This lesson is designed to introduce learners to the region of the world known as  "The Great North" which includes the Arctic Circle, North Pole and Northern Europe. They will be introduced to life in this region and how the native inhabitants demonstrate stewardship of the Earth's resources through their daily living by viewing the IMAX film or DVD of the same name.

NOTE: A copy of the movie  Great North may be purchased from Amazon.com

The learner will:

• locate the Arctic Circle, The North Pole, and Northern Europe.
• name the countries within the arctic circle.
• draw and label a free hand drawing to the countries where the Inuit and Saami people live.

Before Watching the Movie

Materials: 

• World map
• Globe
• Map of the Arctic circle
  (http://www.athropolis.com/map3.htm )
• Student atlases
• Drawing paper/poster board
• Colored pencils
• Student copies of Attachment One: Thing to Watch or Listen for While Viewing the Movie

Teacher's Note:

There are a few scenes in the movie that may be disturbing to young children. A graphic birth of a caribou is shown as well as reindeer that are shedding the felt from their antlers. This does show some blood on the animals.

Instructional Procedure(s): 

Anticipatory Set:

Ask if the students have heard the names Inuit and Saami to describe people of the north. Some students might say they have heard the word Eskimo. Tell them that the word Eskimo is what the Inuit people used to be called. It means "eaters of raw meat" and was used by the Algonquin Indians of eastern Canada for these hardy neighbors who wore animal-skin clothing and were adept hunters. The name became commonly used by European explorers. Inuit means the "real people." Inuit is the preferred term used by the native people within the Arctic Circle in Northern Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Northern Siberia. Tell them that they will be seeing a movie about some of the cultural traditions of these people and their relationships with the animals and land of their region. This area is usually described as the portion of the Earth that is above the Arctic Circle (Latitude 66 °33´ North ). They will be locating the regions where these people live.

• After a short discussion show the students where the Inuit and the Saami live. Point out that they live above the Arctic Circle. Show the students the arctic circle on a globe and world map. (If necessary review the lines of longitude and latitude, and their purpose and notation.) Ask student whether the map or globe gives them a better idea of the arctic area. Why?
• Have the students use the Atlases and/or the map found on the web site to locate the countries that are within the Arctic Circle where the Inuit and Saami people live. (Countries of Northern Europe, Greenland, Northern Russia, Northern Canada and Northern United States – Alaska.)
• After students have located these countries, use map pins to locate them on a world map displayed in the classroom.
• Show a map of the Arctic circle from http://www.athropolis.c om/map3.htm.Discuss the climate (The Arctic is sometimes defined as the area where the average temperature for the warmest month of the year, July, is below 10°C (50°F). and as the area above the "treeline," farther north than trees can grow, where there is only tundra and the Arctic Ocean.). Discuss what the land looks like in the Arctic Circle and that there is no land at all at the north pole, just the polar ice cap on the Arctic Ocean. Ask the students to conjecture about some of the challenges for animals and people living within the Arctic Circle.
• Give each student a 9X18 sheet of white drawing paper or poster board. They will use the atlases and the web site to locate the countries and their relative location to each other. Each student will produce a map of the Arctic Circle by drawing a large circle in the center of the paper (labeled latitude 66° 33' North ) with a dot in the middle indicating the North Pole (labeled 90°North). Have students draw in the countries that have land within the Arctic Circle, properly labeling each country.
• Share with the students the following expectations for the maps.
  

  TOADLS
  •	T	Title ( Arctic Circle)
  •	O	Orientation ( compass rose)
  •	A	Author (the name of the person creating the map. On commercially created maps it may be the publisher.)
  •	D	Date that the map was created
  •	L	Legend
  •	S	Scale (This can be representative and not actually accurate for student created maps. Be sure that they understand the need for scale on maps.)
  •	Student labeled the Arctic Circle, countries of the Arctic Circle and the North Pole
  •	Use colored pencils.

  
   
• Distribute and read together Attachment One: Things to Watch or Listen for While Viewing the Movie

Assessment: 

Students will create a poster showing a map of the Arctic Circle. Be sure that they include the six parts of a map.

After Watching the Movie

Post Viewing Lesson Purpose: 

Students will discuss the geography theme of Human/Environment interaction and the role that it plays in the lives of the Inuit and Saami people.

Objectives: 

The learner will:

• compare and contrast the Inuit and Saami Cultures.
• compare and contrast the regions that these cultures live.
• discuss the human/environmental interaction.

Anticipatory Set:

Spend time discussing the movie with students. Have them share any information that they think they learned about the Inuit and the Saami people. Be sure to discuss the attachment from the Preview lesson, “Things to Look and Listen for While Viewing the Movie”. Put these ideas on chart paper and post in the room for further use. Tell them that they are going to discover more about each culture and present it to the rest of the class through a brief presentation and visual display.

• The teacher may choose to allow students to work together or independently to create a presentation and poster about the Inuit or Saami
• Students spend one class period researching the Inuit and Saami people. They may use any resources that the teacher has provided including the Internet. This lesson may be expanded at the teacher’s discretion
• Instruct students that they need to narrow their facts to no more that ten characteristics per culture.
• Be sure to instruct them to include elements from the film, the importance of the Caribou and Reindeer herds to each culture, and how the people interact with the natural environment. Guide them in discovering that these cultures, as well as humans everywhere, interact with their environment and adapt to the environment or adapt the environment to meet their needs. The use of helicopters for herding is an example. Include the climate in the regions that each inhabits. Be sure to include how the many community members participate in the herding of the Caribou and Reindeer. These animals are a common resource for both cultures. Point out that they try to be good stewards of their environment. Define stewardship as a trust of common resources held by a community for citizens.
• The Inuit have become defenders of their environment. As a result, the Inuit and Saami have developed a deep respect for the natural world; their values and beliefs always reflect the close and fragile relationship between humans and the natural world.
• Go over the list found in Attachment One “Things to Watch for While Viewing the Movie”. Students should be able to identify those things that are a Human/Environment Interaction and discuss why they think so.
  (Building the corral for the herd. Use of helicopters for herding, traveling around on snowmobiles instead of sleds.)
• Students will produce a poster demonstrating their understanding of the cultural characteristics and how they have interacted with their environment.
• Students will reflect on this project and the movie in writing in their journals. If the teacher doesn’t use journals, this could be a stand alone writing piece.

Map
http://www.athropolis.com/map3.htm

Samie People
http://www.itv.se/boreale/samieng.htm

Inuit People
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/northamerica/before1500/history/inuit.htm