© OACS LESSON 7 Living in the Tundra ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE (ANWR) (2 class periods) Focus To familiarize students with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Northern Alaska and the clash of land usage of the area between conservationists, Aboriginal peoples and the oil companies. Objectives The students will: appreciate the topography and ecology of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the annual migration of the caribou herds in this region; identify the locations of mountains, refuges, oil wells, areas leased for drilling and the migratory routes of the caribou in Northern Alaska; appreciate the complexity of the challenge of drilling for oil in a sensitive environmental area; collect magazine articles, newspaper clippings and other resources that relate to human response to the land, specifically the tundra. (These will also be a resource for the inquiry.) Teacher Background For this lesson you will need the video Oil on Ice, which is provided with this unit. The DVD describes the importance of the ANWR as the summer grazing site for the caribou, the current debate about the use of the refuge for oil exploration and the position of the Gwich’in Aboriginal communities. Completing a copy of the student’s guided viewing worksheet (SR 7-1) prior to teaching the lesson is recommended. The December 1988 issue of National Geographic has two excellent articles: “Caribou — The Majestic Wanderers” (pp. 846–857) and “Oil in the Wilderness: An Arctic Dilemma” (pp. 858–871). A good map on the caribou migration: pp. 860–861. The April 1997 issue of National Geographic has a more recent article entitled “Oil on Ice,” which examines the dilemma of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A similar article, “Oil Field or Sanctuary,” can be found in the August 2001 issue. For current information on oil development in Alaska, visit the following Web sites: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: http://www.r7.fws.gov/nwr/arctic/arctic.html (official ANWR site). This site includes developments in the oil industry. There are also maps of caribou migration patterns based on electronic tagging of herds. An excellent resource. Save the Arctic Refuge http://www.savearcticrefuge.org/ (activist site). Includes links to background information and other sources. Part C: Human Response to the Tundra 215 Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Living in the Tundra © OACS Before this lesson is taught, ask the students to collect magazine articles and newspaper clippings, along with any other resources they may find about the human response to the tundra, and bring them to class. These will be shared at the end of the lesson. Teacher Preparation The following preparation needs to be made for this lesson: Prepare class sets of WS 7-1 SR 7-1 WS 7-2 Prepare a transparency of WS 7-2 Oil on Ice “Guided Viewing Worksheet” “Human Response in Alaska” “Map of a Tundra Region” Teacher’s Copy of “Map of a Tundra Region.” Arrange for the projection of the DVD Oil on Ice for two class periods. (The DVD runs for 58 minutes.) Ensure that students have gathered articles related to human response to the tundra. Supplement their material with any information you may have gathered yourself. Several Canadian examples could be referred to in this lesson, should the teacher wish to do so. Consider the construction of the Norman Wells Pipeline, beginning in the 1930s and extending into the 1990s. Also consider the Mackenzie Pipeline Commission of the 1970s and the resurgence during the past several years. Learning Activities (2 class periods) CLASS PERIOD ONE Ask the class to consider a hypothetical scenario in which oil is discovered under the school property by an exploration company who is willing to pay the Christian school community millions of dollars for them to relocate, buy a new property and build a new school. Discuss what would happen to the school site and how people would feel about seeing the buildings torn down, bulldozers come in and a drilling rig assembled. Ask the students to predict what the school board would decide and why that decision would be made. (Keep this discussion brief — ten minutes maximum. Distribute WS 7-1, Oil on Ice “Guided Viewing Worksheet,” and explain to the class that they are about to view a documentary about an oil exploration proposal in a very delicate location in the arctic biome, Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge region. Walk through the questions to prepare the students for this activity. Begin showing the DVD Oil on Ice to the class. Pause the showing of the DVD five minutes before the end of the class. Determine how well the students were attending to the DVD by discussing their guided viewing worksheet responses. Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 216 Part C: Human Response to the Tundra © OACS Living in the Tundra Collect the incomplete worksheets for your personal review after class. CLASS PERIOD TWO Hand the incomplete worksheets back to the students, and then resume showing the remainder of the DVD. Once the viewing is complete, briefly discuss the remaining questions on the guided viewing worksheets with the class. Collect the worksheets for your review after class. Distribute copies of WS 7-2, “Map of a Tundra Region.” Ask students to identify the general area it shows. “What part of the world does this map represent?” Distribute SR 7-1 “Human Response in Alaska.” Have the students use an atlas to place on the map as many of the items listed as they can.They may work together. Be sure students follow their “Map Rules” from Lesson 2 (p. 51). After students have worked on their maps for seven or eight minutes, put up the transparency of the Teacher’s Copy of WS 7-2, and complete the map with the students. Label the potential and present oil wells on the coast. Using a red pencil crayon, draw in the migratory routes of the caribou. Students will need to have their map completed before next class period. Have students share their articles and clippings about the human response to land and the tundra in particular. Evaluation Mark WS 7-1, Oil on Ice “Guided Viewing Worksheet” (check for completion and understanding of the documentary) WS 7-2 “Map of a Tundra Region” (check for completion, neatness and accuracy) /10 Part C: Human Response to the Tundra 217 Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Living in the Tundra © OACS WS 7-1 Student’s Copy Oil on Ice Guided Viewing Worksheet As you watch the DVD, jot down a short answer to the following questions: 1. Name some of the wild animals shown to be living in the Arctic. 2. What does ANWR stand for? A ___________________________ N ___________________________ W ___________________________ R ___________________________ 3. Describe the landscape in the ANWR area. 4. What modern industry is already established in the Prudhoe Bay area? 5. What has been constructed from Prudhoe Bay, over the Alaskan mountains to the seaports on the south coast? 6. What accident happened in Prince William Sound in 1989? 7. How important is the oil industry to the State of Alaska? 8. Where do the Gwich’in people live? What animal do they depend on for food? 9. Where do the caribou herds migrate each spring? Why? 10. What do people fear will happen to the caribou if oil exploration and drilling are allowed in the ANWR? …continued Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 218 Part C: Human Response to the Tundra © OACS Living in the Tundra WS 7-1 Student’s Copy cont’d Oil on Ice Guided Viewing Worksheet 11. Why did the Aboriginal people move inland to Niuqsut from the Arctic coast? 12. What did these people notice about the caribou when a new oilfield was developed nearby? 13. What benefits have the Niuqsut peoples received from the oil industry? What have they lost? 14. What does she mean when the Aboriginal woman said that “we have a vested interest in the caribou”? 15. What did President Bush promote in 2000? 16. America burns about _______ gallons of oil a second. 17. What does “climate weirding” mean? 18. What is the European “purple people eater”? 19. What do people opposed to more Arctic oil exploration suggest that Americans do about oil needs? Part C: Human Response to the Tundra 219 Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Living in the Tundra © OACS WS 7-1 Teacher’s Copy Oil on Ice Guided Viewing Worksheet As you watch the DVD, jot down a short answer to the following questions: 1. Name some of the wild animals shown to be living in the Arctic. • • bears, caribou, ptarmigan, mountain goats, mink, polar bears, muskox, wolverines, wolves, arctic foxes, ground squirrels. snowy owls, geese, seagulls, eagles 3. Describe the landscape in the ANWR area. • windswept, few houses, few roads, mountains, ice floes, water, scrub brush, valleys, rivers, rock, snow, lots of shrubs, willows, trees (coniferous), flowers and buds in spring for short time, 180 species of birds fly through 5. What has been constructed from Prudhoe Bay, over the Alaskan mountains to the seaports on the south coast? • an oil pipeline 7. How important is the oil industry to the State of Alaska? • largest oil find in America (in the ANWR) — it is the “energy storehouse” • lots of revenue from oil/gas royalties for Alaskan people 9. Where do the caribou herds migrate each spring? Why? • Porcupine caribou herds migrate hundreds of miles from the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada, crossing the Porcupine River, to the coastal plain of the ANWR (i.e. the 10-0-2 region), to calve and to take advantage of the summer growth. 2. What does ANWR stand for? A rctic N national W ildlife R efuge 4. What modern industry is already established in the Prudhoe Bay area? • oil exploration/development 6. What accident happened in Prince William Sound in 1989? • March 24, 1989: the Exxon Valdez oil spill 8. Where do the Gwich’in people live? What animal do they depend on for food? • 8000 Gwich’in people live in the north in both Alaska and Canada, north and south of the Brooke Range • depend on the caribou for food 10. What do people fear will happen to the caribou if oil exploration and drilling are allowed in the ANWR? • Caribou stay away from noise and human activity. People fear that they will move away from the area. Since the oil industry takes lots of water, all wildlife will be disrupted. …continued Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 220 Part C: Human Response to the Tundra © OACS Living in the Tundra WS 7-1 Teacher’s Copy cont’d “Oil on Ice” Guided Viewing Worksheet 11. Why did the Aboriginal people move inland to Niuqsut from the Arctic coast? • 12. What did these people notice about the caribou when a new oil field was developed nearby? moved 18 miles inland to follow abundance of animals, caribou, and fish, i.e. to keep their way of life, continue to live off the land, sea, and air, to maintain their strong community 13. What benefits have the Niuqsut people received from the oil industry? What have they lost? • • Benefits: training opportunities; job opportunities, better services — i.e. natural gas, water and sewers, a better standard of living changes in migration pattern • there were no caribou near the oil field 14. What does she mean when the Aboriginal woman said that “we have a vested interest in the caribou”? • What they lost: jobs don’t last long; culture is disappearing; it is becoming harder to subsist in their own way 15. What did President Bush promote in 2000? • • President Bush proposed to develop the ANWR for oil drilling. Gwich’in elders gave their people a mandate to protect the area. They have the porcupine caribou herds, and that is all they have. They make many of the things they need from all parts of the caribou. They need the caribou in order to keep their identity as Gwich’in people — their culture and way of life. 16. America burns about 10 000 gallons of oil a second. • (The world burns 1 cubic mile of oil per year.) 17. What does “climate weirding” mean? 18. What is the European “purple people eater”? • • a hybrid car that meets the requirements of the Kyoto protocol for fuel efficiency in cars — runs off of hydrogen fuel cells • “green” car it is climate change that is more than climate warming; “climate weirding” is when the weather changes a lot and becomes more violent and less predictable 19. What do people opposed to more Arctic oil exploration suggest that Americans do about oil needs? • • • • • • • build fuel efficient cars: redesign them! behave intelligently — do things differently; be wise use alternate fuels; renewable resources to produce, e.g. use wind power use less fuel protect climate — cheaper to save fuel than to buy fuel; consider how much money is pent on military intervention; put the beauty of the land first; remember our spirituality look ahead and understand the consequences of our actions Part C: Human Response to the Tundra 221 Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Living in the Tundra © OACS SR 7-1 HUMAN RESPONSE IN ALASKA Several feature articles in National Geographic Magazine examine the ongoing debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. All have good images and maps, and together they can be used to look at the time line of the debate. The December 1988 issue of National Geographic has an excellent section on “Caribou,” (pages 846–857) and on “An Arctic Dilemma” (pages 858–871). There is a good map on the caribou migration on pages 860–861. The April 1997 issue of National Geographic has a more recent article titled “Oil on Ice,” which examines the dilemma of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The article includes a simple map showing oil fields and migration routes. The August 2001 issue of National Geographic has an article entitled “Oil Field or Sanctuary.” The map in this article, along with images and additional web resources, is available on the National Geographic web site at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0108. On your map, mark the following: caribou spring migration route concentrated calving area winter grounds of the caribou herds Brooks Range Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Ivvavik National Park Vuntut National Park Bowhead Whale fall migration route 10-0-2 area oil and gas lease areas oil and gas wells Trans-Alaska pipeline Yukon River Prudhoe Bay Yukon Alaska Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 222 Part C: Human Response to the Tundra © OACS Living in the Tundra WS 7-2 Student’s Copy MAP OF A TUNDRA REGION Part C: Human Response to the Tundra 223 Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Living in the Tundra © OACS WS 7-2 Teacher’s Copy MAP OF A TUNDRA REGION Lesson 7: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 224 Part C: Human Response to the Tundra
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