Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Jerejian, you've made a great choice to learn geography with me today.

I will be guiding you through our lesson.

We're going to have such a great time learning together.

Let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson on U.

K.

regions: why is the Lake District a national park? This lesson is called Pressure on the National Park.

You'll be exploring and explaining how human activity is affecting the landscape and identity of the Lake District.

Some of this learning is brand new, but I'm here to help you.

This links back to previous learning you might have done, locating national parks on a map and exploring the physical and human landscapes of the Lake District, the weather and climate of the Lake district, and how locals and visitors use the landscapes of the Lake District.

Here are the key words that we'll be using together in today's lesson.

Before we start learning about what they mean, let's practise saying them together.

Let's do my turn, your turn.

Climate change, climate change, Erosion, erosion, sustainable, sustainable, population, population, water authority, water authority.

Now that we've practised saying these keywords, let's go through them together and find out what they mean.

Climate change.

Climate change is a large-scale and long-term change in the planet's climate, including weather patterns and average temperatures.

Erosion.

Erosion is the process of the Earth's surface, e.

g.

rock or soil, being worn away and transported from its original site.

Sustainable.

If something is sustainable, it is able to continue over a long time.

Population.

The population is the total number of people living in a particular area.

Water authority.

A water authority is an organisation that is responsible for the supply of water in a certain area.

Well done for going through those key words with me.

We'll be using them together throughout today's lesson.

Here are the learning cycles that we will be working through together in today's lesson.

We've already learned that the Lake District is a national park because of its special, natural, and historical features.

As we found out, these make it a really attractive place for tourists.

However, all those visitors create additional pressures on the Lake District.

Today's lesson is split into two parts.

In the first part, we all look at how the human activity has affected the Lake District.

And then in the second part of the lesson, we'll discuss whether the national park is sustainable.

Are you ready to start your learning for today? Fantastic.

Let's begin.

Let's begin by looking at how people have affected the landscape and identity of the Lake District.

We have already found out that only 40,000 people live within the boundaries of the national park.

This means that there are 18 people for every one kilometre of land.

This is much less than many other places in the U.

K.

In fact, the average for England is 432 people for every one kilometre of land.

We can see that represented on this population density map of the U.

K.

The Lake District is a very light colour, which means a low population density, whereas other areas, places like London, for example, are red because lots of people live very close to each other in a small area of land.

There you can see the Lake District there.

Pause the video and talk to your partner about what we can see from this population density map.

Did you say that the Lake District is a very light colour on this population density map, meaning that it's got a low population compared to other places around the U.

K.

? Good job.

Well done if you did.

So this would suggest that the local population is not large enough to be putting much pressure on the landscape or identity of the Lake District.

However, we found out that in 2022, there was over 18 million visitors to the Lake District.

The beauty and tranquillity of the Lake District is one of the reasons why it attracts lots of visitors and tourists to the area.

These tourists put pressure on the landscape.

Can you think about what these pressures might be? Pause the video and discuss this as a think-pair-and-share activity.

Good job.

Did you talk about some of these pressures? Let's go through them together.

The pressures put onto the landscape of the Lake District by tourists include pollution of lakes and waterways, increasing property prices, climate change, footpath erosion, traffic jams, crowds, litter and pollution, and less room for wildlife.

Did you identify some of those pressures? Well done if you did.

You can give yourselves a thumbs up.

Great learning so far in today's lesson.

Increasing population puts pressure on water authorities with pollution of lakes and waterways.

More people create more waste, and some tourists do not always put their rubbish in a bin.

I hope all of you put your rubbish in the bin.

Give a quick show of hands if you do.

Good job.

Well done.

I'm sure all of you put your rubbish in the bins.

If tourists don't put their rubbish in the bins, this can harm the environment and the wildlife.

More people create more waste and rubbish.

This can harm the environment and the wildlife.

Water authorities then are tasked with clearing this up.

This image here shows a plastic bag that has been dumped in a lake.

The plastic will not decompose for a very long time, and this could injure curious wildlife like this duck.

Because the Lake District National Park is such a beautiful place, the demand for homes is high in this area.

Demand pushes up the price of any properties that are for sale.

This could mean that locals can't afford to buy or rent homes in the place where they grew up.

This threatens the traditional way of life which has been passed down by many generations.

Because the Lake district is a national park, there are limits to the number of new homes that can be built, so this drives up the property prices of the houses that are already there.

It is time for a quick check here.

So we've already learned quite a lot about the pressures of tourists on property prices, let's check our understanding before we move on.

Why are higher property prices bad for some local people? Pause the video here and think of an answer.

You can do this as a think-pair-and-share activity.

So how did you get on? Why do you think higher property prices are bad for local people? Did your answer include any of these ideas? Higher house prices mean that locals can't afford to buy or rent homes in places where they grew up.

They might have to move away from the national park.

This would threaten the traditional way of life because people who've lived there for generations would be forced to move because they can't afford to live in the area that they grew up in.

Well done if you got that right or if you wrote something similar, you can give yourselves another thumbs up.

Good job, everyone.

Climate change is caused not only by tourists but also by locals in the Lake District.

It can result in extreme weather events like drought, heat waves, wildfires, and flooding.

Each of these events would threaten both tourism and farming, the two main sources of income for locals in the area.

You can see there in this photograph two examples of climate change.

I wonder if you can identify what they are.

Pause the video and talk to your partner.

Good, everyone.

Did you say that the photo on the left is an example of drought because you can see that the soil is very dry and cracked and it hasn't received rain in a long time? And then you can see the photo on the right shows flooding.

Can you see how half of that house has been covered with water? Both of these things are damaging to the environment, but to also locals and visitors to the area.

Other pressures caused by millions of visitors each year include eroding footpaths, traffic jams, crowds, litter and pollution, and less room for wildlife.

You can see in these two photos here the erosion of the footpath on the left and then the amount of traffic and traffic jams on the right.

Most tourists who visit the Lake District come by car.

And during busier summer months, traffic jams and air pollution increase.

The summer can also bring increased crowds of people, litter, and pollution.

Using the landscape for hotels, campsites, and car parks, there's less and less room for wildlife.

All of these things add to the pressure on the national park.

Let's check our understanding of the list of pressures on the national park.

Which of these pressures are caused by tourists in the Lake District? A, less crowded roads, B, increased property prices, C, pollution of lakes and waterways, and D, erosion of footpaths.

Pause the video now and complete this check.

How did you get on? Did you remember that the demand for homes in the Lake District would increase property prices, and that millions of tourists would increase the pollution of the lakes and waterways and cause erosion of footpaths? Good job.

Well done if you did.

The only option that would not create pressure is less crowded roads, something that more tourists would not cause.

Good job, everyone.

Well done If you completed that check correctly.

You can give yourselves another thumbs up.

It's now time for our first task.

Now we have researched how human activity has affected the Lake District, we are ready to complete task A.

I would like you to discuss each pressure and rank them in order of importance to the sustainability of the Lake District.

Cut each of the statements out and order them with the most important at the top.

There are no correct answers here, but I'm looking for good reasons for your choices.

I'd like you to explain your choices to your geography buddy.

You might agree with what they say or you might disagree with them.

Have a discussion and see what you both think.

Let's just quickly read through the pressures together.

Increasing population puts pressure on water authorities with pollution of lakes and waterways.

Increased property prices means locals can't afford to buy or rent, threatening traditional way of life.

Climate change causing extreme weather events threatens tourism and farming.

And other pressures include eroding footpaths, traffic jams, crowds, litter and pollution, and less room for wildlife.

Pause the video now and complete task A.

World geographers, how did you get on? Did you rank each pressure in order of importance? Did you explain why? Which did you feel is the most important? Aisha thought that climate change is the most important pressure.

Flooding and drought will disrupt tourism and endanger lives, but Andeep disagreed.

He thought that the most important pressure is property prices.

Where are all the people who work in the Lake District going to live if they can't afford a home? I think it could be argued that each pressure will have an important impact on the landscape and identity of the Lake District, but what can we do about them? Let's see if we can work that out throughout the rest of our lesson.

Well done for going through that discussion with your partner.

It is now time for the second part of our lesson.

In this part of our lesson, we are going to investigate if the national park is sustainable now that we understand the pressures on the landscape and identity.

If the national park is not protected, many of its special qualities, like the mountains, lakes, and picturesque town and villages, might be damaged or polluted and local traditions may be lost.

That is why national parks have special rules to protect them.

We want to make sure that all of the national parks around the U.

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are protected so that many generations of locals and visitors can benefit from them.

All national parks have special rules and programmes that help to keep them as places that prosper and attract visitors, protect wildlife and historical sites, limit the number of new buildings and other developments that can happen there, and bring organisations and communities together to look after the needs of the park.

Although there are many challenges facing the Lake District National Park, there are many people working hard to solve these problems. The Lake District National Park Partnership is made up of 22 organisations and volunteers who want to protect the park and make sure the impact of human activity is limited.

We want to make sure that all the national parks remain beautiful and picturesque places to be with their historical significance and identity protected.

Their shared vision is that the Lake District will be an inspirational example of sustainable development in action, a place where its prosperous economy, world-class visitor experiences, and vibrant communities come together to sustain the spectacular landscape, its wildlife, and cultural heritage.

Local people, visitors, and many organisations working in the Lake District or have a contribution to make to it must be united in achieving this.

Their idea is that the responsibility of sustaining the Lake District falls to us all.

What do you think? Do you agree? Do you think that everybody should be responsible in protecting the Lake District? Pause the video and have that discussion.

Good job.

I'm sure you had a really interesting discussion there.

It's now time to check our understanding.

I would like you to tell your partner why we should try and preserve and protect the Lake District National Park.

Pause the video here and have that discussion.

You can have it as a think-pair-and-share activity so that you hear a wide range of opinions and arguments.

Pause the video now and complete this check.

How did you get on? Did your answer include some of these ideas? The Lake District is a world heritage site and national park.

If it is not protected, many of its special qualities, the mountains, lakes, and picturesque towns and villages, might be damaged or polluted, local wildlife and local traditions may be lost.

Well done if your answer included those points, and I'm sure you thought of many other points to include as well.

It's now time for task B.

While there are some rules and protections in place, there is more being done to further protect the parks and make it sustainable.

Research one of the projects aimed at making the Lake District National Park sustainable to find out what they are doing to preserve and protect the park.

Share your findings with your class.

You could choose from one of the three projects, Fix the Fells, Roots to Resilience Programme, or Sustainable Transport and Travel.

Pause the video now and complete task B.

How did you get on? Which project did you choose to research? Did you find out what they're doing to and protect the park? I chose to research Fix the Fells project, and this is an example of what your report might have contained.

Mission: to Protect our spectacular Lakeland fells from erosion by repairing and maintaining the upland paths.

How are they protecting and preserving? Fix the Fells have repaired over 200 paths since it began in 2001.

They maintain and monitor nearly 200 more paths, totaling nearly 400 kilometres, and are currently surveying another 325 paths.

They certainly have fixed those fells.

What a fantastic project.

It's great to see so many people caring for our national parks.

And with everybody on board, it's all our responsibility to protect the national parks and ensure that they are sustainable for future generations of people to enjoy, both locals and visitors alike.

Well done, geographers.

You've done some brilliant geography learning today.

We've now come to the end of our lesson, so let's go through a quick summary of all the learning that we've completed together today.

The beauty and special features of the Lake District attracts lots of visitors who put pressure on the landscape.

Increased property prices means locals can't always afford to buy or rent homes, threatening traditional ways of life.

Increasing pollution puts pressure on water authorities with pollution of lakes and waterways.

Climate change causing extreme weather events threatens tourism and farming.

National parks have special protections in place and many programmes for making them more sustainable.

You've been brilliant today.

Give yourselves one last thumbs up.

Thank you for joining me today and for sharing your learning with me.

See you next time for more geography lessons soon.

Goodbye.