Sound travels. Being undetected is very important during winter
hunting. Test the difference in the conductivity of sound in warm or cold
air. Would you rather hunt in warm or cold weather as a result of your
findings? What effect does wind have on the transmission of sound? What
effect does snow on the tree branches have?
Harpoon. The weight and balance of a harpoon is critical. What
happens if the weight is increased or decreased? Test on people of different
sizes. How critical is the weight/length ratio?
Bullets. What is the difference between the softness/hardness
and shape of bullets? Why is one preferable over the other in different
applications?
Shotguns. What is the increase or decrease of effectiveness
of new steel shot compared with lead shot?
Moose/deer call. What are the different methods of calling moose?
What are they imitating? Under what conditions is each effective? Record
and imitate the different calls.
Gunpowder. What is the difference between rifle powder, pistol
powder and shotgun powder? (Do not do this without trained adult supervision.)
Why is there a difference?
Butchering caribou. When we butcher a caribou or moose, it is
much easier to remove the stomach and intestines if the animal is laying
on it's right side. Why is this? Is this also true of other big animals
like walrus and seals?
Animal target. What parts of the body do local hunters try to hit when
hunting differ-ent animals? What systems are effected? What other systems
are avail-able for disabling an animal? Identify the animal's system. Observe
and document the damage done by the bullets. What physio-logical systems did the
hunters try to disable in the past with traditional weapons? Four stomachs. Caribou and moose are both ruminants. Find their
four stomachs. Study the contents of each, and compare the findings with
research on other ruminants like cows and sheep.
Hearing with feet. Horses have nerve endings in their feet that
allow them, as they stand up, to detect approaching footsteps. Do moose
have the same ability? Why do you think so?
Tracks. What is the difference between caribou tracks and moose
tracks? What is the difference between a cow and bull of each kind? How
can you tell how long ago the animal passed by, given different weather
conditions?
Grouse/gravel. Why do spruce chicken, ptarmigan and grouse eat
gravel in the fall? Where does the gravel go in their body? What do they
use it for? How are they similar to domesticated fowl?
Bolo. Old timers used to hunt birds with a sling (a bolo). Some
had two weights, some three. Make one of these slings. What is the
optimum weight and string length for:
Distance throwing
Accuracy
Manageability
Atlatl for birds. Old timers also hunted birds with an atlatl, a
long stick with a notch cut in the end. A smooth flat stone was placed
in the notch, and, with practice, was thrown with great accuracy. How much
farther can a rock be thrown with one of these compared to a rock thrown
by hand?
Atlatl for seal. Seals sink in fresh or brackish water. They
must be speared. In order to throw the spear far, an atlatl is used. What
are the length and weight of the spear and atlatl for each person? Experiment
with balancing the spear.
Blanket toss. What are the simple physics of the blanket toss?
What are the do's and don'ts of the activity? How was it used in traditional
hunting? Why doesn't the individual come down head first? Do heavier or
lighter people go higher? Is there an optimum number of people holding
the blanket? What happens if they toss the individual too high or too fast?
What importance does the "blanket" material have? Is firm or soft
material better? What effect does the wind have on the indi-vidual being
tossed? What happens if he/she doesn't come down in the middle? (Do we
have a "Funniest Home Videos" of the blanket toss?)
I have an idea now.
How do I present my experiment? Go.