STAR has made significant contributions to the Nunavut Department of Education for the new weather and climate curriculum for Grade 12. SILA introduces the scientific understanding of northern weather and climate with an emphasis on the traditional methods of understanding and forecasting. SILA will provide northern high school graduates an appreciation for the complexities of providing accurate forecasts for the North and prepare students for future meteorological classes and careers.
STAR produced and compiled material in line with the objectives of 3 of the overall 6 SILA modules. Modules are akin to chapters or sections in the course structure, with approximately 8-10 units per module. STAR provided material to the following modules: Surviving in Local Weather, Surviving in Extreme Weather, and Global Context of Arctic Climate. Thorough consultation between STAR and SILA resulted in an agreement that these areas would cover the essentials of weather observation and fundamental theory (Local Weather), storms and extreme weather in Nunavut and the implications to infrastructure and daily life (Extreme Weather), and climate change and Arctic climatology fundamentals (Global Context of Arctic Weather).
Initial testing of the material took place in January 2010 at Rankin Inlet. Science teacher Joy Gawor and class (pictured below) participated in the pilot, along with Bill Dewsbury from the Nunavut Arctic College training program. Students were able to tour the training facility and work hands on with the instrumentation.
Along with providing detailed background material for curriculum developers and educators, STAR was able to provide each school with a weather station of its own, allowing for the potential to make this data available online to share with other schools in the region and weather agencies such as Environment Canada.
Robert Hodgson, STAR Outreach Coordinator
Sarah Wade, Nunavut Department of Education Curriculum Writer
Jamal Shirley, Nunavut Arctic College
Sue Ball, Nunavut Department of Education
John Hanesiak, STAR Principal Investigator
Teresa Fisico, STAR Network Manager
Lauren Candlish, Msc, Centre for Earth Observation Science