Eoin’s Environmental Science QR Code

Before reading the document I would like you to please read the land acknowledgement. All of the activities of the year were conducted on the Unseeded Songees and Esquimalt nations on which we learn, live, laugh and play.

        I learned so much this year from realizing that there is a Garry Oak Tree on school grounds to the looks of similar plants like the Licorice ferns and Sword ferns. There are 3 plants that stick with me and I can identify them when I see them

Oregon Grape:

• Looks alot like holly
• Small purple grapes on the branches
• Very few leafs in the winter

Western Red Cedar:

• The flat leaves of Cedars differs them from Grand Firs
• Much taller than Grand Firs
• I do believe that the indigenous people used these trees for canoes
• Generally stay intact throughout the year

Garry Oak Trees:

• Very tall trees with uniform bark
• Leafs are the Oak Bay logo
• Looks dead in the winter

Big Leaf Maple:

• The classic leaf that on our flag
• Leafs normally rot on the ground during the fall

During the year we also made entries on the book Braiding Sweetgrass, a book that focuses on indigenous ways of living in POV setting. Here are some that I think tie in with the previously mentioned plants and ethnobotany.

• Chapters 6-7

• If I could I would own a sustainable farm like the one in that one documentary. Looks beautiful and also super efficient without being harsh on the climate. I would provide the best people to tend the farm such as family, friends, and employ people. All using sustainable items

• Chapters 10-11 How could you survive off of the land around you.

• Food: For food it would be a mix of salmon smoked over a fire for hours and blackberries/any other berries I can find that are edible. Shelter: I could use dead trees, sticks and pine tree branches for a soft floor to sleep on.
  Water: Find a rounded rock or kill a turtle and use them as rain water collectors
  Warmth: Use logs and sticks for a fire and light it by spinning a stick point on a rock with tinder on said point.
  Defense: Sharpen a few sticks and use them as spears and gather some rocks to through
  Signal for help: A SOS sign made out of rocks or sticks on the beach along with a very smokey fire using moss and pine tree branches.

• Chapter 4 A short note of the Indian Plum

• I am an Indian Plum. I am found in places as close as Victoria to as far as Santa Barbara CA. My fruit is used for healing wounded warriors of the forest and to eat in small amounts almost like a treat. I could be put in a family with Almond trees, Cherry trees, Peach trees, Apricot trees etc.