Polar Outreach Catalogue

Parks Canada is conducting a number of International Polar Year projects that focus on collecting information and developing methods to monitor ecological integrity and changes in freshwater and tundra ecosystems in northern national parks. Parks Canada has also been exploring the potential uses of satellite imagery for monitoring these remote parks (ParkSPACE). One of the goals of these programs is to attract and develop the next generation of polar scientists and leaders. To this end, a number of educational initiatives were undertaken. Lesson plans and hands-on classroom activities teach high school science students across Canada about the methods used to monitor changes occurring on the landscape over time and about the connection between these changes and the actions we take in our day-to-day lives. A field component to this program supplements the classroom activities and is geared to students in northern communities. The students replicate some scientists? work, which enables them to better understand the complexities and importance of monitoring northern ecosystems. Activities involve reading satellite maps, using a GPS, measuring biodiversity and abiotic factors, and hypothesizing about how these techniques can be used to determine the health of northern ecosystems and to predict future changes in the environment.