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Kiilinik High School Science 15-25 Nature ChallengeTeacher: Tracy Stuit Cambridge Bay is located on the southern coast of Victoria Island, between the Dease Strait, and Queen Maud Gulf, northwest of Kent Peninsula (69º07'N, 105º03'W). Cambridge Bay is also known as “Ikaluktutiak” – “Good fishing place”. It is the largest community in the Kitikmeot Region, with a population of approximately 1400. Kiilinik High School has an approximate student population of 190, from grade 7-12. In 1998 the old high school burned. After a few years of holding classes in portables and various buildings throughout the town, the new school finally opened in February 2002. Students and staff alike were very happy to finally be back together in one location. And a beautiful location it was. In regards to climate change, you hear elders and community members commenting on how different the weather and conditions are today, compared with even ten or fifteen years ago. I moved up here in 1993, and I have seen changes. The most obvious one being the snow conditions during the Victoria Day long weekend. Every year at this time, the community holds “Omingmak Frolics”. The biggest attraction is the snowmobile races. It seems like the ice/snow is getting wetter and slushier every year. If this trend continues, they will probably have to change the dates of the frolics in the future if snowmobile races continue to be run. Some other concerns for the future, are probably the same as those for the rest of the north. Hunters will have to go farther to find game, the migration routes of the caribou might change, inability to predict the weather using traditional methods will make land/hunting trips more dangerous. As a class, after reading and discussing, and answering questions from Backgrounders 2, 3 & 14, we read and discussed the “David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge”. From that, we divided up into three groups – Homes, Transportation, and Day-to-day choices – and came up with 4 things we could do as northerners, to help save the planet. From the information compiled, we came up with our own “Kiilink High Science 15-25 Nature Challenge”: Kiilinik High School Science 15-25 Nature Challenge
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| Reduce the amount of energy used to heat homes | Turn heat down at night; put draft proof your windows in cold weather; use in floor heating for limited time during day; open blinds and use the sun’s energy to heat your home during the Spring & Summer |
| Reduce water use | Turn off showers while soaping down; don’t run water while brushing teeth and doing dishes |
| Reduce home energy use in general | Use energy efficient appliances; open curtains instead of using lights in Spring/Summer; turn off lights when out of a room; use more efficient light bulbs; turn off computers, etc. when not in use; use cold water for laundry |
| Use environmentally friendly vehicles | Hybrid vehicles; snowmobiles/ATVs/boats with 4-stroke engines |
| Cut down on vehicle emissions | Stop idling your vehicles all day in cold weather |
| Plug in your vehicles only when necessary | It is not necessary to keep it plugged in all day; shortly before being used should suffice (1-2 hrs max to start, and then shorter periods during the day) |
| Walk or bike to work/school | Take a few days out of the week where instead of driving, you walk or bike |
| Eat more local food | Wild game and fish; in Spring/summer grow produce in your house (take advantage of the sun’s energy!!!) |
| Shopping alternatives | Instead of using plastic bags to carry groceries, use boxes or reusable cloth bags |
| Recycle | If no recycling facilities are available, take an extra action-packer full of recyclable bottles, cans and cartons when traveling south |
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