Learning objectives

• Students will use previous knowledge to defi ne what the Arctic looks like in different seasons.

• Students will discover the importance of the Canadian Arctic by brainstorming its symbols, languages, climate and biodiversity.

• Students will examine 16 arctic specimens from the Canadian Museum of Nature’s collection and connect it to the arctic environment.

Time required

30-40 minutes

Grades

3-12

Materials

• Arctic brainstorm worksheet (attached)

• Arctic specimen cards (at-tached)

• Arctic specimen worksheet (attached)

• Tiled Map of Canada (educa-tion.canadiangeographic.ca)

• Copy of Canadian Geographic’s article “Fine Specimens”, pages 55 to 59 (optional)

• Internet access (optional)

IntroductionHave students complete the Arctic brainstorm worksheet. Discuss students’ answers and see if there are any patterns in their views of the Arctic. Have students write a list of what they would like to learn more about on the worksheet.

DevelopmentExplain that the Arctic is vibrant and full of life. Although many people perceive it as a barren region full of snow, the Arctic is rich in biodiversity, resources and culture. The Canadian Museum of Nature, located in Ottawa, Ontario, houses one of the largest collection of Arctic fl ora and fauna in the world. Each year, scientists from the museum travel to Canada’s Arctic and conduct research in one of the museum’s four main disciples: palaeobiology (the study of fossils), botany (the study of plants), mineralogy (the study of rocks and minerals) and zoology (the study of animals). Distribute the Arctic specimens worksheet and defi ne all four disciplines together as a class and have students record these defi nitions.

Next, distribute the Arctic specimen cards to the class. If more than one set of cards has been printed, divide students into groups and have each group examine its own set. As students examine their specimens, have them determine which discipline it fi ts in and record the species’ name on the worksheet. Once all 16 specimens have been examined and divided into their appropriate disciplines, have students choose the one specimen they found most interesting and complete the bottom of the worksheet, explaining why this specimen is important and how it helps us understand the Arctic. Have students come up with a question they have about this specimen and visit the museum’s website (nature.ca) to fi nd the answer. Finally, have students share their ideas with the rest of the class explaining why they selected the specimen they did.

Conclusion In the January/February 2015 issue of Canadian Geographic, “Fine Specimens” references an interview with Jennifer Doubt, Canadian Museum of Nature’s Botany curator, who states:

“...there is an urgent need to study the Arctic today, since climate change isaltering the region more quickly than any other place on Earth, while meltingis uncovering new clues about how life responded to past climatic upheavals and migrations.”

Divide students into small groups and have each discuss what the they think the scientist meant. Ask students how they feel about this comment and to think about what changes they may see in the Arctic in their lifetime. Next, have students refl ect on their Arctic specimen worksheet and predict the challenge that Arctic species may face as the Earth’s climate continues to warm.

EXPLORING THE NORTH

.../Continued

Set-up

Print out one Arctic brainstorm worksheet for each student and enough sets of the Arctic specimen cards for your class. If available, hang a map of Canada in your classroom, use the Tiled Map of Canada or project one on the board to show the location of the Arctic.

Links to the Canadian National Standards for Geography

Essential Element 1: The World in Spatial Terms• Location of major human and

physical features on Earth

• Distribution of major human and physical features at country and global scales

Essential Element 2: Places and Regions• Perceptions of places and

regions

• Regions defi ned by multiple criteria

• Changes in places and regions over time

• Political and historical charac-teristics of regions

• Regional analysis of geographic issues and questions

Essential Element 5: Environ-ment and Society• Human adaptation to the phys-

ical environment

• Limits and opportunities of the physical environment for human activities

• Global effects on the human environment by changes in the physical environment

Extend your geographical thinkingCollect all of the specimen cards and invite one student volunteer to randomly choose a card and hide it from the rest of the class. Explain that the volunteer must think of three fi rst-person sentences (e.g., I can be found in water, I live on land, etc.) to best describe their specimen without saying to which discipline their specimen belongs. After each sentence, allow time for students to guess the specimen. Have the fi rst student who guesses correctly select the next card.

A great way to extend your Arctic learning is to reserve the Arctic Alive giant fl oor map at education.canadiangeographic.ca. This resource is available on loan for a period of three weeks and is completely free of charge.

EXPLORING THE NORTH

Arctic BrAinstorm Worksheet

What we know

What can you find there?

(Plants/animals/people)

Why is the Arctic important? What is the Actic like in the

sPring

summer

FAll

Winter

symbols Describing words

What we want to knowWhat is the Arctic?

name:

Arctic sPecimen Worksheet

Palaeobiology Zoology

specimen

is important because...

Botany minerology

name:

specimens

AmPeliscA mAcrocePhAlA

Arctic coD

AulAcomnium turgiDum

BeAVer

DiAmonD

DrYAs integriFoliA

gAlenA

gormAnite

ice

mosQuito

muskoX

Pliocene cAmel

PuiJilA DArWini

rhiZocArPon geogrAPhicum

thAlAssiosirA norDenskioelDii

tiktAAlik roseAe

mu

skoX

MU

SKO

X —

OR

OM

ING

MA

K, as the In

uit call this Arctic herbivore —

are well adapted to the

Arctic, both physiologically an

d behaviourally. Distributed throughout m

uch of Can

ada’s High A

rctic in

small herds of roughly 20 in

dividuals, muskox thrive in

the region’s extremely dry, cold con

ditions,

grazing on

low-lyin

g grasses, mosses, A

rctic willow

s and shrubs. W

ith their compact bodies an

d long

hair that covers a soft, dense un

dercoat, they preserve even m

ore warm

th through harsh win

ters by huddlin

g together and sharin

g body heat. The In

uit have relied on m

uskox for millen

nia, usin

g the m

eat for sustenan

ce, fur for warm

coats and skull an

d horns to carve in

to works of art.

AmPeliscA m

AcrocePh

AlAF

OR

MIN

G H

UG

E, D

EN

SE B

ED

S on th

e sea fl oor —som

etimes u

p to 16,000 individu

als per squ

are metre —

Am

pelisca macroceph

ala are a major food sou

rce for everythin

g from divin

g seabirds to grey w

hales, w

hich

scoop up vast qu

antities w

ithin

their m

assive jaws. D

escribed as “fi lter feeders” becau

se they con

sum

e tiny food fragm

ents th

at sink from

the su

rface, Am

pelisca produ

ce silk from th

eir legs so they can

latch on

to food particles. Most of th

e mu

seum

’s preserved specim

ens are from

Cape B

athu

rst in th

e Beau

fort Sea, wh

ere prevailing cu

rrents create an

u

pwellin

g of cold, nu

trient-rich

water, w

hich

mixes w

ith su

rface water —

an ideal scen

ario for the

zooplankton

and ph

ytoplankton

that provide th

eir susten

ance.

Arctic coD

SW

IMM

ING

IN M

ASSIV

E SC

HO

OLS th

rough

out th

e entire circu

mpolar region

— from

n

orthern

Ru

ssia and G

reenlan

d to Alaska an

d Can

ada — B

oreogadus saida, or A

rctic cod, is distin

guish

ed from oth

er types of cod by its forked tail and protru

ding m

outh

. A sleek, slen

der fi sh

that grow

s up to 30 cen

timetres an

d feeds on plan

kton n

ear the su

rface, it’s anoth

er major lin

k w

ithin

the A

rctic food chain

, providing a steady diet for seals, seabirds an

d beluga w

hales. W

ith

antifreeze protein

s in its blood to stave off th

e cold, Arctic cod is on

e of the few

fi sh on

the plan

et th

at can th

rive in su

b-zero temperatu

res.

mo

sQu

itoY

OU

MIG

HT

TH

INK

mosquitoes only frequent forested landscapes, w

here swam

ps and freshwater

lakes abound. But after the A

rctic snow m

elts, in those few short w

eeks or so of warm

temperatures,

the tundra is like a sopping sponge in standing water, partly because an im

pervious permafrost layer

impedes excess w

ater from draining aw

ay. The conditions are tailor-m

ade for breeding mosquitoes,

which have been know

n to turn the sky grey as they swarm

for sweet nectar and blood in the region.

Where the caribou herds roam

, the voracious insects can suck up to 300 milli litres of blood from

each

animal every day. Im

agine that the next time you’re sw

atting bugs on your back porch.

ice* IC

E IS

FO

RE

VE

R S

HA

PIN

G th

e Arctic lan

dscape. It may seem

imm

obile, but it’s con

stantly

shiftin

g, receding an

d meltin

g. An

d every time it ch

anges form

, ice affects all other A

rctic features

— from

the su

rface rock it scrapes un

der constan

t pressure to th

e organism

s that traverse its

slippery slopes, pursu

ing prey or fl eein

g predators. More m

elting ice in

the A

rctic is a harbin

ger for accelerated w

armin

g to come. T

he am

oun

t of Arctic sea ice h

as been declin

ing for decades, as

ancien

t glaciers melt, break off in

to icebergs and open

up n

ew shippin

g lanes that didn’t exist w

hen

this cou

ntry w

as born. *[N

aturally occurring ice meets the fi ve requirem

ents of a mineral substance, and

can thus be considered a mineral. —

Ed.]

gAlen

AA

SH

INY

AN

D M

ET

ALLIC

lead-sulfi de m

ineral, galen

a is a major ore u

sed in th

e production

of lead, an

d is foun

d alongside large zin

c deposits in C

anada’s N

orth. Tw

o large min

es processed galen

a in C

anada’s A

rctic un

til they w

ere both closed in

2002 because of declin

ing resou

rces: B

affi n Islan

d’s Nan

isivik min

e, wh

ich open

ed in 1976 as C

anada’s fi rst A

rctic min

e, and th

e P

olaris min

e, on th

e south

ern tip of Little C

ornw

allis Island, th

e most n

ortherly base-m

etal min

e in

the w

orld wh

en it w

as shu

t down

.

DiAm

on

DT

HE

DIA

MO

ND

S IN

CA

NA

DA

’S A

RC

TIC

formed m

illions of years ago, as a carbon

com

poun

d crystallized un

der searing h

eat and pressu

re deep below th

e surface, th

en bu

bbled up

in m

agma fl ow

s from lon

g-extinct volcan

oes. As th

ese formation

s cooled, they left diam

ond-laced

rock formation

s — called kim

berlite pipes — closer to the su

rface. Can

ada’s major diam

ond m

ines,

wh

ich h

ave propelled the cou

ntry in

to the top 10 diam

ond produ

cers in th

e world, sit atop th

ese key form

ations. M

ost are in the N

orthwest Territories, w

here the Diavik, E

kati and Sn

ap Lake min

es operate, an

d anoth

er, the G

ahch

o Ku

é project, is being developed. O

ther diam

ond m

ines in

clude

Nu

navu

t’s curren

tly dorman

t Jericho m

ine an

d north

ern O

ntario’s V

ictor min

e, near Jam

es Bay.

go

rmAn

iteM

ININ

G IN

TH

E Y

UK

ON

is about far m

ore than

the K

londike gold ru

sh of th

e late 1800s. In

the last few

decades, several new

min

erals have been

discovered in n

ortheastern

Yukon

, between

R

apid Creek an

d Big Fish

River, an

d west of th

e Macken

zie River delta. N

amed after D

onald

“Digger” G

orman

, who fi rst discovered it in

1981, gorman

ite is a bluish-green

min

eral that appears in

a radial-spray form on

fractured rock su

rfaces — so-called fractu

re fi llings —

in ph

osphate-

ironston

e rock formation

s. Alth

ough

it has little econ

omic valu

e, gorman

ite is considered a

collectors’ item, partly becau

se of its rarity throu

ghou

t the w

orld.

Pliocen

e cAmel

IF Y

OU

GE

T A

CH

AN

CE

to see the foss ilized tibia of an

extin

ct giant cam

el in th

e m

useu

m’s

research

and

collections facility, you

migh

t easily m

istake it for an old

hu

nk of w

ood. Bu

t the 30 leg-

bone fragm

ents —

foun

d on a

steep,

sand

y slo

pe

near

Strathcon

a Fiord on th

e west-

central sid

e of Nu

navu

t’s E

llesmere

Island

—

are

actually th

e most n

ortherly

tiktAAlik roseAe

AN

OT

HE

R R

AR

E M

ISSING

LINK

, Tiktaalik roseae h

as been called a “fi sh

apod” because th

is extin

ct species helped scien

tists fi ll the evolu

tionary gap betw

een fi sh

and fou

r-legged anim

als (tetrapods). D

iscovered in 2004 on

south

ern E

llesmere Islan

d in rock sedim

ents form

ed by an

ancien

t river system, T

iktaalik’s fossilized remain

s date back 375 million

years. At th

ree-metres

long, w

ith a fl at head and big jaw

s, Tiktaalik resem

bled a present-day crocodile. Its fi n

s, which w

ere stron

g enou

gh to prop itself u

p on lan

d, either in

shallow

water or alon

g the w

ater’s edge, were on

th

eir way, in

evolution

ary terms, to becom

ing feet. W

hen

Tiktaalik lived, E

llesmere Islan

d was

mu

ch farth

er south

, due to con

tinen

tal drift, and resem

bled a subtropical fl oodplain

.

PuiJilA D

ArWin

iIT

’S RA

RE

FO

R SC

IEN

TIST

S to un

cover a new

genu

s and species, rarer still w

hen

that extin

ct creature provides a crucial m

issing lin

k in evolution

. The fossilized rem

ains of P

uijila, which m

eans

“youn

g sea mam

mal” in

Inu

ktitut, w

ere discovered in an

ancien

t lake deposit on N

un

avut’s D

evon

Island by m

useu

m research

ers in 2007. T

he bon

es were in

credibly well preserved in

the H

augh

ton

Crater —

a 16-kilometre-w

ide impact site created by a m

eteor strike about 24 m

illion years ago.

An

ancestor to m

odern seals, P

uijila h

ad legs that allow

ed it to hu

nt on

land an

d an otter-like body

and w

ebbed feet for swim

min

g in fresh

water lakes.

BeAVerB

EA

VE

RS IN

TH

E T

RE

ELE

SS AR

CT

IC? It m

ay seem h

ard to believe, but abou

t three m

illion

to fi ve million

years ago, Can

ada’s Arctic w

as mu

ch w

armer th

an it is today an

d largely covered by a larch

-domin

ated boreal forest landscape. A

t the B

eaver Pon

d site on E

llesmere Islan

d, Can

adian

Mu

seum

of Natu

re researchers fou

nd th

e fossilized remain

s of an extin

ct beaver, along w

ith

preserved wood th

at had been

un

mistakably gn

awed by beaver teeth

. Th

e fossils were fou

nd in

peat w

ith m

olluscs an

d other plan

t matter, offerin

g the scien

tists a treasure trove of m

aterial for stu

dying th

e climate of th

at time, kn

own

as the P

liocene E

poch.

evidence of th

e earliest camels, w

hich

originated in

North

Am

erica more th

an 45 m

illion years

ago. Collagen

from th

e bone in

dicates it most closely m

atches m

odern on

e-hu

mp cam

els and th

e Yu

kon gian

t camel, th

ough

t to be the an

cestor of modern

camels. T

he fossils are abou

t 3.4 million

years old, w

hich

mean

s these cam

els lived alongside th

e beavers and oth

er boreal creatures fou

nd

at a nearby site called B

eaver Pon

d (see “Beaver,” bottom

).

rhiZo

cArPon

geo

grAPh

icum

RH

IZO

CA

RP

ON

GE

OG

RA

PH

ICU

M IS often

called the “m

ap lichen” becau

se it grows in

patch

es bordered by black lines an

d, as a result, looks like a m

ap with

little rivers and roads. It’s

the origin

al lichen

used for lich

enom

etry, a process that dates exposed rock an

d other su

rfaces. Sin

ce the lich

en on

ly grows at a fraction

of a millim

etre each year, lich

enom

etrists can u

se the size

of a lichen

to date wh

atever surface it’s grow

ing on

. Rhizocarpon is also an

extremely tou

gh

organism

that th

rives in th

e most extrem

e Arctic en

vironm

ents. To test its tou

ghn

ess, researchers

decided to take a colony in

to Earth’s orbit, w

here it w

as exposed to empty space for n

early 15 days. It su

rvived un

harm

ed, of course.

AulAco

mn

ium

turg

iDu

m

AU

LA

CO

MN

IUM

TU

RG

IDU

MIS

A V

ER

Y H

AR

DY

MO

SS

; so h

ardy, in fact, th

at researchers w

ere recen

tly able to bring som

e back to life after it h

ad lain dorm

ant for m

ore than

fou

r centu

ries un

der th

e Teardrop

Glacier in

Nu

navu

t. With

its bright

yellow

-green

co

lou

r an

d

spo

ng

y textu

re, it’s an attractive an

d distinctive

Hig

h

Arctic

species

that

gro

ws

especially

well

in

dam

p

tun

dra

land

scapes. If you’ve ever felt th

e “sprin

gy” Arctic tu

ndra u

nder you

r feet,

that’s

likely

Au

lacom

niu

m

turgidu

m. It’s also fou

nd in

isolated, rem

nan

t patches of alpine tun

dra, such

as the O

uim

et Can

yon on

the n

orth

shore of Lake Su

perior, near T

hu

nder

Bay, O

nt., w

here it still rem

ains after

the glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago.

thAlAssio

sirA no

rDen

skioelD

iiT

HIS U

NIC

ELLU

LAR

ALG

AE

SPE

CIE

S (a diatom) is so tin

y you need a m

icroscope to see it. B

ut despite its size, these and other comm

on phytoplankton form the base of the

Arctic’s m

arine food chain. Wherever they fl oat in northern w

aters, a feeding frenzy is sure to follow

— from

tiny crustaceans to the biggest whales. Like other diatom

s, Thalassiosira

nordenskioeldii is often said to live in “glass houses,” because it resides within clear silica cell

walls called frustules, w

hich stay in the environment long after the organism

s die. After

sinkin

g to the sea fl oor, the glass shells provide key physical evidence for researchers

learning about earlier climates and conditions in w

hich the organisms grew

.

DrYAs in

tegriFo

liALIFE IS N

OT

EASY

for fl owering plants in the H

igh Arctic. In an urgent frenzy during the

Arctic’s short sum

mer season, D

ryas integrifolia (the mountain aven) and sim

ilar species have to grow

, fl ower and then produce seed, all before w

inter returns. A m

ember of the rose

family, this plant’s stem

and leaves are fuzzy, creating a thin layer of still air that protects it from

the Arctic’s extrem

ely dry, moisture-sucking w

inds. Inuit often called these plants m

alikkaat, or “the followers,” because they follow

the seasons: the fl owers fold out in one

direction when sum

mer is com

ing, and twist and fold the opposite w

ay for winter.

rhiZo

cArPon

geo

grAPh

icum