Ola’s origami fortune teller

Grade 4 Science 

Big ideas

• All living things sense and respond to their environment

Content 

• Sensing and responding:
  • Humans
  • Other animals
  • Plants

Curricular competencies

Communicating

• Represent and communicate ideas and findings in a variety of ways, such as diagrams and simple reports, using digital technologies as appropriate 

Grade 5 Science

Big ideas

• Earth materials change as they move through the rock cycle and can be used as natural resources

Content 

• The nature of sustainable practices around B.C.’s resources

Curricular competencies

Communicating

• Communicate ideas, explanations, and processes in a variety of ways 

Grade 6 Science

Big ideas

• Multicellular organisms rely on internal systems to survive, reproduce, and interact with their environment

Curricular competencies

Communicating

• Communicate ideas, explanations, and processes in a variety of ways 

Grade 7 Science 

Big ideas

• Earth and its climate have changed over geological time

Content

• Survival needs: all organisms need space, food, water, and access to resources in order to survive

Curricular competencies

Communicating

• Communicate ideas, findings, and solutions to problems, using scientific language, representations, and digital technologies as appropriate

Assessments

• Assess students’ understanding of the need to conserve and protect water.
• Assess students’ creative and critical thinking with ideas for ways to conserve and protect water.
• Assess students’ ability to follow the instructions and create the origami fortune teller.

Water conservation 

Here are a few tips on how to conserve and protect water:

• Make those showers shorter. Even with a low-flow showerhead, showers add up to a lot of water use. Cutting back on your showers by a couple minutes will save water and cut down on your water heating costs.
• Fix that leaky tap. Leaks account for an estimated 13% of water use in the average home. A little intimidated by the thought of trying to fix a leaky tap? Learn the basics here.
• Wash laundry in cold water. It's easier on your clothes, and it works well with most detergents now on the market. It's another way to cut water heating costs and reduce your electricity bill.
• Keep a jug of water in the fridge. You waste water while you wait for that tap to run cold. 
  • Bonus tip: Fill plastic water bottles to three-quarters full and keep them in your freezer. Not only will your appliance work less hard with a fuller freezer, you'll have ice-to-go for that picnic, and after a while, ice cold bottles of water to sip at the beach.
• Turn off the tap while brushing teeth or washing the dishes. And wash vegetables in a pan or tub rather than running water out of the tap as you go along.
• Be water smart in the garden. Water vegetable gardens slowly, in the morning, by hand, near the roots. Break up hardened dirt to allow water to soak in.
• Install low-flow toilets, as toilets account for almost a quarter of all household water usage. Consider not flushing during the night, adhering to the same 'If it's yellow, let it mellow... If it's brown, flush it down' mantra you apply at the cabin.
• Consider a rain barrel. If your world-class gardens require lots of water, lean on a rain barrel to supplement what you get out of the tap. 

BC Hydro’s Environmental Responsibility

In B.C. we are powered by water. The electrical system stretches across each region of the province and the traditional territories of Indigenous Nations. We have 30 hydroelectric plants and a network of over 80,000 kilometres of power lines that transport electricity from our generating stations over mountain tops, through river valleys to homes and businesses in B.C. We have the cleanest generation in Western North America and amongst the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of any utility in North America. 

We recognize that while water is core to our business, it also holds spiritual and cultural values to Indigenous Nations, and environmental importance to all communities in B.C. We’ll work together to protect the province’s water resources and honour these multiple uses and values as we move forward. Check out Environmental responsibility for ways BC Hydro is protecting and sharing the resource.