Half Day

So today was the OSSLT (Literacy Test) which meant that we got to SLEEP IN and didn't have to come in to school til 12:30. Which I quite enjoyed.

However, I thought classes started at 12....so I came then. I did find Mauricio, Christy, Stubbs, Dunlop, and Kramer playing some intense President in the cafeteria though.......so naturally, I walked over and joined them (President is the best game ever). But I didn't win. Not even one round.

Anyways, at 12:30 we all went to Anrdychuk's class and did some more planning for our Apprentice projects. Most groups worked on their VTV announcements - and some got really into it...and even brought fake mustaches. I don't really know what they needed the mustaches for, but their announcement will probably be very interesting...here`s a picture of Mauricio's classy stache:

My Reaction:

*mauricio what is that face*

Fifth period was with Simms, we took up tests and started our new unit on...

Yes. I love paint. 

I think this unit will prove very interesting as we learn about the earth below us and what we should expect to see when we visit the volcano and many other different landscapes in Costa Rica! Geography Rocks! (see what i did there?)

As for new experiences, today wasn't exactly packed full of them but it was a good day for us to get work done. Simms also did an activity with us where he handed out envelopes filled with strips of paper which each had a different word on them. We had to put them in the order of when we thought they appeared on Earth. I worked with Laura and Kramer, and we got pretty close to winning but Will, Courtney, and Charles (I think?) beat us to it. It was fun though, and fascinating to learn what came first in the stages of evolution.

As I'm sure we're all aware, Geo Studies has gone by so fast and is already almost half over! 

We've gotten to know each other so quickly by spending all day everyday together, and you guys are really making Geo the best class ever. Never before in my life have I said, "Tomorrow's Monday...YAY!" but I say it now because it means I get to see all your faces and I know that whatever we end up doing it's gonna be fun. 19 DAYS TIL COSTA RICA, GET PUMPED!

________________________________________________________________

    - Allyson Banville :)

Barrie Ball Hockey

http://vimeo.com/39311785

Copeland Track Feild Trip

It is hard to believe that we are departing for our big trip in only a couple weeks! It seems like it was yesterday that second semester was just starting. It is true what they say “time flies when you are having fun”. Today was just another additional of the memories we will have for this semester. Today we went to the Copeland Track, and we got to stand right in the centre of one of the zeros of the “Project 2000”. I personally thought this as pretty cool to stand in. Although the wind kept the temperature low, measuring trees and taking core samples personally kept me warm. I cannot believe the difference in the temperature of last week and this week.  I personally also enjoyed listening to Simmers and           Mr. Ruzylo stories about tree planting. I think that going through the experience of that would be a lot of work but worth it.

 ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOMAS DAWSON! Tomorrow we have our test on forestry, and then we get to take the city bus down to Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). Can't wait to see what the furture has in store for the rest of the Geo class this year.

This is Jonny Crew logging off.

Forestry Lab

Today, we started by getting on the bus for about a 30 minute ride to the Craighurst forest. When we got there we had a short hike to the first plot of trees. We had a general place to meet, but it wasn't long before we split up with our partners to go on the quest of finding our 10cmX10cm plot of land. We were all responsible for measuring the trees within our area in order to figure out how much our plot would be worth dollar wise.

When the first plot was finished we gathered back together and learned how to core a tree. Shortly after that we began to walk again. We ended up at an area where all the trees were so close to one another that they touched. We had to estimate a 10cmX10cm plot again, but this time we had to weasel through the tight spaces of branches inter twining in every direction. The lack of space made it very hard to determine the number of trees with in the area.

Later we heard the stories that Simms and Ruzylo had about their years spent tree planting. We learned a lot about their working conditions, pay, and overall opinions of the job.

When we got back to school we had a lunch break. During 4th we continued planning our strategies for selling retro North gear. We spent 5th period working on our lab reports, and dividing up the work for it.

 Thought the weather has had a drop in temperature over the past few days, we were able to stick out our cold hands and feet and have an overall good day! 21 MORE DAYS TILL COSTA RICA!

Alexa Bettcher

March 21, 2012

 A GEO 180 Day :)

Today was another great day. The high temperatures broke another record for the month of March. It sure does not feel like spring but rather mid summer. With the temperature sitting at 25 degrees, it was impossible to sit back in our desks and watch the day pass by. So, naturally we did a Geo 180 and headed outside second period to go play horseshoes at Mac Morison Park. We had a great time being able to learn something new and to be educated about the history of the Horseshoe game specifically about how they were used as weapons in the war. We played for about an hour in the sun then headed back to the school carrying our horseshoes. We then sat back down at our desks to learn more about biodiversity. 

During period four we were in the gym. We learned how to speed skate with the help of some woolly socks and teaching instructions by Ms. A who taught us how to do proper form. This prepped us for our speed skating trip tomorrow :). We then learned about skills that younger age groups may find challenging. Using this knowledge we learned how to incorporate them into a fun activity.  We played soccer-baseball including all of the skills; agility, throwing, catching, balancing, running. etc. After working up a sweat we got changed and headed to the computer lab where we worked on our resumes till the end of the day. All in all, it was a very successful day. 27 DAYS TO COSTA RICA!! GET PUMPED YEYE!!

Apples and Other Intriguing Things

Second day back from the March break and I’m guessing mast people are still trying to adjust to getting up in the morning. Today was a pretty busy and we had a lot to get done. To start off out beautiful day we had to write out unit test. Waking up in the morning knowing you have to write a test isn’t the greatest feeling but I guess it wasn’t that bad. I think that everyone felt confident writing it. After that we had some fun cutting up apples for our Biodiversity unit. I thought that it was a very interesting way to learn about taxonomy.We then ended off the first half of the day with some more notes on biodiversity. 

After our lunch break we were heading out to do a careers workshop with Miss A to work on our resume writing.. To be honest I wasn't really looking forward to this because I already had a resume but after the presentation, i learned a lot of new things. I found the workshop very helpful. They gave us out lines, tips about writing resumes, and best of all, They gave us all USB sticks! I also really enjoyed the walk to the workshop and back. It was super nice outside! So to wrap things up, today was a pretty interesting day that through a lot of good information our way. I wish that we had a chance to do something active, but I guess you cant do that every day.  Oh and one more thing....28 DAYS TILL COSTA RICA!!!!

Tom Dawson

Bienvenidos!

Hola GeoStudies,

*Before you begin , you must agree to read this in a dramatic british accent*
Well this is my first blog, and may I just say what a thrilling ride these two months have been. As Simms says 100 new experinces and I'd that im pretty much half way done. Anyway, today was like a "buffer" day.  

We were all back from our break; some of us worked, some of us travelled, and the rest actually took time for so relaxation. So we started the day right of the bat, with seat work. Let me tell you it was quite exquisite! But let’s be frank, that’s not our favourite part of the day, we’re an outdoor ed. type class we need to be up and at em! So when it comes to gym, we all scatter to be the first done changing! AND then...

Simms hits us with some NCCP, planning for emergency worksheet; we all quietly sit down, scribble scribble down the answers. “Alright we’re going to be playing Ultimate, and Omnikin Ball.” … …. … … Swoooshhhh, everybody darts into their teams, and is like,” GAMMEEE ONNN!!!”  Period 5 was definitely a good time to cool off, after getting all into the recreation part of the course.  Miss Andrychuk organized Algonquin College to come to Barrie, and talk to us about their outdoor ed. program, which is a pretty unique program that they have going for them; and I bet a lot of students in the GeoStudies class would be interested.

Period 5 was definitely a good time to cool off, after getting all into the recreation part of the course. Miss Andrychuk organized Algonquin College to come to Barrie, and talk to us about their outdoor ed. program, which is a pretty unique program that they have going for them; and I bet a lot of students in the GeoStudies class would be interested.

Oh, and did I mention the global warming weather change, it feels like summerrrr! But I’m not complaining at all, it’s just a sign that Costa Rica is right around the corner :) 29 DAYS! I can’t wait because I haven’t been out of Canada in 12 years!! So it’s going to be good to be back!

And on another note, I think that we have improved a lot in the way that we can now listen to Simms or a presenter!

Adios mis amigos,

Mauricio Diaz

Horseshoe day for Geo!

Today was a pretty interesting day, in my opinion. Waking up and seeing that it was raining and knowing that would make the hills icier and that it was my first time skiing was slightly intimidating, to say the least. Me and Stevenato were given blue stickers and were stuck on that kiddy hill for the first bit of the morning until we went over to the big hills with jonny and kramer and them, which was hilarious. Tyler and Jonny had to teach me how to ski, and I didnt fall (that time) and that was super exciting and I can add flying into a bunch of trees while skiing onto my list of 100 things i did in geo that ive never done before. By the end of the day the majority of us were just all going down random hills, and it was actually so much fun! Dunlop and Allyson did their microteaching which apparently went pretty well, and everyone was actually really good at skiing and snowboarding. Gotta say i was nervous for today, but I'm glad we did it and its fair to say we all had fun, I dont even think anyone cared about the rain by the end of the day!

By: Christy Doo

Winter Camping

          Alright so today was our first day back from winter camping! On Monday we left at 8 am and went to Sparrow Lake. After we snow shoed to the cafeteria cabin, and took a tour of the campground, we began to pile snow for our quinzhees (or as Christy would say: Quinz). It took a lot of teamwork and heavy lifting, but eventually we all came through to build 6 of them. After letting the Quinzhee's set for an hour or so, we began to dig them out, which I found very fun. Next we all changed into our dry clothes and began to make our "one pot wonders" for dinner. We then warmed up by the fireplace for a bit then went out to make a bonfire. It was really cool to see everyone participating in the songs and leading some of the games and just going with it! Playing "Man hunt" after that was actually so fun! We then went back to the lodge and did the talent show! Simms made a quite excellent dessert and Allyson sang and played T-swift <3 on guitar. We ended with a rose and thorn of the day! There were so many more good things to say because it was such a fun day! As the night went on people started to go to their quinzhees except for the three people who stayed the whole night! I woke up on Tuesday when Simms walked into the building at 8am full of energy having no idea how that is even possible. Many others started to trickle in after, and we cooked our breakfasts. Everyone was still tired and we slowly began to pack our bags and clean up. The bus ride back was very quiet but warm; I'm sure that just about everyone passed out as soon as they got home! However, with 2 assignments due today, and a lot of procrastination, we had to start our projects and get them done! I came to school late and we started the travel fair assignment; there were some amazing places and good presentations. After that, we presented our natural disaster presentations and I learned some pretty cool things! We broke for lunch, and came back to do the job shadowing for a teacher at Barrie North. I shadowed Mrs. Maslen with Christy and Allyson and it was pretty fun. We did a few notes and games with them. Last period we did a NCCP activity in the gym, and learned about leadership, good qualities, and how we could deal with situations. It has been a really cool week so far and snowboarding at Horseshoe Valley will be really fun tomorrow.

-Alex Dunlop

Snow Day Number Two

If I were a GEO kid with a snow day what would I do? hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Knowing that I have a bit of gold in my personality and that the snow days have caused the schedule to be adjusted (including a missed computer lab work period), I would structure my day as followed:
1st: I would login to Moodle and spend a few solid hours on the Career Exploration Portfolio
Next: I would convince a driver to take me up to Horseshoe for an afternoon of boarding.
Then: I would have a hot chocolate, get into some comfty clothes and enjoy the two day bonus with some quality Grey's Anatomy.

GEO CREW: I hope you are all healthy and well. This course is a true test of your FLEXIBILITY (an asset you will be able to add to your resume). Tomorrow morning when you come into class you will see your BNC Job Shadow Placements listed on the front board. Everyone will be completing their Job Shadowing on Wednesday during Period 4. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to meet with your staff member TOMORROW to introduce yourself and check if you are required to prepare anything for this experience.

Can't get into Moodle? require documents to complete your project? email me with your requests and I will email you the attachments.
Miss Andrychuk    kandrychuk@mail.scdsb.on.ca   GEO2012