Rope Making with the World Around Us

As always, we began today by watering the garden before the sun got too hot. Then it was time to start our morning workshop: rope making!

Did you know rope is one of humanity’s oldest technologies? There is evidence of string making dating back to prehistoric times; approximately 28,000 years ago. (https://rope-source.co.uk/ropes/the-history-of-rope-making) So it’s very cool that we carried on this long-lasting skill by creating our own rope samples today!

How to Make Rope

Today we learned how to make rope using natural fibres like blackberry bark, day lily leaves and corn husks. The same rope-making technique can also be used with a variety of other long, flexible materials, including fabric scraps, plastic dry-cleaning bags, and English Ivy vines. Susan said she learned this technique from a local artist named Sharon Kallis, who is part of the Vancouver-based non-profit EartHand Gleaners Society. The organization is a collective of artists, makers and educators who create environmental projects using local materials. Sharon’s work can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sharonkallis/.

We used the following supplies:

• Bucket(s) half filled with water

• Dried blackberry bark

• Dried corn husks

• Dried Morning Glory (bindweed) stems

• Dried day lily leaves

Fibres used for rope making - images from left to right: day lily leaves, Morning Glory stems, corn husks and blackberry bark.

The first step of the rope-making process is to collect water and soak the dried rope-making materials in the water for 20 minutes or until the fibre is flexible.

Next, select a strand of fibre and fold it in half, creating two strands. One strand should be

slightly longer than the other. 

Then, take the strand furthest away from you with your dominant hand. Twist it away from

yourself four to five times, creating a tight coil.

Then, cross the strand in the opposite direction to the way you twisted it (towards yourself)

over the other strand and pinch (hold) the strand in place with your non-dominant hand. 

Then you will repeat the process with the other strand of fibre and continue until you have

used up all the fibre. To make the rope longer, before you finish twisting the entire length of

the fibre, take another piece of fibre (new piece) and add it into the rope by adding it to the

twist with one of the existing strands. 

As you are making the rope, it’s important to make the twists tight and keep the diagonals

on the rope close together. To do this, make sure to continue pinching the strand in your

non-dominant hand as you work. 

To finish the rope, make a simple knot at the end or tie ends to the loop at the start of the rope. 

Fun in the Sun

We are very fortunate to have enjoyed the meditative rope-making process in a peaceful and serene setting. Check out some photos of the CFE teacher candidates working on their rope samples.

Rope samples made from the following fibres (from left to right): day lily leaves, corn husks, blackberry husks and bindweed (Morning Glory) stems

I (Adena) enjoyed making rope with the day lily best. I found it the smoothest material to work with and I liked the result from the day lily more than the other samples I made with the other fibres.

Next, Alex will explain what we did for the remainder of our day:

Talking Fast Fashion, Forgotten Skills, and Hidden Costs

While waiting for our rope-making materials to soak, we discussed Sharon Kallis’ work as well as the labour-intensive process of making textiles (fabric), which quickly brought us to the topic of fast fashion. Fast fashion is the mass production of inexpensive, trendy clothes. Nowadays, acquiring clothing means: seeing something you like online or in person, and using your card to buy it. Many of us do this often and in large amounts. When we have finished wearing our clothing (sometimes only wearing a handful of times), we dispose of it. Sometimes by donating it, sometimes by just throwing it out. However, even when we do the responsible thing and donate it doesn’t mean we saved it from the trash. The market and donation bins are overflowing, and much donated clothing gets trashed, or shipped to another country to make it their problem. This is our part in fast fashion: The rapid purchasing and discarding of clothes. 

But as our activity today demonstrated, our relationship with clothing was not always this way. Until recently, clothing was something that took a lot of time and effort to make, and because of this people often kept clothing for years, even decades. Mending, simple tailoring, and repurposing of old clothes to make new ones were the common practice for centuries. However, while these skills are by no means dead, it does feel like they are starting to be practised less and less. This made us reflect on other skills that, due to the passage of time and different priorities, have been put to the side and less emphasized in schools. The first example that comes to mind is handwriting. Nowadays, printing and typing are used much more prevalently in society, so that is what we teach in schools; however, handwriting itself is still a valuable skill. It helps students practice fine motor skills and continues our collective access to historical documents.

A Song While You Work

As if today couldn’t be more idyllic, Susan brought her accordion to the garden and serenaded us with music and songs while we created our rope samples. Below is a list of the songs she played on her accordion. Some of us danced and joined Susan in singing while she played music for us. It truly was an enjoyable experience and incredibly gratifying to make something useful with our hands while listening to such sweet tunes. 

Susan and Waisail

Songs

• A Country Life

• Kettle Valley Line

• Princess Royal

• Mrs Casey’s Lament

• Fanny Power

• Applebo Ganglat

Susan serenading us with her beautiful music and voice. The ultimate example of sweet, summer vibes. What a treat!

Questions: What is music’s role in our future classrooms? Will it be used as a regulation tool? Will we bring it in to help students learn the other subjects like math, science, ELA, or socials? How does music’s presence change between primary and intermediate classrooms?

Work Party!!!

Preparation for the Saturday workshop and solstice party

We are slowly preparing for next week’s events. Kate and Megan worked on preparing the empress seed pods for painting for the Saturday workshop. Alex, Kirstin, Keegan, and Lu continued to gather morning glory for the solstice flower crowns. This time, we ventured out into the wider field and the gardens' apple trees. Kat and Sara joined in the preparation by removing the morning glory’s leaves. Last but not least, Jillian began work on what is going to be the Solstice centrepiece, a large wreath for the children to help decorate.

Garden Additions (Some Welcome, Some Not)

One of today's main gardening themes was companion plants. Companion plants are a term used in polyculture farming where certain plants are planted together because each plant benefits from the other's presence and can grow stronger. The reasons can range from pest control, one plant physically supporting the other, or the nutrients that each plant requires, and many more. The first companion added was some basil to the tomato bed. To humans, basil smells delicious, but its smell actually repels many pests that like to snack on tomatoes. The next pairing to be added was actually a trio, the three sisters: Corn, Bean, and Squash. The three sisters are a set of Indigenous companion plants. Corn, the eldest sister, is the first to grow. Her stalk then acts as a trellis for the second sister, Bean. Beans fix the amount of nitrogen in the soil. And the final Sister, Squash, spreads out her leaves and acts as a weed deterrent. The garden had started a three sisters, but as of yet none of the crops has noticeably started growing. Ladan was kind enough to stop at a nursery this morning to pick up some squash, beans, and corn to add to the bed. we are looking forward to seeing the three sisters in action and are hoping that what was planted earlier will still grow. During our visit with Dr Megan Zeni, she demonstrated how the idea of companion plants can be applied to the classroom to help students understand positive and negative friendships.

Squash, Beans and Corn on the way to the orchard garden curtesy of Ladan! So kind and thoughtful!

A non-plant addition to the garden was James’ repainted grape sign. It joins the many others we have been updating throughout this week.

 We also had some unwelcome additions in the form of weeds in our carrots and onions. Some of us spent some time back in the carrot patch to weed out our unwelcome guests to make room for the carrots and onions’ continued growth.

Carrot and Onion Garden Bed

Today was a blast! It was educational, relaxing, fulfilling and heartwarming. I can't wait to see what we get up to tomorrow.  Visit tomorrow to find out!!

By Adena and Alex

Grounding Mathematics in the Garden

 Body Measurement - Situating yourself in the Mathematical Context 

Today's lesson in the garden began with some frontloading of the various kinds of measurements humans have used, and how we ended up with a common agreement of standard units. We began to see that the task at hand has not changed throughout time, and instead what has shifted is our way of accessing the practice of measuring something. Our most common frame of reference when calling measurement to mind is a yellow and black ruler, and the long wooden beige meter stick; using these tools to access the practice of measuring. This method serves the purpose of efficacy and accuracy, but a distance is created between perception of measurement in relation to one's physical body. Susan began to paint a vignette of the moment Newton was bumped by a falling apple, prompting him to question why the apple always falls down, what is making the apple behave in that way? We now know this is gravitational force. Newton’s story calls for us to recall relationality on all levels, not only does the apple pull earth - the earth also has pull to the apple. Susan then lead us through some former practices of measurement using one’s body (see picture below!), and having us measure our own bodies in relation to the ancient units. We compared our measurements and did not find too wild of differences between the group! Using our own unit of measure, for example, one’s own step length, we then measured how many of my steps the garden was both long and wide or  the dimensions of the garden bench - which allowed us to see our own selves within the practice of measurement. The concept of relationality and mathematics is one that can narrow in on entry points to understanding math on a way in which we can feel and observe, which was so lovely. To do this practice in the garden made things all the more meaningful, we were reminded that not everything is perfectly linear, or organized, that measurement serves a purpose of knowing, familiarity rather than precision and efficacy. This practice lead by Susan was a wonderful way to set our minds up for inquiry on connecting our surroundings to mathematical thinking and how we could use nature to allow comfortability through familiarity and knowing to invite mathematics to go beyond a white sheet of paper and a pencil, but into our everyday surroundings, serving a multitude of different purposes

Coding unplugged in the garden

Next, we had a special guest in the garden, Erica Huang, who is an experienced high school mathematics and computer science teacher and a curriculum developer. She is currently a PhD student at UBC. Erica came to teach us about some ways we could teach our students about coding without using any technology and in a garden setting! 

Before we started any activities, Erica went over with us five main principles of Computational Thinking:

1. Algorithmic thinking 

2. Decomposition

3. Evaluation

4. Pattern recognition/generalization

5. Abstraction 

These principles are what we would be teaching to our students through these activities, so Erica highlighted that it is important for us to keep these principles in mind while we go through the workshop.

The first activity that Erica led is called “human robot.” We got into groups of three and one person was the robot and the other two people were the programers. The two programers brainstormed on a piece of paper the necessary commands to progam the human robot to walk, reach, and pick up a water bottle. The programers could only use the commands that they wrote on the paper. If the programers wanted to add new commands after they started guiding the human robot towards the water bottle, they had to send the human robot back to the start to “fix the bugs in the programming.” I think this activity is really great as it relates to algorithmic thinking since the programers are problem-solving by breaking down the task of guiding the robot to the water bottle into a series of clear, logical, and step-by-step commands. This activity also covers evaluation since the programers are assessing, testing, and debugging the performance of the commands they came up with for the human robot. This activity is an effective, hands on way to introduce students to programing, algorithmic thinking, and evaluation. 

In the second activity, Erica taught us how to represent the numbers 1-7 in binary code using sticks and rocks found in the garden. Binary code is the fundamental language of computers, representing data and instructions using only two symbols: 0 and 1. These digits correspond to “off” and “on” states in electronic circuits. Groups of these digits, known as bits and bytes, allow machines to process, store, and display complex information. In our example, the rocks represent 0 and the sticks represent 1. I think introducing binary code in this way to students would provide an easy access point and would allows students to begin to grasp this concept without feeling overwhelmed. Binary code could be an abstract and daunting concept to students learning about this for the first time, so presenting it in nature and in a garden setting could help to calm nervous students. 

Another interesting note, Erica told us about Mike Naylor, a mathematical artist, teacher, and researcher, who wrote a poem titled Run, Hero, Run! which was inspired by the binary numbers 0-7. Mike Naylor recognized that when saying aloud the binary numbers 0-7 that it has a nice rhythm to it and that it could be turned into a poem. Mike Naylor wrote his poem by switching the word zero for hero and one for run.

Mike Naylor’s poem Run, Hero, Run!

Hero, hero, hero

Hero, hero run!

Hero, run hero.

Hero run run!

Run, hero hero

Run, hero, run!

Run run hero.

Run run run!

This poem is a great example that math has so many ways of being an interdisciplinary and creative subject. I think that learning and applying math through poetry or song is a fantastic way to help students to have a deeper understanding of the math concept being studied as well as to find joy and fun in math. 

- Katie, Kirstin, Sara 

 

A Walk Through Stories: Our Visit to the UBC Botanical Garden

Hidden beneath towering trees and winding pathways, the UBC Botanical Garden revealed itself not simply as a collection of plants, but as a living library where every leaf held a story waiting to be discovered.

The botanical garden is an interesting place because, on one hand, it is tranquil, beautiful, and full of fascinating plant specimens. On the other hand, our discussions prompted us to consider the implications of where these plants come from, including the colonial legacies of removing plants from their original lands and cultures to collect and display them elsewhere. We were able to hold both perspectives at the same time, appreciating the beauty and tranquility of the garden while also critically reflecting on its complex history.

Our journey began with Elecampane. Long ago, it was said that a Turkish knight carried this remarkable plant as medicine during his travels, trusting its healing powers to restore strength and ward off illness. Standing before it, it was easy to imagine ancient travellers relying on nature long before pharmacies and hospitals existed.

The Elecampane plant

Nearby stood the elegant Fang hornbeam, whose sharply toothed, textured leaves looked as though they had been carefully carved by an artist rather than grown by nature. Every branch reminded us that beauty often lies in the smallest details.

As we explored further, the garden became a classroom of living history. We learned about the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, whose deep knowledge of the land has guided sustainable living for countless generations. Among the plants they carefully tended was Great Camas, whose nutritious bulbs were harvested, pit-roasted, and shared as an important source of food. Yet this beautiful plant carried an important lesson: its close resemblance to the poisonous death camas means that careful knowledge, passed from one generation to the next, could mean the difference between life and death.

The delicate Nootka Rose, known as the most fragrant of our local roses, filled the air with its sweet perfume. For Indigenous peoples, it was far more than a beautiful flower. Its petals, hips, roots, and stems were used for food, medicine, and ceremony, reminding us that every part of a plant can have purpose when understood with respect and care.

Towering above us stood the magnificent Garry Oak, a symbol of resilience. These remarkable trees thrive in ecosystems shaped by fire, and today they stand as quiet witnesses to our changing climate. As climate change alters temperatures, rainfall, and wildfire patterns, Garry Oak ecosystems face both new challenges and renewed importance, reminding us that protecting biodiversity is inseparable from protecting our future.

Leaves of the Gary Oak

Finally, we wandered through the medicinal garden, where countless herbs and healing plants quietly demonstrated that nature has long been humanity's first pharmacy. Every bed held centuries of accumulated wisdom—plants that soothe pain, calm fevers, ease coughs, heal wounds, and nourish both body and spirit. It was a humbling reminder that modern medicine has deep roots growing in the soil beneath our feet.

Back at the Orchard Garden, we broke into groups to finalize our plans for our upcoming workshops on Saturday and the Solstice Festival. There were so many great ideas, and collaborating with my classmates has been both exciting and inspiring. Saul was back today, and we were all glad to have his guidance. We also continued with several garden tasks, including stripping bark from blackberry, removing suckers from tomato plants, drying creeping vine plants for our upcoming workshop, and completing other small work party activities.

Ladan, Kat, and Megan at the
UBC Botanical Gardens

I've been thinking a lot about the past little while, especially after yesterday's workshop. I've been reflecting on outdoor learning, risky play, incorporating gardens into classrooms, and the idea of the garden as teacher. I find these concepts much easier to grasp when I'm learning alongside a group of adults. However, when I begin thinking about bringing children into these experiences and the practicalities of implementing them in a classroom, it starts to feel a little daunting.

On one hand, this work feels incredibly important. It represents the kind of teaching I hope to do, and the potential benefits are enormous—from self-regulation and confidence to bodily autonomy, curiosity, and developing a relationship with the natural world. Risky play, gardens, and land-based learning all intersect in powerful ways that support children's holistic development.

On the other hand, as a new teacher still developing my classroom management skills, I have real questions about how to make these experiences work in practice. During my kindergarten practicum, I built strong relationships with my students and had good classroom routines, but keeping children on task was not always easy. Depending on the needs and behaviours of a particular class, facilitating outdoor, child-led learning presents additional challenges that teachers must thoughtfully navigate.

Still, I keep coming back to something I learned during practicum: the experiences that felt the most challenging were often the most worthwhile. I remember asking my advisors whether it was better to choose activities that were less messy and easier to control, or whether I should embrace the uncertainty and dive in. They all encouraged me to go for it. I think the same lesson applies here. While these experiences may require more flexibility and trust, they also have the potential to be the most meaningful learning opportunities for children.

By Ladan & Kat