Ingjerd Haarstad Completes a Swim for the Ocean at the Jaeren Coast Hope Spot
Articles/Websites
Grades7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Social Studies, Biology
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Provided by Mission Blue
What it is
- This inspirational article highlights the impressive accomplishment of Ingjerd Haarstad, a Norwegian who swam 80 km along the Norway coast to raise awareness about threats to the ocean and coastline near her home.
- The article mentions threats to marine life from human activities and discusses Ingjerd's goal of encouraging more of her country's citizens to care about ocean health.
- There is a video on the webpage with beautiful ocean imagery that previews her journey on the webpage, but it is spoken in Norwegian without subtitles.
Teaching tips
Positives
- Beautiful pictures of Norwegian coastline, kelp forests, and the narrator celebrating her swimming journey connect the reader to the importance of Igjerd's mission to protect the ocean.
- Ingjerd mentions how most of the ocean is unexplored and that this can be a barrier to properly caring for and protecting this huge global ecosystem.
- The article and video show how one individual's actions can create press and interest around an environmental issue, inspiring others to take action.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with environmental threats to oceans.
- It would be helpful for students to be introduced the idea of Marine Protected Areas and the work of Mission Blue and their establishment of Hope Spots.
Differentiation
- Before reading the article, prompt students to discuss what they think are some of the biggest challenges to ocean health and make a list on the board.
- After reading the article, ask students to consider any special skills they may have and how they could utilize them to advocate for a Hope Spot.
- As an extension, have students learn more about some of the ecosystems and organisms that are found in this Norwegian Hope Spot such as kelp forests, reefs, sharks, shellfish, and coastal birds.
- Mission Blue's Hope Spots initiative is a great example for students to study methods of environmental protection and action for the world's oceans.
From the scientist review
This article is authored by and about Ingjerd Hastard an accomplished swimmer, lifeguard, and free diver who swam the Jæren Coast Hope Spot. This coast is one of the most notorious coast lines with the roughest seas in the world. Hastard swam this coast to raise awareness about problems the ocean is facing. The article does not detail much of the science but is a great example of activism that can be done, especially by nonscientists. A video is also included, but it is not spoken or captioned in English. The information presented is accurate and this resource is recommended for teaching.
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