Each year, Nunavik students participate in the Quebec Indigenous Science Fair, an event founded to promote the study of science and engineering among Indigenous youth in Quebec’s First Nations and Inuit schools.
To begin with, students from participating schools select a theme for their project, which they formulate with the help of their science teacher.
It is up to each student and each team to choose the subject they are interested in, and they are always encouraged to do something that is connected with their culture
Caroline is pedagogical counsellor and coordinator for the Indigenous Science Fair at the regional level, providing a liaison for the teachers from all participating schools in Nunavik. This has brought her into collaboration with Nelly Duvicq, whose students in Grades 5 and 6 from Ivujivik’s Nuvviti School got together to work on natural insulators in the Arctic. “My students generally love working on things related to their environment, something from around here,” says Nelly.
Choose a subject and produce a presentation of the final project for the public
How they choose the subject can take many forms. For Nelly Duvicq’s class, it was a kind of “Survivor” TV show that inspired her students! They had seen a contestant in Alaska collecting any materials he could use in order to build himself a shelter. Nelly asked what they would do if that episode had taken place in Ivujivik. She and her students then started talking about local plants and insulation; and that is how their project was born.
We learned about ancient Inuit dwellings, including the least well-known example: the qammaq. This was a shelter that was built half-underground out of skins, bones and driftwood and then covered with vegetation to insulate it. The question was, which plant we would use here in Ivujivik, which one would insulate the best.
Next, Nelly’s students, along with all the participants from the other classes, presented their projects to a local committee of judges who had to examine each project thoroughly and choose the winners. Then came a second round of selections to identify which projects would be competing in five categories at the provincial finals.
“We use the same criteria as the Quebec Aboriginal Science and Engineering Association (AQASI), who organize the Quebec Indigenous Science Fair. We judge the presentations based on their scientific value and creativity,” explains Caroline Martin.
This year, the provincial finals were held in Gatineau at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO).
“So often, as the students are leaving their communities on their way to the finals, you can see that they don’t completely have faith in their ‘little’ science project. Then they get there, and they see how many other participants there are. At first they’re shy, but then by the end of the first day, they are quite comfortable talking with everyone. They’ve gained in self-confidence,” says Caroline Martin smiling.
Nelly continues, saying how much her students impress her – “every time.” What’s required is basically to explain the project to the judges, but also to the other visiting school groups and to the public – an amazing performance for these young people who for the most part have never spoken in front of complete strangers before!
Participating in the provincial finals: a rewarding event!
This year, the Nunavik teams came away from the finals with three prizes:
For Nuvviti School, Ivujivik:
- The team of Deseray Qaunaaluk and Ulluria Mangiok, with their teacher Annie Lévesque, took third place in Secondary 1 Category for their project “Does temperature affect the sense of touch?”
- The team of Elisapie Ainalik and Geneviève Simigak, with their teacher Nelly Duvicq, took the special “Cultural Heritage” award for their project “Natural insulators.”
For Jaanimmarik School, Kuujjuaq: Tyrone Angnatuk, with his teacher Farzaneh Nourifard, took the special “Innovation” award for his project “Rechargeable energy source through walking.”
Whether or not they came home with a prize, if you ask Caroline and Nelly what it means for these students to take part in the Quebec Indigenous Science Fair, there is no hesitation in their responses: they grow in autonomy; they “discover themselves through their peers, through young people like themselves;” it is an exchange “you can’t put a price on;” it has increased their self-confidence. This opinion is shared by student Geneviève Simigak: “When I got back to Nunavik, I felt I was more confident.” And what did she enjoy most about this incredible experience? “Meeting new people and talking with them. And making new friends from other parts of Quebec.”
And that is everything we could wish for future participants, so let’s see you there next year!