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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Last week, Grade 5 kids from Yk1 schools were off in the bush along the road to Dettah, tapping birch trees to make birch syrup.

"We do 10 camps a year for kindergarten to Grade 9s," said David Radcliffe. The Dene Kede facilitator for Yk1 took Mildred Hall Grade 5 students out for a camp on May 20.

Michael Jewell, 10, left, is given a spoonful of birch syrup from David Radcliffe during a workshop on how to tap trees and make the syrup. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

The Dene Kede camps are day-long events, during which Radcliffe takes kids out in the bush to learn about the traditional Dene ways of life, and about the land, the plants and the wildlife.

He brings along other teachers and sometimes local elders, or other volunteers with traditional knowledge.

"The thing about these camps is that everything that they learn has ties to subjects in the curriculum," said Radcliffe.

"Every one of those camps has a unit of lesson plans that accompanies it."

For last week's camp, the kids were studying photosynthesis. Tapping birch trees and making syrup was a great way to learn about it, said Radcliffe, as the sugar content in the syrup was made by photosynthesis.

"Some of these kids are just not suited to a classroom environment," said Radcliffe.

"If I sat them down in a classroom and said 'you're going to learn about photosynthesis,' they're not going to pay attention. They'll get bored," he said. "If you ask the same sort of kid who is out here today, they'll know what photosynthesis is. It's photosynthesis in action."

The kids were split into groups of three or four, and each group was given a bucket, a tap and a hand drill.

"You have to use a hand drill because if you use a power drill, (the bit) heats up and burns the tree," said Radcliffe.

Radcliffe then tells the students what sort of trees to look for, and the kids explore the area to find the right trees.

"Usually, if weather conditions are right - today was pretty good - the sap starts to drip right away," said Radcliffe last week.

Radcliffe had syrup already prepared, as it takes a while to make, so the students were able to try a few sips of it.

"My favourite part of the day was tasting the syrup," said Audury Carmody, 10. "It was really good."

The kids also learned about certain plants that are used for traditional medicine.

"They're split into groups of two and one person in the group (pretends to have) an upset stomach, and another has a sore throat, and then the group is responsible for finding the medicine that is going to cure them," said Radcliffe.

The kids were taught about which plants to look for, and Radcliffe gave them booklets with photographs and descriptions of the plants, but with a stern warning.

"We tell them 'Even if you're 100 per cent sure, don't eat it, don't put it near your eyes, just in case,'" said Radcliffe.

Radcliffe said the Yk1 district's Dene Kede program is important to the curriculum.

"The district isn't just focusing on traditional education because we're on Dene land. It's because it reinforces everything that they learn in the classroom," said Radcliffe.