Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Grey, and I'm so excited that you've decided to join me for today's geography lesson.

Today's lesson is in our unit of ice and glaciers.

How are cold places affected by a warming planet? And the title of today's lesson is "Countries in the Arctic." By the end of the lesson, you will be able to locate the Arctic and explain why the region is important.

There are some key words that will come across in today's lesson.

They are Arctic Circle, indigenous peoples and natural resource.

The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line at latitude 66 degrees, 33 minutes north, marking the boundary of the Arctic region.

Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of a region.

And the natural resource and materials available in the environment that support our wants and needs.

Today's lesson on countries in the Arctic is split into two learning cycles.

The first, what is the Arctic and who lives there, and the second why is the Arctic important and who controls it.

So let's take a look at our first learning cycle.

What is the Arctic and who lives there? The Arctic is a region made up of land across three continents surrounding an ocean.

The North Pole at latitude 90 degrees north is in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the five major oceans.

The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by territories belonging to eight different countries.

All eight have land within the Arctic Circle.

And on the map here, you can see the Arctic Circle identified.

How many of the eight countries with territories in the Arctic Circle can you name? Let's have a look at them.

We've got the USA or Alaska, Canada, Greenland, which is belongs to Denmark, Iceland, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

Did you get all eight of those? So on to our first check of the lesson now then, which of the following countries have some territory within the Arctic Circle? A, the UK.

B, the USA.

C, France.

D, Finland.

So pause the video, write down your answer and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which of the following countries have some territory within the Arctic Circle? The answer is B and D, the USA and Finland.

Did you get those? Well done.

Another check for us now then, which of the following countries have a coastline on the Arctic Ocean? A, Canada.

B, Finland.

C, Russia.

D, Sweden.

So have a good look at that map and identify which of those four countries have a coastline on the Arctic Ocean.

Pause the video, write down your answer and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which of the following countries have a coastline on the Arctic Ocean? And the answer is A, Canada and C, Russia.

Did you get those? Well done.

Five of the eight Arctic nations have a coastline on the Arctic Ocean.

So the Arctic Ocean is covered by pack ice and drifting icebergs in the winter.

Arctic sea ice grows in autumn and winter, but it shrinks again each summer.

Summer sea ice is only half the size of the ocean's ice cover in winter.

So the amount of ice on the ocean changes throughout the year depending on the season.

In recent decades, Arctic ice has been melting more in summer than it refreezes in winter.

Now the Arctic is in the tundra biome.

There's a picture there of the arctic.

Tundra is a treeless land with low-growing vegetation.

The land in the Arctic is covered with permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of soil and ice.

Now, despite the harsh conditions, people live in the Arctic region.

Now Alex asks, "How many people live in the Arctic?" Really good question there, Alex.

Approximately 4 million people live there.

The Arctic is home to both indigenous peoples and modern settlers.

And now Izzy says, "They have to share it with polar bears who give their name to the Arctic.

Arctic is Greek for bear." Brilliant fact there, Izzy.

Another check for us now then.

True or false, the Arctic region is uninhabited.

Is that true or false? So pause the video, write down your answer and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? True or false? The Arctic region is uninhabited.

That's false.

Why is it false? Approximately 4 million people live in the Arctic region.

Did you get that? Well done.

So indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of a region.

They adapted their lifestyle to cope with the Arctic's extreme climate over thousands of years.

The Inuit live in the Arctic, in the USA Canada, Greenland, and Russia.

The Nenets live in Russia and the Sami, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

Now many indigenous peoples rely on hunting, fishing, and herding.

The Sami people herd reindeer.

Now, Sofia asks, "How might climate change threaten indigenous people in the Arctic?" A really good question there, Sofia.

How might climate change threaten indigenous people in the Arctic? The climate change is threatening traditional ways of life In the Arctic.

Climate change leads to many changes such as melting sea ice, thawing permafrost, and changing migration patterns.

How might these factors affect hunting? So climate changes making all these different changes.

How might these things affect hunting? How might sea ice melting, permafrost thawing and migration patterns changing? How might that impact hunting? And many Arctic animals like seals and polar bears depend on sea ice for their survival.

Polar bears use coastal ice as a platform from which to hunt their prey.

As ice melts, these animals become harder to find and hunt.

Hunters who travel on the ice also face more danger because thinning ice increases the risk of falling through.

Now, warming temperatures also shift migration patterns of caribou, whales, and other key species, making hunting more difficult.

Hunters must also travel longer distances, which requires more fuel and resources.

Let us check for us now then, which of the following are threatening traditional ways of life in the Arctic? Is it A, climate change.

B, melting sea ice.

C, changing migration patterns.

So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which of the following are threatening traditional ways of life in the Arctic? And the answer is all of them.

Climate change, melting sea ice, changing migration patterns.

Did you get them all? Well done.

So onto our first task of the lesson now then.

On the map, label the eight countries surrounding the Arctic Ocean.

So you've got your map there, there are eight countries that surround the Arctic Ocean.

Can you label them? That's question one.

Question two, fill in the fact file about the Arctic.

So we've got a fact file there with some bits of information missing, and you need to fill in the bits of information.

So the information you need to fill in is the Arctic biome, size of the Arctic population, Canadian indigenous people, Russian indigenous people, and factors affecting hunting in the Arctic.

So pause the video, complete those two tasks, label the countries in the map, fill in the fact file and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? So here are the countries, the eight countries surrounding the Arctic Ocean labelled.

We've got the USA, Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Denmark, Iceland, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

Did you managed to get all eight of those? And now let's have a look at the answers to the fact file.

The Arctic biome is the tundra.

Size of the Arctic population, approximately 4 million.

Canadian indigenous people are the Inuit.

Russian indigenous people, Nenets, Sami and Inuit.

Factors affecting hunting in the Arctic, climate change, melting sea ice, changing migration patterns.

Did you get all of those? Well done.

Okay, so we finished our first learning cycle, which was what is the Arctic and who lives there? And now we're gonna move on to why is the Arctic important and who controls it? The Arctic is rich in natural resources, making it an economically significant region.

So we'll look at what natural resources are in the Arctic.

Oil and natural gas, minerals and fish.

So lots of natural resources there in the Arctic, which makes it an economically significant region.

The Arctic contains an estimated 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and 30% of its undiscovered natural gas.

Let's have a look at what that might look like.

So here are some pie charts showing oil and natural gas, and this is the proportion of it in the Arctic, and this is the proportion in the rest of the world.

Quite a large amount is found in the Arctic.

Little check for us now then, what percentage of the world's undiscovered natural gas is in the Arctic? Is it A, 13%, B, 30%, or C 43%? So pause the video, write down your answer and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? What a percentage of the world's undiscovered natural gas is in the Arctic? The answer is B 30%.

Did you get that right? Well done.

Large deposits of minerals are also found in the Arctic region, including valuable metals.

Let's have a look at which metals can be found there.

Uranium, gold, and zinc.

So large, large amounts of these metals, these really valuable metals found in the Arctic.

Now Arctic waters are also home to rich fisheries.

The fishing industry in the Arctic supports local communities and supplies global markets.

So fish in the Arctic support local communities as well as the market globally.

Arctic nations compete for control over resources, which leads to disputes.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allows nations to claim an exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles from their coastline.

What does UNCLOS stand for? So a little check for us.

What does UNCLOS stand for? Can you remember? So pause the video, write down your answer and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, did you get it? What does UNCLOS stand for? Stands for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Did you get that? Well done.

Now climate change is having a rapid impact in the Arctic region.

As a result of the summer Arctic sea ice shrinking, countries in the Arctic are trying to expand their claims. Canada and Greenland are expanding claims to Arctic seabeds and Russia has planted a flag on the North Pole seabed claiming vast areas of the Arctic.

The Arctic Council is an international organisation that attempts to promote cooperation and sustainability among Arctic nations.

It was set up in 1996.

Now Sam asks, "Who is on the Arctic Council?" Only representatives of countries with territory within the Arctic Circle are allowed to take part.

And that makes sense, doesn't it? That only the representatives from the countries that have got land and territory within the Arctic Circle are a part of the Arctic Council.

Okay, our final task of the lesson now then.

Find and correct eight mistakes in this text on Arctic resources.

So we've got some information here all about Arctic resources, but there are eight mistakes.

Need to find the eight mistakes and correct them.

The Arctic contains an estimated 31% of the world's undiscovered oil and 3% of its undiscovered natural gas.

Large deposits of minerals are also found in the Arctic region.

Arctic waters are home to rich fisheries.

The textile industry in the region supports Arctic communities and supplies global markets.

Arctic nations compete for control over resources leading to disputes.

The United States Convention on the Law of the Sea does not allow nations to claim an exclusive economic zone extending 100 nautical miles from their coastline.

The UK and Greenland are expanding claims to Arctic seabeds.

Russia has claimed vast areas around the South Pole.

So have another read through that.

Identify the eight mistakes and correct them.

So pause the video while you do that and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Let's have a look at the answer.

The Arctic contains an estimated 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and 30% of its undiscovered natural gas.

Large deposits of minerals are also found in the Arctic region.

Arctic waters are home to rich fisheries.

The fishing industry in the Arctic supports local communities and global markets.

Arctic nations compete for control over resources leading to disputes.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allows nations to claim an exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles from their coastline.

Canada and Greenland are expanding claims to Arctic seabeds.

Russia has claimed vast areas around the North Pole.

How did you get on? Did you identify all eight of the mistakes and were you able to correct them? Well done.

So we're at the end of our lesson now on countries in the Arctic.

Let's have a little look at what we've learned today.

The Arctic is a region made up of land across three continents surrounding an ocean.

Around 4 million people live within the Arctic Circle.

The Arctic region has many natural resources including oil, uranium, other minerals and fish.

Countries around the Arctic Circle claim they have rights to some resources.

Climate change is having a rapid impact on the Arctic region, and environmental change has led to new territorial claims. Thank you for joining me for today's geography lesson.

I've really enjoyed it and I hope you have too.

I'll see you next time.