KIVALLIQ
Children in Rankin Inlet got to be scientists for a week thanks to a summer camp put on by a national charity.

Abigail MacDonald, 7, shows off the light system she created during a week-long science camp held at the Rankin Inlet community centre and put on by Actua, a Canadian non-profit group which focuses on getting children interested in science. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo

Actua, a registered charity made up of 33 members from universities and colleges across Canada, hosts outreach programs and promotes scientific literacy to more than 225,000 youth in the country each year. They have outreach teams that go to remote Northern communities to host science camps like the ones in Rankin Inlet last week and Baker Lake this week.

"We don't do your Average Joe volcano here, we really like to bring out science that kids hadn't thought about before, seeing science in places they hadn't considered it," said Sarah Hognestad, one of the outreach instructors who were in Rankin at the community hall where the campus was held.

"Everything ties back to their community. We started out on Monday with a community map of Rankin Inlet, showing the science that the kids can see in the community and discussing how all of the science we're doing relates back to Rankin."

On Thursday, they were experimenting with emergency lights that go on when the power is out, dealing with light sensors and timers with kits called Little Bits.

"They're circuit pieces that connect together using magnets. Right now, they're trying to see if they can connect the energy from the battery pack all the way back so they can make the light go on," said Hognestad.

Throughout the week, the children had been learning about things specific to the North, she said, such as ice roads and how putting varying levels of pressure on the ice causes cracks or waves beneath it.

"We also did a wind power activity. We talked about how there had been a wind turbine in town that broke down so we were designing new and improved wind turbines and doing a lot of mining activities as well," said Hognestad.

"We had a mining marathon where we collected different minerals to build a toaster, we hid place cards outside and they went and did exploring to find them."

One group of girls, Abigal MacDonald, 7, Tati Connelly-Clark, 8, and Bailey Green, 10, were toying with their lighting systems when the lights were turned out and their sensors came on in a glowing neon coil. When their project worked, all of the girls looked happy about it.

"These lighting systems are fun, it's neat to get to play with this stuff," said Green, who said her favourite activity was when nurses came in from the health centre in Rankin and showed them how to make casts and take vital signs.

The camp started in Baker Lake on Monday and then next week will move on to the Kitikmeot region.

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