From blacksmithing to Indigenous legends to Parliament Hill: how one class forged an unforgettable relationship with Canada’s past
A CLANG REVERBERATES through the room and sparks light up the faces of the students standing huddled around the pulsing fire.
“You have to strike while the iron is hot,” says blacksmith Don MacKay, a Parks Canada interpreter at Ontario’s Jones Falls Lock station. “That’s an old expression that comes from blacksmithing.”
He deals another blow to the red-hot iron he has pressed against the anvil, before plunging it into a barrel of water. The hissing steam has the students leaning in for a closer look. It’s crowded inside the small forge, which sits on the forested banks of the Rideau Canal, but MacKay has their undivided attention as he explains the history of blacksmithing.
For these Grade 8 students from Dr. Roy Wilson Learning Centre in Medicine Hat, Alta., MacKay’s demonstration is just one of many incredible stops on the 2018 Canada’s Coolest School Trip. The all-expenses-paid, five-day journey to historic and natural sites in eastern Ontario was the grand prize of the annual national Parks Canada competition, hosted in partnership with The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Historica Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, Nature Canada and Air Canada. The class’s photo essay about fire safety awareness in Elkwater campgrounds in Cypress Hills Provincial Park on the southern Alberta-Saskatchewan border was voted best of the entries, which aimed to document stewardship in natural or historic places.
Denne historien er fra September/October 2018-utgaven av Canadian Geographic.
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Denne historien er fra September/October 2018-utgaven av Canadian Geographic.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
ANIMAL XING
THIS PAST SUMMER AN AMBITIOUS WILDLIFE UNDER/OVERPASS SYSTEM BROKE GROUND IN B.C. ON A DEADLY STRETCH OF HIGHWAY JUST WEST OF THE ALBERTA BORDER. HERE’S HOW IT HAPPENED.
Unearthing a giant
Almost 30 years ago, paleontologist Elizabeth “Betsy” Nicholls made a discovery of colossal proportions
WE DID THIS
AS THE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING BECOME INCREASINGLY EVIDENT, THE CONNECTIONS TO BIODIVERSITY LOSS ARE HARD TO IGNORE. CAN THIS FALL’S TWO KEY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES POINT US TO A NATURE-POSITIVE FUTURE?
The COOLEST COUNTRY
“The coolest country” celebrates the wonders of winter with an all-Canadian theme. The 20-page travel planner includes a bucket list from travel writer Robin Esrock, steamy spa ideas, ice fishing destinations, festival fun, northern itineraries and more!
KEEPER of the SEA
FROM BEING LABELLED DEVIL’S APRON BY FRUSTRATED FISHERMEN TO BEING LAUDED AS A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SOLUTION: HOW KELP’S POTENTIAL IS BEING REALIZED, JUST AS SCIENTISTS LEARN IT’S DECLINING
WILD THINGS
WILD CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC PRESENTS THE WINNERS OF ITS ANNUAL CANADIAN WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR COMPETITION
AN EMPTY LANDSCAPE
AFTER MORE THAN A MILLION YEARS ON EARTH, CARIBOU ARE UNDER THREAT OF GLOBAL EXTINCTION. THE PRECIPITOUS DECLINE OF THE ONCE MIGHTY HERDS IS A TRAGEDY THAT IS HARD TO WATCH — AND EVEN HARDER TO REVERSE.
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
BON INTO A CARIBOU-HUNTING CREE FAMILY IN NORTHERN MANITOBA, ACCLAIMED PLAYWRIGHT AND NOVELIST. TOMSON HIGHWAYS PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE MAGICAL WORLD OF HIS CHILDHOOD IN PERMANENT ASTONISHMENT
INTO THE ARCTIC
CANADIAN PAINTER AND FILMMAKER CORY TRÉPANIER EXPLORES THE SUBLIME AND RAPIDLY CHANGING CANADIAN ARCTIC
Under the ice
Until the last decade, we knew little about what lay beneath the Arctic ice. Now scientists and explorers are shedding light on this vanishing world.
