Discovery Week at Bella Bella Community School
In addition to our research questions, fieldwork provides many other opportunities for learning. Last week, our bear field crew had the inspiring experience of participating in Discovery Week at Bella Bella Community School. During this week, youth discover culture, science, health and the environment through hand-on activities as diverse as seaweed picking, crab fishing, cheese making, hiking, boat trips, rocket-launching and paddle board lessons.
This beautiful wolf who sadly lost his life while crossing a train track several years ago is now an inspiration for young people. We bring this dear friend to many activities where he get lots of attention and sometimes gets to parade around the campfire. Most recently he made a guest appearance at Discovery Week at Bella Bella community school at Bella Bella community school.
Like the dedicated group of teachers, assistants and parents who organize and support Discovery Week every year, our Raincoast team feels strongly that hands-on learning is the best way to inspire young people about the environment and conservation. Raincoast has participated in the week’s events by making classroom visits and leading field trips for five years. This year, we teamed up with Let’s Talk Science—a nation-wide science outreach program—to deliver several workshops to students ranging from nursery to grade 12. From DNA to the way animals use their senses to wildlife research, the workshops were designed to be fun, hands on and educational.
Raincoast's bear team had a lot of fun making science presentations to students during Bella Bella Community School's Discovery Week. Topics ranged from wildlife tracking to DNA to chemistry of local foods. Raincoast was lucky to partner with Let's Talk Science, a national science outreach program, for these activities.
After two packed days of facilitating workshops, we’d had a lot of fun but were completely exhausted. All of us were left with a feeling of appreciation for the job teachers do on a daily basis. We were also inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the Heiltsuk youth we had met and the organizing committee that made Discovery Week possible. We will carry that energy with us back into the field as we start the next phase of our bear research.
