Last fall, students at Jonah Amitnaaq Secondary School and Rachel Arngnamaktiq Elementary School in Baker Lake, Nunavut had the opportunity to participate in workshops entitled “Go with the Flow: Water Science”. The workshops were offered as a way of engaging students in the study of science and engineering and demonstrating how these subjects can lead to interesting and fulfilling careers.

The workshop began with students in grades eight through ten exploring topics such as watersheds and wetlands, water filtration, water quality testing and observing microbes in the environment through interactive activities which were run during their science and geography classes.

One of the activities involved building a working watershed model by using modeling dough to create high points of “land” and indentations for “rivers” which were filled with water. The students then examined how the environments they had created could be polluted by adding food colouring to the water. Another activity had students extracting DNA from a banana using only household items – water, salt, liquid dish soap, and rubbing alcohol! (Wondering how they did that? Click here!)

In addition to the in-class activities the workshops also included a community event where almost 60 children between the ages of 3 and 15 participated in interactive activities with their parents and families, where they learned about the “water cycle” and how water moves through the environment.

The workshops, which proved to be a big success, were made possible through the Aboriginal Ambassador in the Natural Sciences and Engineering Award and a collaboration between Jennifer Hayward, Ph.D candidate, Audrey Hiscock, M.A.Sc. candidate and Agnico Eagle’s Environment and Permitting team in Nunavut.