QAUSUITTUQ/RESOLUTE - Students at Qarmartalik School in Resolute are getting a taste of being scientists by measuring the temperature, and the amount and intensity of sunlight daily.

Qarmartalik School Grade 7 students Paddy Iqaluk, left, and Sheldon Oqallak measure and record solar radiation using a pyranometer in Resolute. - photo courtesy of Jennifer Borden

The students were inspired to collect the data by four researchers from the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change, which encompasses university researchers and Environment Canada, who visited the school the last week of March on their way to their base of operations in Eureka, said principal Jennifer Borden.

The kindergarten to Grade 3 students are measuring the temperature using a thermometer while the intermediate grades are measuring the amount of sunlight using a pyranometer and high school students are using a sun photometer to measure the star's intensity, she added.

"I like to have the students exposed to many opportunities and this definitely is a good proposal that falls in line with all of our science curriculum and the objectives that we're trying to meet for the students," said Borden.

Every lunch hour, Grade 6/7 student Sheldon Oqallak sets up the pyranometer with fellow classmate Paddy Iqaluk recording the solar radiation measurement. Iqaluk said the instrument is the size of a person's hand.

"It's fun because we can get fresh air. I feel like I'm a scientist," he said.

Borden said both students have taken ownership of doing the measurement for their class, as did Amy Salluviniq in Grade 9. The high school students are using a sun photometer.

"I learn about aerosols and how to determine aerosol optical thickness using a sun photometer," she said. "I learned how to use this instrument. I never knew how to use it before."

Aerosols are suspensions of fine particles in the air.

She added she likes doing the measurements.

The four CANDAC scientists will collect the students' data when they travel back through the community in May.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.