From left, Emily Mansur, Manager, Coastal Waters Monitoring Program Environment Office of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation; Morgan Murray, Engagement Associate, Southern Ontario Nuclear Waste Management Organization; Cathy McGirr, Director Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre. Photo submitted.

The Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre has partnered with Saugeen Ojibway Nation Environmental Office's (SON EO) Coastal Waters Monitoring Program and Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to present a new “Climate Change in a Box - Eni-aanji-zhiwebak - the changing weather" educational toolkit.

The kit was presented to schools throughout the Bluewater and Bruce Grey Catholic school boards on Friday, February 2, and supports hands on learning around the current Grade 8 science curriculum on water systems.

"This initiative follows the late 2023 relaunch of the Museum’s Earth’s Climate in the Balance exhibit, which looks at the history of climate on our planet and inspires action to reduce its present and future impacts," read a February 2 media release from the County of Bruce. "The new boxes expand the reach of the exhibit by bringing it directly into 60 different schools and classrooms across Bruce County."

Cathy McGirr, Director of Museum and Cultural Services said they were pleased to partner with SON EO and NWMO to provide this reusable resource to educators.

The kits, which were developed in collaboration with Educator Christine Brown and SON EO's Coastal Waters Monitoring Programs Manager Emily Mansur, contain curriculum-based materials that support hands-on learning around historical data collection on water use, how climate change is demonstrated in this data collection, soil systems and water quality, watershed conservation and management, as well as samples of technology used today to conserve and monitor water usage.

The boxes also contain additional resources for teachers such as sample lesson plans, experiments, and materials to expand on Indigenous contributions to water conservation, both historically and modern technology uses.

The project was made possible with funding from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.

The reusable kit is being made available to Grade 8 teachers throughout Bluewater and Bruce Grey Catholic school boards and teachers looking for more information can contact Lauren Beer, Museum Education Outreach Coordinator.

From left, Rebecca Chegahno, Indigenous Advisor, Bluewater District School Board; Keith Lefebvre, Superintendent of Student Success, Bluewater District School Board. Photo submitted.