Churchill, Man (Oct 08/03) - The Kivalliq Science Culture Camp held this past month at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre is being hailed as a resounding success by students and teachers alike.

A group of about 30 Kivalliq high school students, teachers and elders attended the four-day event.

Glen Brocklebank, a teacher at Victor Sammurtok school in Chesterfield Inlet, says the camp was a great experience for everyone involved.

"We got to go on a tundra-buggy ride and see a polar bear, which a lot of the kids had never done before," says Brocklebank.

"The students were also given a tour of the Fort Prince of Wales across the Churchill River, which they were all quite impressed with."

On the scientific side of the event, students learned how to mark their location using the Global Positioning System and collected a number of water samples from surrounding lakes.

"In keeping with the camp's focus on aquatic ecosystems, they analyzed the water samples for dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide content, as well as PH levels."

Time to paddle

Kayaks also played a major role in the camp's activities.

A 4.5-metre kayak was rented and taken to the centre's swimming pool.

Each of the 20 students had the opportunity to learn how to kayak, including doing a wet exit (flipping the kayak over and emerging safely).

They were also shown how to paddle in a straight line and get their kayak turned around.

"The highlight was the kayak race we held to see who was the fastest paddler in the group.

"Some of the kids covered the entire length of the pool in about 30 seconds, so they picked it up really fast."

The Kivalliq students also got to spend some time at the Eskimo Museum with elder Luke Anowtalik from Arviat.

Anowtalik spent the final day of the camp teaching a class on model kayaking. "In total, we had 12 model kayaks put together.

"That's more than 50 per cent of the students who were able to complete the project is less than a day, so we're pretty happy with the success rate.

"The kids were allowed to bring home the kayak they made at camp, which they all thought was pretty awesome."