LIFE AS A HUNTER
HIGH SCHOOL
Life as a hunter is one out of nine podcasts produced by Katrine Nyland for The Icefjord Centre in Ilulissat.
Guide to the Book Creator book
Life as a hunter is a student’s book associated with the podcast of the same name. The duration of the podcast is 4:39 minutes.
The activities have been designed to focus on the investigative, experimental, and creative approach of the students to learning. The process consists of three steps:
- Preparation before listening to the podcast
- Listening to and working with the podcast
- Further work with topics and insights from the podcast
It is a good idea to hear the podcast before presenting it to the students.
Cross-curricular – language and science with focus on biology and physics.
- The students acquire knowledge of life in a hunting and fishing family in the 1950/60s in Ilulissat.
- They learn about the phases of the Moon and the significance of the Greenland sled dog for life at the Icefjord.
- They practise their skills in communication and collaboration.
We recommend that students work in small groups, pairs or individually. Depending on what suits each student best and the competences to be developed. Keep in mind that your best friend is not necessarily the one you collaborate best with. Working together is about working together and not just being together.
Guide to the Book Creator book
Life as a hunter is a student’s book associated with the podcast of the same name. The duration of the podcast is 4:39 minutes.
The activities have been designed to focus on the investigative, experimental, and creative approach of the students to learning. The process consists of three steps:
- Preparation before listening to the podcast
- Listening to and working with the podcast
- Further work with topics and insights from the podcast
It is a good idea to hear the podcast before presenting it to the students.
Cross-curricular – language and science with focus on biology and physics.
- The students acquire knowledge of life in a hunting and fishing family in the 1950/60s in Ilulissat.
- They learn about the phases of the Moon and the significance of the Greenland sled dog for life at the Icefjord.
- They practise their skills in communication and collaboration.
We recommend that students work in small groups, pairs or individually. Depending on what suits each student best and the competences to be developed. Keep in mind that your best friend is not necessarily the one you collaborate best with. Working together is about working together and not just being together.
Life as a hunter
The students meet the Icefjord Centre in four pictures: summer and winter, the Kangia glacier front and the framework of the building. On page 6-7 there is a text and three videos (in Danish) showing the erection of the Icefjord Centre.
In class you can talk about:
- What the Icefjord Centre is.
- What the purpose of an institution like the Icefjord Centre is.
- What it looks like around the centre.
- The difference between summer and winter, where you live as well as in Greenland.
The students should clarify what they already know about Greenland before starting work on the podcast. In this podcast focus is on life as a hunter but you may have worked with some of the other podcasts or in other ways acquired knowledge that can be activated in advance.
On page 8 there is a link to Google Maps. Here the students can try to locate the Icefjord Centre on the map.
You can also experiment with letting them find the places mentioned in the podcast, so that they get an idea of where they are situated. These are the places:
- Ilulissat
- The Sermeq Kujalleq glacier
- The Icefjord
Furthermore, on page 8 there are four questions to help the students get going. Here are suggestions for a few more:
- What do you know about the inland ice?
- Which languages are spoken in Greenland?
- What do you know about educations in Greenland?
- What is characteristic of a hunting or fishing family?
Page 9 is intended for answers. The students are free to use whatever form of expression they prefer. Some possibilities in Book Creator:
- make a model/a drawing by hand, take a picture of it and insert
- find pictures in Book Creator about Greenland and insert them. The pictures can be complemented with explanations in words.
- record an audio file telling what you know about Greenland
- – or a combination of the above
On page 10-11 you find a map of Greenland, with six red markers. Let the students place the markers where they know towns or settlements in Greenland. They can write the name of the town or settlement in the field next to the marker.
Sound recording, insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 1, 2 and 3 here.
Now it is time for the students to listen to the podcast Life as a hunter. On page 12 an introduction to the podcast is given followed by a short instruction. Clicking the picture on page 13 will start the podcast.
It is recommended that the students listen in pairs or small groups. After listening to the podcast, the students could spend some minutes talking about what they just heard.
On page 14-15 the students are to make a summary of what they heard in the podcast. They may do this in various ways:
- write a text
- record an audio file
- make a model/drawing
- something completely different that they are used to with note taking methods and summaries
- – or a combination of the above
Sound recording, insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 1, 2 and 3 here.
Now it is time for a joint review in class where the students’ work on pages 14 and 15 is discussed. The aim is to prepare the students for making their own reference books that they can revisit during work with the podcast. In this reference book the students should explain the meaning of the concepts and keywords from your discussion – by means of text, sound, pictures, drawings or a combination of these.
You could begin by asking the students to name the concepts and keywords they heard in the podcast. Then you can add those mentioned below, central to the podcast and important for further work.
- Hunting/fishing family – the podcast is about Mikkel who was born in 1940 as son of a fisherman. At that time, you did not dream of anything else than what you were born into, and with that you were happy.
Would you be happy if you were told that you were to have the same job as your parents have?
- Glacier – the word means “stream of ice”. A glacier is a mass of slowly moving ice.
When new snow keeps piling on top of the inland ice, the pressure increases on the layers below, sheer gravity. This pressure will cause the lowest levels to be squeezed from under the middle of the ice sheet towards the coast, producing the flow of ice that is called a glacier.
How is life at the Icefjord affected by the glacier?
- Movement and calving – when blocks of ice at the glacier front fall into the sea due to gravity, this is called calving. You could say that the glacier “gives birth” to icebergs and ice floes. The big calvings when massive parts of the glacier front break off, only happen a few times during summer, but smaller pieces fall off the edge all the time.
When the glacier moves, Mikkel and the other fishermen call this the movement. The movement was measured by setting up a mark one day and coming back the next to register how many steps the ice had progressed.
Why was it important to keep an eye on the movement?
- Full moon – one of the phases of the Moon. The Moon has four main phases: full moon, new moon, waxing and waning. The phases are determined by how much of the Moon is lighted by the Sun. Full moon is when all of the Moon is lighted by the Sun.
When do you find the Moon most fascinating – and why?
Sound recording, insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 1, 2 and 3 here.
In the podcast Mikkel describes how the Moon affects the movement when they are working on the ice. The subject now is the phases of the Moon and their effect on the water masses of the Earth.
On page 18 the task is defined. The students are to write a text intended for students in a fictitious 5B where they must explain the following:
- what is the Moon, and what phases does it have?
- how do these phases affect water on Earth and in particular the ice in Greenland?
On page 20-23 information about the Moon is given in text and models. This material should be studied before embarking on the task.
Room is allocated for a picture or a model on page 18, and the text for 5B goes on page 19. It is important that the students bear in mind that a fifth class should be able to understand their exposition.
If possible, you could visit a fifth class and read the text to them. If not, the students can present their product in class. If anyone has siblings in a fifth class, they could, at home, read the text to them and report back in class.
Insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 2 and 3 here.
Mikkel states that the sled dog is the most important thing in a hunting or fishing family. The students now will work with the sled dog and its energy requirements.
Open the book “Qimmeq” by clicking on the picture on page 24 and read pages 40-43. Alternatively, click on the pdf icon below the picture. On page 25 three speech bubbles hold questions for the students to answer by recording one audio file for each question.
On page 26 a team of sled dogs is enjoying a rest. When at work they need a lot of energy. Four kinds of dog food are shown on page 27 with information about energy content and composition. This shall be used to compose a suitable menu for a sled dog on pages 28-29. Based on the described conditions the students should write down how much of each kind of feed is needed. In doing this, they should bear in mind what they learnt from the book “Qimmeq” about distribution of energy.
When the students have finished their task, hold a joint review in class and discuss the answers given.
Sound recording and insertion of text: see instructions 1 and 3 here.
In the podcast we hear about Mikkel’s life in a hunting family; he describes how he and his brothers never dreamed about anything else.
The students now should try to imagine that they had no other options than choosing the same job as their mother, father or someone else in their family has.
On page 31 they describe what job that would be, and how they would feel about not having any other possibilities. In the frame on page 30 a picture could illustrate the text.
The students could discuss their reflections in small groups.
Insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 2 and 3 here.
The students perform and record on video a role play where Mikkel has a talk with his children. Mikkel would like to pass on his knowledge of fishing and the movement to his children. But the children would rather fish with modern boats and use modern equipment.
Groups of four to five students are suitable.
The task is defined on page 32, and the video can be inserted in the frame on page 33.
These links provide further information about fishing in Greenland: Royal Greenland and Visit Greenland
The students choose how to design the video, and what the script should look like. The outcome they decide, too: does Mikkel succeed in passing on the tradition?
Let the students show their videos in class.
Insertion of video: see instruction 5 here.
Make sure that the settings for feedback are positive criticism. The students should be supported in assessing: what is good – and what might be done better. Find more inspiration in Austin’s Butterfly. The idea with this is not necessarily to make new products but rather for the students to discover and work with this positive criticism. You could, though, choose to allocate time for further work with the products, so that the students might use the feedback for changes and improvements.
If you intend to work with some of the other podcasts from the Icefjord Centre it would make sense to save the students’ Book Creator books so that they may be reused.
The podcast Life as a hunter was made for the Icefjord Centre in Ilulissat by Katrine Nyland.
Graphics by Oncotype.
Teaching material for the podcast has been produced by Lotte Brinkmann and Daniella Maria Manuel, Anholt Læringsværksted.
The Qimmeq project has been developed by Ilisimatusarfik and the University of Copenhagen. The children’s non-fiction book “Qimmeq – kalaallit qimmiat qimuttoq – the Greenland sled dog” was produced by Anne Katrine Gjerløff, Ilisimatusarfik and the Natural History Museum of Denmark.
The teaching material Life as a hunter is published under a Creative Commons crediting licence CC:BY. The texts, assignments and pictures can be shared, reproduced and adapted, with the proviso that “Life as a hunter by the Icefjord Centre Ilulissat” is credited as the source.
The students meet the Icefjord Centre in four pictures: summer and winter, the Kangia glacier front and the framework of the building. On page 6-7 there is a text and three videos (in Danish) showing the erection of the Icefjord Centre.
In class you can talk about:
- What the Icefjord Centre is.
- What the purpose of an institution like the Icefjord Centre is.
- What it looks like around the centre.
- The difference between summer and winter, where you live as well as in Greenland.
The students should clarify what they already know about Greenland before starting work on the podcast. In this podcast focus is on life as a hunter but you may have worked with some of the other podcasts or in other ways acquired knowledge that can be activated in advance.
On page 8 there is a link to Google Maps. Here the students can try to locate the Icefjord Centre on the map.
You can also experiment with letting them find the places mentioned in the podcast, so that they get an idea of where they are situated. These are the places:
- Ilulissat
- The Sermeq Kujalleq glacier
- The Icefjord
Furthermore, on page 8 there are four questions to help the students get going. Here are suggestions for a few more:
- What do you know about the inland ice?
- Which languages are spoken in Greenland?
- What do you know about educations in Greenland?
- What is characteristic of a hunting or fishing family?
Page 9 is intended for answers. The students are free to use whatever form of expression they prefer. Some possibilities in Book Creator:
- make a model/a drawing by hand, take a picture of it and insert
- find pictures in Book Creator about Greenland and insert them. The pictures can be complemented with explanations in words.
- record an audio file telling what you know about Greenland
- – or a combination of the above
On page 10-11 you find a map of Greenland, with six red markers. Let the students place the markers where they know towns or settlements in Greenland. They can write the name of the town or settlement in the field next to the marker.
Sound recording, insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 1, 2 and 3 here.
Now it is time for the students to listen to the podcast Life as a hunter. On page 12 an introduction to the podcast is given followed by a short instruction. Clicking the picture on page 13 will start the podcast.
It is recommended that the students listen in pairs or small groups. After listening to the podcast, the students could spend some minutes talking about what they just heard.
On page 14-15 the students are to make a summary of what they heard in the podcast. They may do this in various ways:
- write a text
- record an audio file
- make a model/drawing
- something completely different that they are used to with note taking methods and summaries
- – or a combination of the above
Sound recording, insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 1, 2 and 3 here.
Now it is time for a joint review in class where the students’ work on pages 14 and 15 is discussed. The aim is to prepare the students for making their own reference books that they can revisit during work with the podcast. In this reference book the students should explain the meaning of the concepts and keywords from your discussion – by means of text, sound, pictures, drawings or a combination of these.
You could begin by asking the students to name the concepts and keywords they heard in the podcast. Then you can add those mentioned below, central to the podcast and important for further work.
- Hunting/fishing family – the podcast is about Mikkel who was born in 1940 as son of a fisherman. At that time, you did not dream of anything else than what you were born into, and with that you were happy.
Would you be happy if you were told that you were to have the same job as your parents have?
- Glacier – the word means “stream of ice”. A glacier is a mass of slowly moving ice.
When new snow keeps piling on top of the inland ice, the pressure increases on the layers below, sheer gravity. This pressure will cause the lowest levels to be squeezed from under the middle of the ice sheet towards the coast, producing the flow of ice that is called a glacier.
How is life at the Icefjord affected by the glacier?
- Movement and calving – when blocks of ice at the glacier front fall into the sea due to gravity, this is called calving. You could say that the glacier “gives birth” to icebergs and ice floes. The big calvings when massive parts of the glacier front break off, only happen a few times during summer, but smaller pieces fall off the edge all the time.
When the glacier moves, Mikkel and the other fishermen call this the movement. The movement was measured by setting up a mark one day and coming back the next to register how many steps the ice had progressed.
Why was it important to keep an eye on the movement?
- Full moon – one of the phases of the Moon. The Moon has four main phases: full moon, new moon, waxing and waning. The phases are determined by how much of the Moon is lighted by the Sun. Full moon is when all of the Moon is lighted by the Sun.
When do you find the Moon most fascinating – and why?
Sound recording, insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 1, 2 and 3 here.
In the podcast Mikkel describes how the Moon affects the movement when they are working on the ice. The subject now is the phases of the Moon and their effect on the water masses of the Earth.
On page 18 the task is defined. The students are to write a text intended for students in a fictitious 5B where they must explain the following:
- what is the Moon, and what phases does it have?
- how do these phases affect water on Earth and in particular the ice in Greenland?
On page 20-23 information about the Moon is given in text and models. This material should be studied before embarking on the task.
Room is allocated for a picture or a model on page 18, and the text for 5B goes on page 19. It is important that the students bear in mind that a fifth class should be able to understand their exposition.
If possible, you could visit a fifth class and read the text to them. If not, the students can present their product in class. If anyone has siblings in a fifth class, they could, at home, read the text to them and report back in class.
Insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 2 and 3 here.
Mikkel states that the sled dog is the most important thing in a hunting or fishing family. The students now will work with the sled dog and its energy requirements.
Open the book “Qimmeq” by clicking on the picture on page 24 and read pages 40-43. Alternatively, click on the pdf icon below the picture. On page 25 three speech bubbles hold questions for the students to answer by recording one audio file for each question.
On page 26 a team of sled dogs is enjoying a rest. When at work they need a lot of energy. Four kinds of dog food are shown on page 27 with information about energy content and composition. This shall be used to compose a suitable menu for a sled dog on pages 28-29. Based on the described conditions the students should write down how much of each kind of feed is needed. In doing this, they should bear in mind what they learnt from the book “Qimmeq” about distribution of energy.
When the students have finished their task, hold a joint review in class and discuss the answers given.
Sound recording and insertion of text: see instructions 1 and 3 here.
In the podcast we hear about Mikkel’s life in a hunting family; he describes how he and his brothers never dreamed about anything else.
The students now should try to imagine that they had no other options than choosing the same job as their mother, father or someone else in their family has.
On page 31 they describe what job that would be, and how they would feel about not having any other possibilities. In the frame on page 30 a picture could illustrate the text.
The students could discuss their reflections in small groups.
Insertion of pictures and text: see instructions 2 and 3 here.
The students perform and record on video a role play where Mikkel has a talk with his children. Mikkel would like to pass on his knowledge of fishing and the movement to his children. But the children would rather fish with modern boats and use modern equipment.
Groups of four to five students are suitable.
The task is defined on page 32, and the video can be inserted in the frame on page 33.
These links provide further information about fishing in Greenland: Royal Greenland and Visit Greenland
The students choose how to design the video, and what the script should look like. The outcome they decide, too: does Mikkel succeed in passing on the tradition?
Let the students show their videos in class.
Insertion of video: see instruction 5 here.
Make sure that the settings for feedback are positive criticism. The students should be supported in assessing: what is good – and what might be done better. Find more inspiration in Austin’s Butterfly. The idea with this is not necessarily to make new products but rather for the students to discover and work with this positive criticism. You could, though, choose to allocate time for further work with the products, so that the students might use the feedback for changes and improvements.
If you intend to work with some of the other podcasts from the Icefjord Centre it would make sense to save the students’ Book Creator books so that they may be reused.
The podcast Life as a hunter was made for the Icefjord Centre in Ilulissat by Katrine Nyland.
Graphics by Oncotype.
Teaching material for the podcast has been produced by Lotte Brinkmann and Daniella Maria Manuel, Anholt Læringsværksted.
The Qimmeq project has been developed by Ilisimatusarfik and the University of Copenhagen. The children’s non-fiction book “Qimmeq – kalaallit qimmiat qimuttoq – the Greenland sled dog” was produced by Anne Katrine Gjerløff, Ilisimatusarfik and the Natural History Museum of Denmark.
The teaching material Life as a hunter is published under a Creative Commons crediting licence CC:BY. The texts, assignments and pictures can be shared, reproduced and adapted, with the proviso that “Life as a hunter by the Icefjord Centre Ilulissat” is credited as the source.
