An Ice-Ocean Interaction Outreach Module: Connecting Students in Northern Communities and Climate Scientists

Northern communities in Canada are disproportionately affected by climate change. High school students in Churchill, a town situated on the banks of the Hudson’s Bay and near a seasonal ice zone, have a unique intuition for sea-ice processes based on their lived experiences. However, Indigenous students in Northern and remote communities have more limited opportunities to engage in STEM activities. Here we present an ice-ocean interaction module that was developed as part of an outreach program that connects high school students in Churchill with climate scientists to explore one of the questions at the forefront of ocean sciences today: “How do ocean processes impact sea ice melt?” The module consists of discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on tabletop experiments that use low-cost and accessible materials that foster curiosity, exploration, and dialogue. Variables including ocean salinity, sea ice age, river runoff, and rotation are explored through the tabletop experiments. We also incorporate arts-based design to encourage active engagement and to facilitate the students’ communication of their observations and findings. Built from a modular set of activities, the module is flexible, and can be modified to fit a range of outreach initiatives. By placing emphasis on dialogue, the ice-ocean interaction module fosters vital two-way knowledge exchanges between students in Northern communities and climate scientists.