8 7 Inuit builder cuts these blocks using a sharp knife. The knife might be made of of made be might knife The knife. sharp a using blocks these cuts builder Inuit Congress). Congress). So how does one build an igloo? Start with blocks of well-packed snow. The The snow. well-packed of blocks with Start igloo? an build one does how So Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection (Library of of (Library Collection Carpenter Frances and Frank Photo courtesy of Canadian Geological Survey via via Survey Geological Canadian of courtesy Photo collapse. An Inuit builder stacks the snow blocks into a ring. ring. a into blocks snow the stacks builder Inuit An igloo is strong. A grown man can stand on top of the igloo without causing it to to it causing without igloo the of top on stand can man grown A strong. is igloo from snow, which can be weak, to ice, which is much stronger. A well-built well-built A stronger. much is which ice, to weak, be can which snow, from the second ring. second the ice cause the water to refreeze. In this way the walls of the igloo start to change change to start igloo the of walls the way this In refreeze. to water the cause ice ring is complete, the builder starts on on starts builder the complete, is ring with the snow and ice closer to the outside of the igloo. This colder snow and and snow colder This igloo. the of outside the to closer ice and snow the with level patch of icy ground. When the first first the When ground. icy of patch level In fact, as the inside walls of the igloo start to melt, they come into contact contact into come they melt, to start igloo the of walls inside the as fact, In places the first ring of blocks on a firm, firm, a on blocks of ring first the places This heat starts to melt the inside of the igloo. That might seem like a bad thing. thing. bad a like seem might That igloo. the of inside the melt to starts heat This bone, stone, or metal. Next, the builder builder the Next, metal. or stone, bone, A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE AND SNOW OF HOUSE A ICE AND SNOW OF HOUSE A http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen Whitt Issue 16: Peoples of the Arctic (October 2009) Director of Experience Programs Teaching and Learning COSI Copyright October 2009 – The Ohio State University Stephen Whitt has been with COSI since 1993, Supported by the National Science performing shows and demonstrations, writing Foundation exhibit signs and show scripts, and co-directing Licensed Under a Creative Commons license. COSI’s floor faculty. He has written over 40 articles A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE for children’s science magazines, and his first book, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ BY STEPHEN WHITT called The Turtle and the Universe was published by Prometheus Books in 2008. Find this story and others at: http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org/information.php?topic=stories OCTOBER 2009 Flesch - Kincaid RL = 4.8 13 2 via Alaska’s Digital Archives. Digital Alaska’s via courtesy of Charles F. Cann, Cann, F. Charles of courtesy from snow and ice. Photo Photo ice. and snow from An igloo is a shelter built built shelter a is igloo An of life, and a place to live, could soon disappear forever. disappear soon could live, to place a and life, of these trips; they may stop building houses from snow and ice. A way way A ice. and snow from houses building stop may they trips; these their hunting trips to the ice are too risky. They may stop making making stop may They risky. too are ice the to trips hunting their are growing rare. Soon the hunters may decide that that decide may hunters the Soon rare. growing are generations Not only that, but the animals that the Inuit have hunted for many many for hunted have Inuit the that animals the but that, only Not the ice is too thin and the snow is too rare to build igloo shelters. shelters. igloo build to rare too is snow the and thin too is ice the as temperatures in the Arctic go up, some hunters discover that that discover hunters some up, go Arctic the in temperatures as The Inuit have hunted and built igloos for thousands of years. Today, Today, years. of thousands for igloos built and hunted have Inuit The A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE AND SNOW OF HOUSE A A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE AND SNOW OF HOUSE A A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE Now the real magic happens. The Inuit builder knows how to tilt the There are several reasons that an ice house works surprisingly well. First of second row inward, just a little, so that fewer blocks are needed for all, the ice blocks out the chilling wind. Second, ice is good at trapping heat. the second row than for the first. Think about a circular race track. If We say that ice is a good insulator. A small igloo with a candle inside, or you race on the inside of the track, you run a shorter distance than even just the body warmth of the inhabitants, can stay surprisingly warm. if you race on the outside of the track. In the same way, as the walls Have you ever wondered why a blanket can keep you warm? After all, a grow upward, and as the “circle” of the igloo gets smaller, fewer blanket doesn’t make its own heat. By wrapping yourself in a blanket, you blocks are needed. are capturing the heat made by your own body. That heat can keep you warm even if the air outside the blanket is very cold. 5 10 9 6 via Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection (Library of Congress). Congress). of (Library Collection Carpenter Frances and Frank via Fewer blocks are needed for each row of the igloo. Photo courtesy of Canadian Geological Survey Survey Geological Canadian of courtesy Photo igloo. the of row each for needed are blocks Fewer Igloos trap heat, allowing the people inside to stay warm.. stay to inside people the allowing heat, trap Igloos outside. stay much warmer than the the than warmer much stay the inside of the igloo can can igloo the of inside the even a small burning lamp, lamp, burning small a even or the heat produced by by produced heat the or way. By trapping body heat, heat, body trapping By way. An igloo works in the same same the in works igloo An A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE AND SNOW OF HOUSE A A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE AND SNOW OF HOUSE A A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE GLOSSARY You’re a traveler, a hunter on the cold Arctic ice. You’ve been searching GENERATIONS: time it takes for groups of people to grow up and have children, for seals for many hours, and now you must rest. counted as 30-35 years The ground around you is frozen. There are no trees anywhere. The wind IGLOO: a shelter built out of snow and ice is bitterly cold. Your survival depends on shelter. What will you do? INHABITANTS: people living in a place If you are an Inuit hunter, you might build an igloo. An igloo is a shelter INSULATOR: a material that traps heat built from snow and ice. INUIT: people that have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years 1 14 4 11 Digital Archives. Digital D. Goetze, via Alaska’s Alaska’s via Goetze, D. Photo courtesy of O. O. of courtesy Photo on the icy floor serve as beds. The builder and perhaps one or two other other two or one perhaps and builder The beds. as serve floor icy the on the summer months. months. summer the across the opening keep out the cold wind. Inside the igloo, animal furs furs animal igloo, the Inside wind. cold the out keep opening the across tent-like houses during during houses tent-like The Inuit people lived in in lived people Inuit The The opening to the igloo is large enough to crawl through. Animal furs furs Animal through. crawl to enough large is igloo the to opening The to let out smoke from a fire. a from smoke out let to final block on the very top of the igloo. He might cut a hole in this block block this in hole a cut might He igloo. the of top very the on block final builder keeps the blocks from falling in. Finally, the builder places the the places builder the Finally, in. falling from blocks the keeps builder dome shape. By carefully fitting the blocks together, the skilled Inuit Inuit skilled the together, blocks the fitting carefully By shape. dome As the wall grows, the blocks begin to arch together, forming the igloo’s igloo’s the forming together, arch to begin blocks the grows, wall the As A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE AND SNOW OF HOUSE A A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE AND SNOW OF HOUSE A A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE A HOUSE OF SNOW AND ICE hunters have enough Not all the people of the Arctic built igloos, but the Inuit people of space to stand up and Northern Canada became known as skillful igloo builders.