mountains and rocks to transportation engineering, with the task of developing a model mountain tunnel that simulates the principles behind real-life engineering design. Student teams design and create model tunnels through a clay mountain, working within design constraints and testing for success; the tunnels must meet specific design requirements and withstand a certain load.