Turn off accessible linear format and redisplay the web page in it's original layout.  |
My Planet at PlayEnjoy a Stimulating Experience with Your Students by Participating in the Biosphère's Youth Program!
|
These activities are tied in with the Education Program of the ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport du Québec (Quebec Department of Education) and relate to one or more of the following disciplines: science and technology, social sciences and the arts. All activities are aimed at encouraging students to act in harmony with their natural and man-made environments.
The Biosphère’s mandate is to make young people aware of the major environmental issues, relating in particular to water, ecosystems, climate change and sustainable development. Located in the heart of beautiful Jean Drapeau Park on Île Sainte-Hélène, the Biosphère was originally the U.S. pavilion at Expo '67.
This guide gives you an overview of the activities offered. You can find out more from the detailed fact sheets on each of the activities, which are available on request.
AT THE BIOSPHÈRE
|
These activities allow young people to use their artistic abilities, with help from the interpretative guides, to express their thoughts about water and its importance to all living things. The 90-minute activities take place in three of the Biosphère’s exhibition halls, including the Creative Workshop. |
| The Eel Squad | Target audience: pre-school Duration: 90 minutes |
|
A humorous and endearing eel (puppet) from The Eel Squad guides the youngsters along the waterways from their house to the river. The eel reveals to the children the wonders and friends of water, but also explains that the waste that is being discharged into the water is damaging its habitat. Together, the youngsters and the eel look for ways to clean up its home. Each student returns home with a token eel of their own creation as a souvenir of their participation. |
| Water Explorers | Target audience: Elementary – Cycles 1 and 2 Duration: 90 minutes |
|
The activity is led by a modern-day coureur de bois (fur trapper) who teaches the children to respect nature while they take up the three water challenges: beauty, strength and fragility. Thus, they gain knowledge of water and aquatic ecosystems. Throughout their visit, they collect amulets to add to their explorers’ necklace, which also bear the beauty amulet that they create themselves. |
| Shazam! | Target audience: Elementary – Cycles 2 and 3 Duration: 90 minutes |
|
Many creators have been inspired by water and nature. Following in the footsteps of Bucky (Richard Buckminster Fuller), the architect who designed the Biosphère’s geodesic dome, participants are encouraged, by interpretative guides, to discover scientific aspects of water, to explore the basic principles of sustainable development, and to exercise their own creativity by making a flying machine inspired by the flying fish dear to Bucky’s heart. |
|
These activities, with links to the world of science and technology, explore one or more of the following themes: water, the St. Lawrence River, meteorology and climate change. The 90-minute activities take place in three of the Biosphère’s exhibition halls. The students are accompanied by interpretative guides. Complementary activities to be done in class are available. |
|
On the Trail of Magtogoëk
|
Target audience: Elementary – Cycle 1
Duration: 90 minutes |
|
Interpretative guides invite children to follow the trail of Magtogoek, the guardian spirit of the St. Lawrence River. They take part in an interactive legend with unusual musical instruments, exploring various places where you find water. In that way, they become aware of its importance and find various ways of protecting it. In the Moving Giant exhibition hall, students engage in some of the recreational activities popular with people along the St. Lawrence and so discover its great natural riches and the fun they can have there. Finding themselves at last in Magtogoek’s presence, they agree to become Water Guardians and receive a Power Stone as a sign of that undertaking. |
| The Secret of Gilgamesh | Target audience: Elementary – Cycle 2 Duration: 90 minutes |
|
King Gilgamesh seems to control the weather: when he’s in a good mood, the weather will be fair, but if he’s angry rain and thunderstorms must be expected. Because of a series of extreme weather events, the King’s friend Enkidou persuades him to reveal his secret to the people of Uruk. In the course of the activity, with the interpretative guides’ help, students discover the usefulness of various weather instruments, learn about the water cycle and certain extreme weather phenomena. While playing an object-association game they explore different ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thus becoming Climate Guardians. |
|
On the Water Trail
This activity is offered
at the Biosphère only or combined with a Stewart museum activity. |
Target audience: Elementary – Cycle 3 Duration: 90 minutes |
|
Biosphère activity: interpretative guides encourage students to learn about the economic and social importance of the St. Lawrence River. Following the “water trail” at the Biosphère, they see how humans have altered the river over the years and are introduced to the environment-related issues of navigation, ethical consumption and drinking water access.
|
|
On the Water Trail
|
Target audience: Elementary – Cycle 3 Duration: 4 hours (including lunch) |
|
In addition to the Biosphère activity, the students take a trip through time at the Stewart Museum. They learn about their 19th-century ancestors’ close relationship with the St. Lawrence. The marked walking trail (30 minutes) between the two institutions gives students a glimpse of water-related vestiges of the past. An interactive map is provided to the teacher to facilitate travel along this trail. |
|
• Guided tours of the Biosphère: general or themed. Duration: 90 minutes |
|
River Rovers
|
Target audience: Secondary – Cycles 1 and 2 Duration: 90 minutes |
|
During their visit to the Moving Giant exhibition, interpretative guides will challenge students to discover the unique and surprising characteristics of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence ecosystem. In the multimedia hall, in the course of a virtual voyage, they will meet people who are passionate about the St. Lawrence and explore one of the following environmental issues: biodiversity, health or navigation. To complete their visit, students are given the opportunity to create a city of the future, based on the principles of sustainable development, in the Planet Bucky exhibition hall. |
| Where Water Tells Tales | Target audience: all (except pre-school) Duration: 90 minutes |
|
The Biosphère, housed in Richard Buckminster Fuller’s magnificent geodesic dome, provides guided tours tailored to your group’s age and interests. Discover the history of the dome itself and its famous designer. At of the Water Wonders! exhibition, go on an excursion through the interactive activities of the Moving Giant exhibition, devoted to the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, or explore the principles of sustainable development in the Planet Bucky exhibition. To complete your tour, a number of activities are offered depending on hall availability: the Creative Workshop, the Aqualab or the multimedia shows in the Connexions Hall. |
| Biosphère—Stewart Museum | Target audience: all Duration: 4 hours (including lunch) |
|
Take part in activities both at the Biosphère and the Stewart Museum in a single day.
|
|
Information and registration for Biosphère activities
(514) 496-8282 or reservations.biosphere@ec.gc.ca Also available: |
IN CLASS OR IN THE FIELD
|
In class or in the field, students take part in concrete observation and ecoaction projects. They collect data on water quality, climate change, water conservation, fish health, frogs and other indicators of ecosystem health or observe their own life habits with a view to making changes to them. For certain activities, training, activity guides, materials or field guides are offered to teachers. Many of these projects are directly accessible over the Internet. The projects last at least two hours or may take the whole school year. Some of these activities are co-ordinated by Biosphère’s collaborators. |
 |
Target audience: Elementary – Cycle 2 to Sec. – Cycle 1 Duration: minimum 15 hours |
|
On the general theme of climate change, students are given various environmental missions of their teacher’s choice. These missions give them an opportunity to find and apply solutions to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. They thus become multiplying agents whose role is to help their peers reduce their energy consumption. The Agent X Project uses a dynamic approach and captivating equipment1 on loan from the Biosphère. Training and scientific support provided. This is a classroom activity, and enrolment is limited. INFORMATION: (514) 496-8282 1 The equipment is free if the teachers agree to share the results of their research with the Biosphère. |
|
|
Target audience: Elementary – Cycle 3 |
|
After reviewing their drinking water consumption at school or at home, students look for ways to cut down on the amount of water they use. Three missions are offered, at the teacher’s choice. A Web site has been put up so that the results may be shared with schools here and elsewhere. This is a classroom project. INFORMATION: (514) 496-8282 |
 |
Target audience: Elementary – Cycle 3 to Sec. – Cycle 1
Duration: 25 hours |
|
Students evaluate water quality in a river in their community by identifying benthic macroinvertebrates and/or by analysing six physicochemical and bacteriological parameters. In that way they succeed in understanding their environment and identifying action they can take to improve it. Training and scientific support provided. This is a field project. This project is co-ordinated by the Comité de valorisation de la rivière Beauport (CVRB) [Beauport River enhancement committee] with the support of the Biosphère. INFORMATION AND RESERVATION : www.cvrb.qc.ca |
|
Target audience: Secondary – Cycle 2
Duration: 25 hours |
|
During their field trips, students carry out scientific fishing activities to assess the diversity and health of freshwater fish in the St. Lawrence River watershed. In a local river, students catch fish and examine them to collect various types of data. Back in class, they write up a report and send it to the Biosphère. Training and scientific support provided. Fishing gear to be acquired. This is a field project.
INFORMATION : (514) 496-8282
|
 |
Target audience: all Duration: variable |
|
Observation of frogs and toads may help us understand the changes taking place in the environment. The participants choose a lake, pond or wetlands area close to home, learn to recognize the cries of frogs and toads, then post their findings on a Web site. This project is part of NatureWatch, a series of voluntary monitoring programs designed to try and identify ecological changes that may be affecting our environment. This is a field project. This project is co-ordinated by Environment Canada’s Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network. INFORMATION AND RESERVATION: www.naturewatch.ca |
 |
Target audience: all Duration: minimum 3 hours |
|
Blooming times are excellent indicators of climate change and its effects. On a Web site, the participants track these changes by recording the flowering dates of selected plants. These plants include certain wildflowers, lilacs and even dandelions. This project is part of NatureWatch, a series of voluntary monitoring programs designed to try and identify ecological changes that may be affecting our environment. This is a field project. This project is co-ordinated by Environment Canada’s Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network. INFORMATION AND RESERVATION: www.naturewatch.ca |
 |
Target audience: all Duration: minimum 2 hours |
|
On a Web site, the participants record their observed dates of “freeze up” and “break up” for a nearby lake or river. Ice observation gives excellent clues to the effects of climate change. This project is part of NatureWatch, a series of voluntary monitoring programs designed to try and identify ecological changes that may be affecting our environment. This is a field project. This project is co-ordinated by Environment Canada’s Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network. INFORMATION AND RESERVATION: www.naturewatch.ca |
 |
Target audience: all Duration: minimum 3 hours |
|
Participants prepare a worm inventory by sampling and identification. The data gathered, which is published on the Internet, gives insight into soil biodiversity. WormWatch includes classroom activities and others to be done in the schoolyard. This project is part of NatureWatch, a series of voluntary monitoring programs designed to try and identify ecological changes that may be affecting our environment. This is a field project. This project is co-ordinated by Environment Canada’s Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network. INFORMATION AND RESERVATION: www.naturewatch.ca |
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
|
“SOUTENIR L’ÉCOLE MONTRÉALAISE” [SUPPORT MONTREAL SCHOOLS] PROGRAM “LA CULTURE À L’ÉCOLE” PROGRAM [CULTURE IN SCHOOL] |
