Examining Public Spaces


SS: I can make a connection with the land; I can explore how public spaces serve its citizens.
Science: I can explain what a food web is and how its components are interconnected. 

Yesterday, we went on a Community Walk to build our connection with the land. On our walk, we saw a coyote! We have been learning about food webs in class, and many of us had a coyote in our food web. (Click here to see our post about food webs and Community Walks). It was a great confirmation that there are coyotes in this area in our ecosystem! The coyote hid in bushes that were the same colour as it to camouflage. It's tricky to see in the photo but it's there! It was good to see the coyote up on the hill because it showed everyone that there is evidence of a food chain. We see snowshoe hares and rabbits jumping up the hill at the school and now we saw the coyote!


Next, we arrived at the Rainbow Trout playground. This playground is super special because it's inclusive. The swings have backs on them and the seesaw has cup chairs so you can sit on them if you're not able to hold yourself up. There were also a lot of ramps on the playground itself. If you are in a wheelchair or have a stroller, it is easy to access all parts of the playground because there is a ramp that could go up the hill. The bottom playground was good because you could go on the swings or seesaw with other people. It is more spacious than most playgrounds. While we were on the merry-go-round at the playground, we saw that there are open spaces for wheelchairs and seats for people who need to sit. 

The hill at the playground was also great for sledding. That's great because if the playground is covered with ice, you still have a way to play. The logs on the hill were good for getting up and down because it was slippery.You could also roll down the hill and there weren't any gopher holes.

Once we were back at school, we talked about the connection between this public space and our Minecraft design project. We evaluated the playground based on the 4 pillars in the challenge. We discussed how our Minecraft designs are meant to serve the city and all its citizens - not just us. We'll think about this when we go to do our builds.




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