Through blogging, we’ve been able to connect to so many other wonderful classes. We’ve conversed with teachers from Europe, Australia, and many right here in North America. One such class that we’ve been fortunate enough to get to know better has been Mrs. Watson and her 2/3 class. Mrs. Watson’s class is in Sointula, British Columbia. It’s on a small island, Malcolm Island, on the west coast of North America.


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Sointula is about 3,500 miles (5632 km) from us here in Plympton, Massachusetts. That didn’t stop us from finding a way to connect with them and learn about the similarities and differences between our schools and our communities! Through the wonders of technology, we were able to Skype with them and share all sorts of interesting facts about our state of Massachusetts!





Thanks to our recorders, Ariel, Natalie, Kaylee and Rebecca, as well as the wonderful students of Mrs. Watson’s class, we were able to have great discussions about similarities and differences between the two classes.

Here are just a few things that we learned during our Skype chat:

  • British Columbia has an area of about 586,500 miles (944,000 kilometers), while Massachusetts has an area of about 10,555 miles (16,986 kilometers).
  • Even though British Columbia is much larger than Massachusetts, it has a smaller population.  Massachusetts has about 6,500,000 people while BC has about 4,400,000 people.  That means that Massachusetts has a greater population density than BC.
  • Sointula has a population of 800.  Plympton has a population of about 2,600.
  • Our school has about 230 students in grades K-6.  Their school has 45 students in grades K-7.
  • Our principal is usually always at our school.  Their principal visits their school 3 times a month.
  • We live near the Atlantic Ocean.  They live near the Pacific Ocean.
  • Our state mammal is the right whale. They don’t have right whales but they do have orcas and humpback whales.
  • Our state bird is the black-capped chickadee. Theirs is the Steller’s jay.
  • Our state dog is the Boston terrier. They didn’t have a provincial dog.
  • Our state tree is the American elm.  Theirs is western red cedar.

While researching for our call. We also discovered other interesting facts about Massachusetts. We learned that our state muffin is the corn muffin. Our state beverage is cranberry juice. The state dessert is Boston creme pie. Our state cookie is the chocolate chip cookie. Mrs. Watson’s class realized that they didn’t have some of these symbols for their province. They created polls to help figure out what would make the best symbols for British Columbia. Click here to visit and vote for the symbol you think best fits their province!

Thank you so much to Mrs. Watson and her class for sharing so much great information with us. We hope to “see” them again soon!

*What was the largest difference between British Columbia and Massachusetts?*


*How were British Columbia and Massachusetts similar?*


*If we Skyped with Mrs. Watson’s class again, what other information about Massachusetts would you want to share?*