Education and Outreach  

Denali Elementary School 5th and 6th Grade Students' Snow and Ice Day at Howard Luke Camp

Kathleen Meckel and Janet Speed of Denali Elementary School organized a Snow and Ice Day at Howard Luke Camp by the Tanana River a short distance west of Fairbanks. Howard Luke is an Athabascan Indian elder, who makes his camp available to school and youth groups in order to help them gain a better appreciation for their environment.

The Snow and Ice Day itself was on 26 March, but preparations began some time before that: the camp had to be reserved; Native elder participants had to be contacted; activities and demonstrators had to be organized; funds had to be raised; a school bus and lunch had to be organized.

There were seven activities (Native Youth Olympic Games; Trapping and Snares; Story Telling [by Howard Luke himself]; Fishing; Frostbite and First Aid; Snowshoeing; Snow and Ice) and small groups of students rotated between activities. The Snow and Ice activity included measurements of snow depth and temperature, and snow sampling and weighing. The demonstrators were Martin Jeffries, Shannon Graham and Lynette Reep.

Janet and Kathleen organized the Snow and Ice Day as a project for the Teachers as Leaders in Snow and Ice Research & Curriculum for K-12 Classroom class that they took in spring semester 2002. They subsequently created a PowerPoint presentation and described the preparation and implementation of the Snow and Ice Day to the teachers taking Martin’s spring semester class on Snow and Ice Research & Curriculum for K-12 Classrooms.

Fifth and Sixth grade students from Denali Elementary School, Fairbanks, investigate the snow cover at Howard Luke Camp, March 2002.