TORONTO - Earning the right to participate in the Canada-wide Science Fair took three Kivalliq students on an amazing trip to the land of wonder this past month.

MaryLou Angidlik of Rankin Inlet searches for fossils at a Royal Ontario Museum exhibit while attending the Canadawide Science Fair in Toronto this past month. - photo courtesy of Katharine O'Connell

Grade 10 students Hope Makpah and Mary-Lou Angidlik of Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarik in Rankin Inlet, and Karen Aggark of Victor Sammurtok School in Chesterfield Inlet, made the trip with teachers Katharine O'Connell of Rankin and Steve Penney of Whale Cove.

The three students qualified for the national fair at Seneca College in Toronto by finishing atop the Kivalliq Regional Science Fair.

The trip combined educational learning, social interaction, exploration and lots of fun for the group to enjoy.

Aggark said she had a great time on the trip, especially at Canada's Wonderland, and enjoyed taking part in the national fair.

She said she really enjoyed the judging of her project on hybrid qulliq oils.

"It was fun talking to the judges about my project, explaining what a qulliq is and how you use it," said Aggark.

"I got a lot of good ideas on how to make my project better to try and get back to the national fair again.

"I saw so many other great projects in Toronto and some were way better than what I expected."

Aggark said she's happy she made a lot of new friends on the trip.

She said the time they spent at Canada's Wonderland was incredible.

"The Behemoth roller-coaster is something I'll never forget.

"It was OK when you were at the top, but going down was really scary because you were going so fast.

"I was a little scared at the time, but looking at my pictures makes me laugh now."

O'Connell was attending the Canada-wide Science Fair for the third time.

She said 2011 was special because it was the 50th anniversary of the event.

"The students represented our region and Nunavut very well at the fair," said O'Connell.

"They're all very articulate young ladies who will go far in whatever they choose they do.

"We were able to visit the CN Tower, Science Centre, Royal Ontario Museum and - as a side trip we arranged for ourselves and groups from the Kitikmeot and Alberta - Canada's Wonderland during the trip, and everyone had a great time.

"The students also picked up a lot of experience at the fair on how to talk with people in areas of expertise, be interviewed and present themselves properly."

Angidlik said her favourite parts of the trip were the awards ceremony, banquet and Canada's Wonderland.

She said her first time visiting Wonderland and seeing a real roller-coaster was an awesome experience.

"When I saw some of the projects, I started getting new ideas on how to improve my own," said Angidlik.

"Many projects were about life, basically, and I really liked them and learned from what I saw.

"I'm doing a second part to my diabetes project next year and I'm going to make it even better than this year."

Angidlik said the hardest part of her project was calling every community in Nunavut, a task she wants to expand to have at least one community from every province and territory in her second part.

Her project has also taken on personal meaning since she began.

"I learned a lot about diabetes doing this project and I just found out my dad has Type 1 diabetes.

"I know a lot about what it is and what he faces because of my project."

Penney was part of the Kivalliq delegation at the Canada-wide Science Fair for the second time this year.

He said this year's fair was fantastic, and also found it special to attend the 50th anniversary of the event.

"They had slide shows of significant events that happened in each decade," said Penney.

"They also had members who participated in science fairs from those decades attend and talk to the students."

Penney said while the national fair is a great learning experience for students, he finds it more of a social event.

He said, to him, it's more important for students to meet new people at the fair.

"The fair allows them to develop new relationships with students in different parts of the country, and that gives them a better idea of what's out there and possible for them.

"Meeting lots and lots of different people and having new contacts to get information from are key elements of this.

"Our students were very happy with the experience and that's so important when they come home and talk about it to their peers.

"There was more than $1 million given away in prizes this year and that's going to be a driving force for our students who want to do better in the future, but the fun they had will be a selling point to encourage those who didn't go to improve their projects."

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