Water travel in the Arctic

Water travel in the Arctic 3 Critical Challenge Critical task/ question Overview Critical Challenge A. Record effective notes about Inuit use of the kayak and umiak. B. If you could own only one, which would be more useful in the Arctic, the kayak or the umiak? This two-part challenge parallels the previous challenge. In this case, students learn about two traditional modes of water transportation used by the Inuit the qayaq (kayak) and the umiaq (umiak). Students are introduced to the two modes and then take effective notes from information sheets on each form of water travel. Students organize their information around criteria for useful transportation. Finally, students decide whether the kayak or umiak would be the more useful mode of water transportation. Objectives Broad understanding Inuit choices about modes of water travel required balancing various needs and environmental factors. Requisite tools Background knowledge knowledge of the kayak and umiak knowledge of Arctic terrain and climate Criteria for judgment criteria for effective notes (e.g., relevant, understandable, point form) criteria for useful water transportation (e.g., efficient for hunting, carrying goods and transporting people, as well as easy to construct and repair) Critical thinking vocabulary Thinking strategies underline key words restate in own words data comparison chart Habits of mind open-mindedness The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 25 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Suggested Activities Session One Blackline Masters #25-27 Introduce critical question Remind students that in the previous challenge they learned that the Inuit used seal skins and caribou hides to make boat covers. Distribute a copy of Coming ashore (Blackline Master #25) and help students identify the two kinds of boats depicted in the drawing. Explain that the umiak and kayak are two forms of water transportation that have been used by the Inuit for a very long time. Invite students to speculate on the uses and advantages of each type of boat and to offer a preliminary response to the critical question: Name: Blackline Master #25 Coming ashore INSERT PICTURE 98/99 The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 119 The Critical Thinking Cooperative If you could own only one, which would be more useful in the Arctic, the kayak or the umiak? Share preliminary thoughts Read about kayaks and umiaks After students have recorded their preliminary thoughts, invite students to share these with the rest of the class. Encourage students to think of how the climate, terrain and natural resources of the Arctic and the Inuit s needs might influence their choice of water transportation (e.g., little available wood, ice floes in water in spring, large bodies of water in summer, hunting of animals). Distribute the two briefing sheets Kayaks (Blackline Master #26) and Umiaks (Blackline Master #27). Instruct students to study the pictures and read the information and to underline or highlight the ideas (and features of the drawings) that are relevant to the critical question. You may choose to read the information sheet about kayaks aloud, collectively highlighting the ideas before students are directed to work individually on the second information sheet. Alternatively you may choose to complete both sheets as a class. Kayaks are designed to be quiet, fast and easy to steer, yet strong enough to withstand heavy waves. Kayaks are low, thin tube-like boats between 3 metres and 9 metres long. They are narrow (38 cm to 82 cm across) and low (17 cm to 39 cm). The speedy kayak is a sleek boat used mainly to hunt seals, walrus, narwhales, water birds, fish and caribou. Because of their shape, kayaks are especially effective in moving through the narrow strips of water that open between the ice. Most kayaks are light enough that a single person can carry them across ice and land. There are many types of kayaks. Most are very light in weight but differ from one another in a number of details. They are easy to steer and are fast because of their double-ended paddle. One of the hazards of using a kayak is that it rolls over in the water very easily. The Inuit have to be expert paddlers and know how to flip them back over when they go underwater. Because of the rougher waves farther out to sea, kayaks are more likely to tip over in the open sea than in water closer to shore. The men build the frame for a kayak from whale bone or, if available, from wood cut from timber near the tree line or found as driftwood. The frame is held together with wood or bone pegs and leather lashings. The women cover the frame using seal or caribou skins. They scrape the hair from the hides and sew them together using braided sinews to make Kayaks Research topic: Inuit use of the kayak to travel and hunt Information from source Restated in own words The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 120 The Critical Thinking Cooperative knowledge of Arctic Name: Blackline Master #26A underline key words The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 26 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Introduce the critical task When students have identified the relevant information in each of the briefing sheets, present the critical task: Record effective notes about Inuit use of the kayak and the umiak. restate in own words Before students begin to make notes in the right-hand columns of Blackline Masters #26 and 27, remind the class of the criteria for effective notes: criteria for notes relevant to the research topic; clear and understandable information; written in point form; expressed in student s own words. Encourage students to make notes about the drawings as well as the textual information. Session Two Blackline Masters #22, 28 Compare notes When students have completed Blackline Masters #26 and 27, invite them to review the underlined ideas in the left-hand columns and their notes recorded in the right-hand columns. You might suggest that students informally compare their work with a partner, or peer- or selfassess their notes using the rubric found in Assessing notes (Blackline Master #22). If students are assessing their work, decide whether or not to count students assessments for marks. Based on the feedback received, encourage students to add relevant ideas and to enhance the clarity and brevity of their notes. Establish criteria for comparison After students have reviewed their notes on the two modes of water travel, brainstorm with the class what factors they should consider in deciding whether the kayak or umiak would be more useful in the Arctic. Organize student-generated suggestions according to the main uses and other considerations as suggested by the following list: criteria for water transportation useful for hunting; useful for carrying goods; useful for transporting people; easy to repair; other factors. The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 27 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Organize notes Conduct additional research Distribute a copy of Comparing usefulness (Blackline Master # 28) to each student. Explain that down the left-hand column of the chart are four specified factors (or criteria) and room for another factor that students might want to add. Working individually or with partners, ask students to transfer their notes from Blackline Masters #26 and 27 to the appropriate boxes on Blackline Master #28. If you want students to paste their notes onto this chart, enlarge Blackline Master #28 to ledger size (11 x 17). OPTIONAL. If desired, invite students to conduct additional research into the uses of these two traditional forms of water travel. Possible print and internet sources of information are listed in the references at the end of this challenge and also in Blackline Master #1. Other Construction Transporting Carrying goods Hunting & repair people data chart comparison Name: Blackline Master #28 Comparing usefulness Kayak Umiak The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 123 The Critical Thinking Cooperative Session Three Blackline Masters #6-7, 29 Justify the decision Before asking students to provide their final answer to the critical question, discuss the comparison chart (Blackline Master #28) with students. Ask several students to share some of the information they have entered on their sheets. Point out to students that they are now ready to reconsider the critical question: If you could own only one, which would be more useful in the Arctic, the kayak or the umiak? Distribute copies of Choosing water transportation (Blackline Master #29). Inform students that they should refer to their completed comparison charts to complete the activity sheet. Name: Blackline Master #29 Choosing water transportation were more effective and efficient for hunting because were more effective and efficient for transporting goods because were more effective and efficient for transporting people because were easier to construct and repair because are more useful in other ways because Overall, based on the evidence, if I could own only one I would choose a because Conclusion Other Construction Transporting Carrying Hunting & repair people goods The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 124 The Critical Thinking Cooperative kayak umiak The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 28 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Discuss conclusions When students have reached their conclusions about the more useful mode of transportation, discuss their conclusions as a class. The point is not to reach consensus but to engage students in thoughtful and respectful debate. Encourage students to listen to the reasons that others provide because they may wish to change their minds. Remind them about being open to new information. To encourage openmindedness, you may want to hold a U-shaped discussion (described in the previous challenge) and/or ask students to write down the ideas they heard from other students that caused them to re-think the reasonableness of their own conclusion. open-mindedness Identify unique features If students have not done so already, invite the class to identify any Inuit practices associated with the kayak and umiak that are especially interesting and different. All relevant suggestions should be added to the class list of Uniqueness of the Inuit (Blackline Master #6). If sufficient items have been listed, students should individually decide which item on the list is the most unique, following the procedure described in Critical Challenge #1, and record their choice on Most unique feature (Blackline Master #7). The selected features should be added to the individual scrapbooks and posted on the classroom board. Evaluation Blackline Masters #12, 20-24, 30 Assess effective note-taking Assess consolidation of notes Assess the decision Assess students ability to take research notes as recorded in Kayaks (Blackline Master #26) and Umiaks (Blackline Master #27) using the rubric in Assessing notes (Blackline Master #22). According to this rubric, the assignment is worth 20 marks and is assessed on four criteria: relevant to the topic; clear and understandable language; briefly written in point form; expressed in student s own words. Assess students ability to organize their information as recorded in Comparing usefulness (Blackline Master #28) using the rubric in Assessing the comparison (Blackline Master #23). According to this rubric, the assignment is worth 10 marks and is assessed on two criteria: relevance of information to the need; coverage of important ideas. Assess students explanations for their decisions about the most useful form of traditional water travel as recorded in Choosing water transportation (Blackline Master #29) using the rubric in Assessing the decision (Blackline Master #24). According to this rubric, the assignment is worth 10 marks and is assessed on two criteria: plausible answers; explanation of choice. The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 29 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Assess openness to new ideas Assess students openness to the ideas of other students as evidenced in the Ushaped discussion or as recorded in the post-discussion reflections using the rubric in Assessing open-mindedness (Blackline Master #30). According to this rubric, the assignment is worth 5 marks and is assessed on the extent of consistent and sincere openness to new ideas. Assessing open-mindedness Use the following rubric to assess students openness to the ideas of other students as evidenced in the U-shaped discussion or as recorded in the post-discussion reflections. Award intermediate marks for answers falling between the descriptors. Underdeveloped Competent Well developed Consistent and The student consistently and The student shows a willingness The student consistently and sincere obviously rejects plausible ideas to entertain plausible ideas sincerely considers plausible openness to that are contrary to his/her that are contrary to his/her ideas that are contrary to ideas own position. own position, but is neither his/her own position. consistent nor wholehearted in this effort. Comments: Name: Blackline Master #30 TOTAL / 5 Assess Inuit uniqueness If appropriate, assess students explanations of the uniqueness of their chosen Inuit practice as recorded in Uniqueness of the Inuit (Blackline Master #7) using the rubric in Assessing Inuit uniqueness (Blackline Master #12). According to this rubric, the assignment is worth 15 marks, and is assessed on three criteria: clear evidence of diversity; appreciation of the advantages of the Inuit practice; appreciation of the benefits to our society. The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 125 The Critical Thinking Cooperative References Student books Conner, Daniel and Johnson, Doreen. (1994). Native people of Canada. Toronto: Prentice Hall. O Donnell, Gerry. (1992). Native people and their cultures. Toronto: Prentice Hall. Smith, Heather Saska. (1984). The Haida and the Inuit: People of the seasons. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. Websites Prince of Wales Northwern Heritage Centre. Search for kayak and umiak. http://pwnhc.ca/databases/photodb.htm The Canadian Museum of Civilization s sites on kayaks and umiaks offer pictures, models and details of construction: kayaks: http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/watercraft/wau01eng.html umiaks: http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/watercraft/ wak01eng.html The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 30 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #22 Assessing notes Use the following rubric to assess students note-taking. Award intermediate marks for evidence falling between the descriptors. Underdeveloped Competent Well developed Relevant to Very few relevant ideas and Many relevant ideas and Almost all the relevant ideas the topic many irrelevant ideas are several irrelevant ideas are and no irrelevant ideas are identified. identified. identified. Clear and Very few of the notes would Approximately half of the notes All of the notes are expressed understandable make sense to someone are expressed clearly and with clearly and with enough detail language reading them. enough detail to be to be understandable. understandable. Brief and in Almost all of the notes are Approximately half of the notes All of the notes are written point form too long. could be shortened without in very brief phrases. any loss of meaning. In student s Almost all of the notes are Approximately half of the notes Everywhere appropriate, notes own words copied exactly from the text. are copied exactly from the are in student s own words. text. Comments: TOTAL / 20 The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 116 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #23 Assessing the comparison Use the following rubric to assess students organization of their notes comparing the two options. Award intermediate marks for answers falling between the descriptors. Underdeveloped Competent Well developed Relevance of Most of the information does Approximately half of the All of the information clearly information not relate to the identified information relates to the relates to the identified factor. factor. identified factor. Coverage of Very few important ideas Approximately half of the All of the important ideas for important ideas are represented. important ideas are each need are represented. represented. Comments: TOTAL / 10 The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 117 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #24 Assessing the decision Use the following rubric to assess students justification of their choice of the better option. Award intermediate marks for answers falling between the descriptors. Underdeveloped Competent Well developed Plausible In almost none of the In half of the categories the In every category the answer answers categories does the answer answers seem plausible. seems very plausible. seem plausible. Explanation Either no explanations are Half of the explanations All of the explanations for choice provided or they do not clearly address the criteria clearly address the criteria address the criteria for the for the better option. for the better option. better option. Comments: TOTAL / 10 The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 118 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Coming ashore INSERT PICTURE 98/99 Name: Blackline Master #25 The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 119 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #26A Kayaks Research topic: Inuit use of the kayak to travel and hunt Information from source Kayaks are designed to be quiet, fast and easy to steer, yet strong enough to withstand heavy waves. Kayaks are low, thin tube-like boats between 3 metres and 9 metres long. They are narrow (38 cm to 82 cm across) and low (17 cm to 39 cm). The speedy kayak is a sleek boat used mainly to hunt seals, walrus, narwhales, water birds, fish and caribou. Because of their shape, kayaks are especially effective in moving through the narrow strips of water that open between the ice. Most kayaks are light enough that a single person can carry them across ice and land. Restated in own words There are many types of kayaks. Most are very light in weight but differ from one another in a number of details. They are easy to steer and are fast because of their double-ended paddle. One of the hazards of using a kayak is that it rolls over in the water very easily. The Inuit have to be expert paddlers and know how to flip them back over when they go underwater. Because of the rougher waves farther out to sea, kayaks are more likely to tip over in the open sea than in water closer to shore. The men build the frame for a kayak from whale bone or, if available, from wood cut from timber near the tree line or found as driftwood. The frame is held together with wood or bone pegs and leather lashings. The women cover the frame using seal or caribou skins. They scrape the hair from the hides and sew them together using braided sinews to make The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 120 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #26B Information from source Restated in own words waterproof seams. They then stretch the skins over the wooden frame like a drum. A hoop mounted on the frame creates an opening where people sit in the kayak. Kayaks are very strong boats and are rarely damaged beyond repair. One danger is that the dogs will eat the skins if the kayaks are left lying around. They are regularly taken care of by their users. The Inuit get into their boats near the shore, sliding down into the opening and extending their legs in front of them. The hunter s weapons, including a harpoon or spear, are tied to the outside of the kayak. The kayak was invented and used by the Inuit for centuries, but this design has since been copied by others and is now used by people all over the world. Inuit in kayaks, Eastern Arctic, 1942. (N-1979-050: 1346 Archibald Fleming/NWT Archives) The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 121 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #27 Umiaks Research topic: Inuit use of the umiak to travel and hunt Information from source Restated in own words An umiak was a large open boat. The frame was usually made from driftwood or bone if there was a shortage of wood. It was covered with seal, caribou or walrus hide. The bottom was flat to allow the boat to come close to shore. The umiak was very fast and easy to move either with oars or with single-bladed paddles. Sometimes the Inuit used sails made of whale intestines that were sewn together. Although relatively light, the umiak could transport up to thirty people and several tonnes of goods. It was both wider and deeper than the kayak and therefore required much more wood to construct. Umiaks were usually nine or ten meters long, but some were 12 metres long. They were less than two metres wide and about a metre deep. They were the largest watercraft used by the Inuit and were suited to the heavier waves of the open sea. Umiaks were relatively safe since they did not tip easily. Umiaks were used to carry heavy loads of passengers and equipment. This was necessary when families moved with their possessions from one settlement to another. When the umiak was used to carry families, the women rowed the oars while a male elder steered. The rest of the men would accompany their families in kayaks. Umiaks were also used to hunt whales. When hunting whales, the men paddled the umiak. The umiak tended to get damaged in the heavy waves of the sea and rocks along the shore. This was one of its disadvantages because it was difficult to repair and took a long time to construct. On land, the umiak could be turned over and used as a shelter. The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 122 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #28 Comparing usefulness Kayak Umiak Other Construction Transporting Carrying goods Hunting & repair people The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 123 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #29 Choosing water transportation Conclusion Other Construction Transporting Carrying Hunting & repair people goods were more effective and efficient for hunting because were more effective and efficient for transporting goods because were more effective and efficient for transporting people because were easier to construct and repair because are more useful in other ways because Overall, based on the evidence, if I could own only one I would choose a because kayak umiak The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 124 The Critical Thinking Cooperative

Name: Blackline Master #30 Assessing open-mindedness Use the following rubric to assess students openness to the ideas of other students as evidenced in the U-shaped discussion or as recorded in the post-discussion reflections. Award intermediate marks for answers falling between the descriptors. Underdeveloped Competent Well developed Consistent and The student consistently and The student shows a willingness The student consistently and sincere obviously rejects plausible ideas to entertain plausible ideas sincerely considers plausible openness to that are contrary to his/her that are contrary to his/her ideas that are contrary to ideas own position. own position, but is neither his/her own position. consistent nor wholehearted in this effort. Comments: TOTAL / 5 The Resourcefulness of the Inuit 125 The Critical Thinking Cooperative