Goodbye to Grise Fiord...
The Sun came out for our last day in Grise Fiord. It was such a beautiful day. I can't imagine what it would be like here in the middle of summer. It can’t get much better than this.
When we arrived at school, Avalon told us that school was cancelled this afternoon. This was because a group was coming in for presentations and hearings about the new education act that the Nunavut government is putting together. This meant that our presentations for the Grade 3-4 and K-2 classes would have to be combined (and fast). We worked through recess to make a weather/space science talk for a Grade 1-4 audience. The class was great. They could recognize all of the weather instruments that are here in Resolute Bay and now they know the names of the instruments and what they do. We even had pictures from inside the Stevenson screens that house the thermometers and thermograph. Then we talked about the measurements that can be made from satellites like ACE.
Once the presentation part was completed, we had some questions and then it was time for an activity. The class was given a choice of making rockets (like you would use to launch a satellite) or making mobiles about weather. For some strange reason, the rockets won hands down. So it was all hands to the tape, scissors, construction paper and foil. We had some very creative rockets with different kinds of fins and nose cones. It was great fun to work with these very enthusiastic students. We couldn't have done it without the help of Peepeelee and Leslie, the Grade K-2 and 3-4 teachers. Thanks for your help and thanks to all the students for your keen interest in space and weather.
We found out that the students are quite interested in space because of their contact with the NASA Haughton-Mars Project that is run on nearby Devon Island. The CSA and a number of other groups are involved in this research project. The Haughton impact site is of interest because it is thought to be a very good terrestrial analog for Mars. Some of the Senior students have had the opportunity to work with the Mars Project scientists and visit their research site on the island.
After lunch, everyone found out that the education act group was not coming and that school had been cancelled for nothing. This didn't matter much because the plane from Resolute was coming in a few hours early so we had to pack up and be ready to leave. Jeff, Dejian and I did some work on the talks for the next two days. Also, we collected together many of the pictures that we had taken of the activities and students during our time in Grise Fiord and burned a CD for Avalon and Leslie.
Tobias went out for a walk over the ice to one of the nearby headlands. This time he was generally within sight all of the time (which was nice). We had a visit from one of the elders in the hamlet and we talked about science and life in Grise Fiord as well as the history of the community. It was very nice to chat with him and get his perspective on things. We also had another visitor who was quite concerned about what Tobias was doing. From her vantage, it looked like he was walking to the old camp site of Grise Fiord and we should know that it was further than he should be walking. We tried to assure her that he knew when he had to be back and it would be ok. She left shaking her head convinced that someone was going to have to go out on their snow machine to get this stupid visitor so he didn't miss the plane.
Tobias did get back in time and we got everything packed and ready to go. We said our good byes to Melissa our cook and thanked her for keeping us well fed. I had also stopped by the school to thank Avalon and the teachers for their support during our visit. Also, I needed to return a needle that I had borrowed to finish my new mittens. I even had the opportunity to meet the artist who had made my new hat. She looked over the mitts I had knit and pronounced them "not bad". I have decided to take that as a compliment.
At the airport, we met up with a group from Qikiqtani School Operations including the Superintendent of schools for the area. He was interested to hear about our experiences and wished us well for the time we will spend in Resolute. The flight to Resolute was great and I think that Tobias took as many pictures as he had on the way up. Meanwhile, Dejian and I had our heads in our laptops.
Aziz picked us up at the airport and we squeezed five people and a lot of gear in to his suburban. After dinner at the South Camp Inn, we availed ourselves of the “lightening fast” internet and got down to work on the presentations for the two oldest classes. These were new ones covering issues of climate change and its impacts. It was a late night but we got the talks done for the Grade 9-12 and 6-8 classes. It was a good thing that I had some chocolate that I could use to bribe the team to keep working. I think there might have been a mutiny with out it.
We had a great visit at Umimmak School in Grise Fiord and look forward to coming back. Thanks to principal Avalon and his staff for their help and support. I really appreciated the enthusiasm that the students brought to the workshops and we wish them well in their future endeavours.
Best regards,
Kaley.