SVALBARD
Visit the PILOT GEOGRAPHY BLOG for the definitive resource...
Images in the image galleries kindly provided by Steve Johnston from Dundee who also kindly provided the captions for the images.
Where is Svalbard
Svalbard lies in the frozen Arctic. It is situated between Greenland and Norway. It is an archipelago of islands.
Who 'owns' Svalbard ?
Svalbard is a territory of Norway.
What is Svalbard like ?
The images on the site give an excellent impression of the place.
There is a page full of webcam images and links at the WEBCAM page of the SVALBARD page.
Michael Palin travels through Spitzbergen en route to the South Pole from the North Pole in the first episode of POLE TO POLE. This is repeated frequently on UKTV Documentary on Sky TV.
Also features in Tim Moore's "Frost on my moustache"- we will be using extracts from this book as part of our resources.
SVALBARD LINKS
There are the SVALBARD PAGES at the obvious web address (is there a Svalbard domain extension I wonder ?) - this has a range of pages, with a Forum, Gallery and Tourist Information, as well as links to some WEBCAMS.
Worth searching for some of the key settlements, such as LONGYEARBYEN.
Some nice images at SVALBARD IMAGES, which also has links to the Norsk Polar Institute as well as landscape, places, wildlife and birds.
http://www.svalbard-images.com/spitzbergen/ - a useful page and map
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitzbergen - a WIKIPEDIA page
http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/~spitz/index.html - a record of a trip from Dundee University in 2002 - some great PANORAMIC images of the area
TOURISM CASE STUDY ACTIVITY
http://www.scantours.com/arctic_adventure_cruise.htm - a company offering tours to Spitzbergen aboard the Nordstjernen: the ship taken by Tim Moore
http://www.exodus.co.uk/holidays/cnz.html - another holiday company - includes dog sledding video
Students need to consider the reasons why people would choose to visit Svalbard as a destination.
Adapt this from existing exercises based on other locations.
Could also do a packing exercise: thinking of appropriate items with justification.
OK, I know this is not Svalbard, but on a related theme, here is poem by Rob Hindle, who provided the poems for the SHEFFIELD FLOOD page. It is about John Franklin's expeditions to find the NW passage.
There are working coal mines on the island, but they do not produce large amounts of coal.
Three of the working mines are called Gruve 3, Gruve 7 and Skea
Houses are apparently restricted to being decorated / painted in particular colours by the council. They are built to high standards of insulation, and pipes are located above ground.
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