Last week, Svalbard Science Centre opened its doors for Longyearbyens
school children. Many of the activities were related to evolution - a
tribute to the Darwin year 2009.
Svalbard Science Centre traditionally arranges an open day as the polar
night falls over Longyearbyen. This year, the main theme was evolution and
Longyearbyens school children could learn about the adaptations needed to
survive the arctic winter and how the counterflow system in the reindeers
nose helps the animals to keep warm.
In another corner of the building, biology students baked green and red
waffels in order to explain how genetical variation works - knowledge that
was well received by children with full mouths.
In addition, Jørn Hurum, associate professor at the University Centre in
Svalbard, gave a talk about
Ida, the most complete primate fossil ever discovered - and named after
his daughter. He also informed about the expeditions in Svalbard, during
which his team excavated several plesiosaurus and ichthyosaurus fossiles.
A special highlight was the practical exercise in paleontology: a day prior
to the open day, Jørn Hurum had retrieved all remaining tracks of the
pantodont
found in mine 7 in order to prepare them together with the children. As
a result, many eager young scientists could be seen scraping off coal from
pantodont toes.
The University Centre in Svalbard, the Norwegian Polar Institute, Svalbard
Science Forum and Svalbard Museum were contributors to the open day 2009.
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Harald Steen (NPI) had many interested listeners while he explained how
the nose of a reindeer helps to keep the blood warm (Photo: C. v.
Quillfeldt).
Footprints of a pantodont in the roof of mine 7,
close to Longyearbyen (Photo: C. Lüthje).
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