This past unit, we’ve completed a variety of projects, including a novel study, call to action, and an exhibition! What a great way to finish off the year.

Here’s my Call to Action, which is a website called ‘Reusable Packaging Options.’
Reusable Packaging Website
The two competencies we were studying for this project were Connect and Ethical Dimensions.
The first competency is about how we connected the things we studied to our lives and our world.
Throughout this unit, we read the book The Golden Spruce, by John Vaillant. This book is about a lot of things; it includes passages about the history of logging in British Columbia, the history of the people of Haida Gwaii, and the story of Grant Hadwin, a disillusioned logger whose final act of protest outraged the province. Our four novel study discussions helped me really to understand the book, and the thoughts and feelings of the people in it. I found that this was a really interesting book to read and discuss, as the events in it were thrilling.
We also watched a few documentaries for this unit. The first was called Before the Flood, and it documented how climate change affects our world. I was able to connect that, through our discussion, to everything I’ve learned about climate change recently. The next documentary was called DamNation, which really made me consider my perspective on hydropower, especially because hydropower is so common in BC.
The second competency was Ethical Dimensions. We used this competency to understand why people did the things they did in the past, and how they viewed these actions at the time.
The driving question of this project was ‘Why should we remember the history of environmentalism and sustainability within Canada? How do we respond today?’

The competency of ethical dimensions helped me understand this driving question. I was able to reflect on how, a hundred years ago, the forests of British Columbia seemed endless to loggers, and they wouldn’t have worried about sustainability until they saw firsthand the effects of their work. Environmentalism and sustainability have existed for a long time, but if the documentaries we watched taught me anything, it’s that we need them now more than ever.
The most important part of this unit was my Call to Action, which was a project to inspire people and raise awareness.
Before I created this project, I had to choose a topic, and research it. I chose ocean pollution, and I read articles, looked at images, and watched documentaries about this topic. I learned a lot, including that a lot of ocean pollution is plastic that didn’t get recycled.
I used the Ethical Dimensions competency to understand why plastics are so prevalent in our society; plastics were widespread and popular by the 1950s, when they were advertised as ‘cheap and disposable.’ However, plastics don’t biodegrade, meaning most of them end up in the landfill, or in our oceans.
Next, I created my Call to Action! I chose to create a ‘website’ where you can see stores in your area that use, sell, or allow you to use reusable packaging. I had to do a couple of drafts of it, but I’m very proud of the end result!

Once I had this Call to Action, it was time for the final piece of the project- an exhibition! This was my first and last exhibition of this year, and it was also my first virtual exhibition, which made everything pretty weird.

I worked with a group of grade 8s and 9s, and we represented the UN sustainability goals about water! I think that our presentation was fairly creative, and it was really fun to be able to present to everyone at the same time virtually. During our presentation, a few of us asked questions, and the audience answered them in the chat. These questions affected a jar of water I was holding, that our group chose to represent the ocean. This showed exactly the problems facing our oceans and sea life, and it was a great way to showcase our solutions. Of all of the work I did in this project, I’m the most proud of the exhibition.
This unit has been a great one to finish off my Grade 10 year. I’ve really enjoyed Humanities 10, and all the work I’ve done in it. I got the chance to work with some really great people, and I’m so glad I did. I’m definitely going to miss Grade 10, but it’s exciting to think that I’ll be in Grade 11 next year!
Thank you for reading my blog post!