Québec-Océan offered a workshop to more than 150 high school girls during “Les filles et les sciences” Day, held at UQAR on October 29.
The workshop featured a “one-day oceanographer” challenge in three steps: understanding the mechanism of albedo and the climate feedback loop; identifying and understanding the role of plankton in the marine food chain; and, working in group, determining how albedo and the melting of sea ice will affect plankton and the structure of the food chain in both directions.
What will happen to the food chain if plankton is affected or if polar bears disappear?
The lesson the girls took away is that the system is interconnected: less ice today leads to an endangered ocean and ecosystems tomorrow. At the end of the workshop, each girl received a visual cheat sheet of the marine food chain incorporating every concept they had learned, specially prepared by our hosts.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our volunteers and budding science communicators, Garance Thomas-Durand and Brithany Beaudoin (UQAR-ISMER), without whom this workshop could not have taken place or been delivered with such passion. Thank you for your commitment to the youth!
Thank you to the organizers at Technosciences Fleuve et Montagne - Est-du-Québec for the wonderful day!
