5.5
Ensuring tourism and Arctic Peoples cooperate for mutual benefit
Did you know?
The Arctic is becoming more popular for tourism.
As climate change reduces snow cover in the European Alps, more winter sports tourists go to the Arctic.
Narwhals are disturbed by shipping including increasing tour cruises.
Reindeer are more often disturbed by increasing tourists and they run when disturbed which causes a big problem for herders!
Tourism is increasing in the Arctic | Photo: Niklas Labba
Fascinating Facts!
You can still ski in Sweden on midsummers day.
Arctic vegetation and landscapes can be extremely sensitive to disturbances and trampling. A 20 cm diameter plant can take over 100 years to be replaced if it is damaged.
Reindeer are more often disturbed by increasing tourists and they run when disturbed which causes a big problem for herders!
- Reindeer can run up to 80 kilometres per hour, Usain Bolt the fastest person on Earth can run 43 kilometres per hour.
Get Active!
How could increasing tourism
affect the Arctic?
affect the Arctic?
Fill in the table with as many benefits and disadvantages to tourism in the Arctic which will probably increase in the next 10 years.
Example answers for Teachers:
Pros:
- Educating people from outside the Arctic, creating awareness of environmental problems in the Arctic, stimulating new businesses in Indigenous communities
Cons:
- Disturbing animals, damaging plants, increased pollution and litter, disturbing lives of Indigenous People
Silent Debate
Tourism in the Arctic
Notes for teachers
Silent Debate is an effective way of engaging the whole class, as all have to participate. It is a great activity to use at the end of a theme to reinforce key messages and informally assess children's understanding of the theme as a whole. This activity can be adapted by getting your more able students to create the questions or statements.
How it works
Place between five and ten pieces of large paper with a statement on around the room, depending on how much time you have and the ability of your pupils.
Pupils are allowed to go wherever they wish and write a sentence or paragraph either for or against the statement. The first time you do this it may be useful to outline the language you would encourage your pupils to use and give them sentence starters and phrases to build or refute an argument.
Pupils should visit each one or as many statements as they can in the time available and debate in writing, and in silence, whether tourism is beneficial for, or negatively, impacting the Arctic. Encourage pupils to not just write yes/no, but also to give reasons to support their viewpoint and respond to comments made by their peers.
Once they have worked at two or three different stations, remind pupils to refute the arguments that other pupils have already written.
After the allocated time has lapsed, allow a few extra minutes for pupils to revisit the sheets that they contributed to earlier in the activity to see if the subsequent contributions support or challenge their initial thoughts and whether their initial thinking has been influenced.
Feedback into a whole class discussion.
Pupils are allowed to go wherever they wish and write a sentence or paragraph either for or against the statement. The first time you do this it may be useful to outline the language you would encourage your pupils to use and give them sentence starters and phrases to build or refute an argument.
Pupils should visit each one or as many statements as they can in the time available and debate in writing, and in silence, whether tourism is beneficial for, or negatively, impacting the Arctic. Encourage pupils to not just write yes/no, but also to give reasons to support their viewpoint and respond to comments made by their peers.
Once they have worked at two or three different stations, remind pupils to refute the arguments that other pupils have already written.
After the allocated time has lapsed, allow a few extra minutes for pupils to revisit the sheets that they contributed to earlier in the activity to see if the subsequent contributions support or challenge their initial thoughts and whether their initial thinking has been influenced.
Feedback into a whole class discussion.
Instructions for pupils
Move around the room, carefully reading the statements.
Write your own opinion.
If you agree or disagree with someone else's opinion, put a tick or a cross and write why or add further comments.
Make links between similar views by drawing a line between them.
Try and visit as many stations as you can.