Community Science Liaison

Permafrost Module

Part 1: Intro / background research

ITH road condition. Showing aerial images and how cracking can look under the surface of the road.
ITH road condition and ice wedges
ITH road condition and ice wedges

Part 2: What is Permafrost?

  • What is it? Definitions from resources (StoryMap, field guide) and online
  • Is this unique to this area? Why/ why not? Where else can you find it?
  • Which features are regularly found in these types of areas? Can you recognise any of these from the landmarks around you?
  • Group project: try making a model as to how pingos form and collapse (like making a volcano idea) OR grow your own pingo (here’s how)  
  • Living with permafrost – using Inuvik as a case study: Dempster Highway, Inuvik Hospital, Lady of Victoria Church, the pipes in town. What’s been done? Why? Visits to these places could be arranged to see it and explain and see it ‘in action’.
  • Compare active pingos here to inactive ones e.g. Ireland. Some pingos circled in red below.
    • Click here or open Google Earth and search for ‘Pingo National Landmark, Canada’ and ‘Camaross, Co Wexford, Ireland’. Differences/ similarities between the two?
    • Geological Survey Ireland County Geological Site report here for further information on Irish ones.
    • Photos from 1960s could also be used to identify pingos and compare to current aerial shots to see what’s changed.
Pingo National Park, Northwest Territories, Canada. Google Earth image accessed 03/01/2025.
Camaross Pingos, Co. Wexford, Ireland. Google Earth image accessed 03/01/2025.

Part 3: The outing / field trip

Option 1:
Coordinating a local outing with Jennifer Humphries from the Aurora Research Institute (ARI) or Alice Wilson from the NWT Geological Survey, based at ARI.

Jennifer and/or Alice will take the class out and lead one, or all, of the following activities based on time:

  • Measure the active layer (top of permafrost)
  • Measure the snow depth and ground temperature
  • Compare and contrast ice wedge measurements in different locations and observing them

Ideally this will be done at a few locations to be able to build up a database to monitor change, as well as going several times in the year to track differences (if any) throughout the year.

Option 2:
Using stops from “Beaufort Delta Region (22-27 June 2024 Canadian Permafrost Association field guide): Case Study of the Dempster Highway” field guide (found in Resources)

Part 4: Back in class

  • Share findings. Any patterns? Any reasons for any findings?
    • What are the important parts to share? What’s normal?
  • Compare to other years / times of years. How has it changed/ not changed
  • If these changes are significant, how can we go about mitigating them? Can we use this to inform gov. decisions?
    • Buddy system with grade 3s and higher grades – higher grades can collect more advanced data and synthesize findings for grade 3s
  • Reflect on what it means to live in a permafrost area and any adaptations that have been made
  • Activity: considering what you’ve learnt, use aerial photos and geological/ bedrock/ permafrost maps to determine where you would build a road (or other building), taking into account where it would be most stable and least at risk from hazards etc and where to get material from to build the road 
  • Recreate climate change trends with NWT ice core kit: https://sites.google.com/nwtresearch.com/nwtstemkits-ca/beaufort-delta/curious-about-climate-change?authuser=0. Discussion about this and what we can hypothesise based on findings from trip.

How can the Community Science Liaison program help?

  • Explain and go through module with teacher
  • Provide links for research / intro
  • Help explain and expand geological background
  • Create survey123 app to post findings – class can then use data for their discussions and use it to track the data

Back to permafrost module