The Arctic farmer

Step № 1 ​
The northernmost city

Let’s start the Arctic journey right from here! Answer the questions

1.Where is this town situated?

2. What are the living conditions there?
3. What are the possible hardships of living in such conditions?

Longyearbyen ​[​ ˈlɒŋjɪəˌbjuːən] i​s the largest populated settlement on the ​Svalbard​archipelago,
located in the high ​Norwegian​​
Arctic​. The settlement is regarded as the northernmost town in the world.

Step № 2 ​
What do you know?
Do the quiz and check what you know about life in the Arctic city

1.The average winter temperatures in ​Longyearbyen ​are ​−20 to −25°C.

A - True
B - False

2.Cats are banned in the city.

A - True
B - False

3. ​It’s customary to remove your shoes when entering hotels, shops, and restaurants in
Longyearbyen.

A - True
B - False

4. ​It is required to carry a rifle anytime you leave the settlement.

A - True
B - False

5.​Today the Svalbard archipelago has become a rubbish dump.

A - True
B - False

6. The huge amount of rubbish from the settlement has to be transported to the mainland.
A - True
B - False

7. It is impossible to grow vegetables in such conditions.

A - True
B - False

Check the answers here

1.The average winter temperatures in ​Longyearbyen ​are ​−20 to −25°C.

​​False
The average winter highs are​−11 to −13 °C.That’s cold, but probably not what you would expect
for a city located so far north. The western side of Svalbard receives the warm Atlantic current and
this helps moderate the temperatures in Longyearbyen.

2.​Cats are banned in the city.

​True
Svalbard is home to abundant Arctic bird populations and cats pose a problem for the bird life as
they hunt and kill them. So Svalbard has prohibited them.

3. ​It’s customary to remove your shoes when entering hotels, shops, and restaurants in
Longyearbyen.
​ ​True
Longyearbyen was a typical mining town up to 1990. This is a tradition that dates back to the coal
mining days as a way to prevent coal dust from being tracked into the buildings.

4. ​It is required to carry a rifle anytime you leave the settlement.

​True
More than 3,000 polar bears live around Svalbard; they are curious and sometimes hungry. It is
required to carry and know how to use a high-powered rifle anytime you leave the settlement. But
guns are not allowed inside any building. Clever signs remind you, “All the polar bears in this shop
are already dead, please leave your weapon with the staff.”
5.​Today the Svalbard archipelago has become a rubbish dump.
​True
The remote islands of Svalbard are the final destination of many plastic items that enter the
waters of the Barents Sea, Norwegian Sea, Greenland Sea, North Sea, and even the North
Atlantic Ocean. The potential sources of the litter are coastal activity in far-away countries as well
as fishing activity near the islands. The Gulf Stream can carry fishing nets, oil containers, food
packaging, plastic bags, and small pieces of plastic from the coast of Western Europe to the
beaches of Svalbard i​n less than 3 years.​

6. The huge amount of rubbish from the settlement has to be transported to the mainland.
​True
In Svalbard, much of the rubbish generated cannot be recycled locally. Discarded food represents
a challenge, and the largest settlements have their own methods including grinding mills,
composting and recycling to animal fodder. An increasing amount of the waste generated by coal
mining industry and building activity is transported to the mainland.

7. It is impossible to grow vegetables in such conditions.

​​False

Let’s watch about ​Ben Vidmar who grows vegetables in the northernmost town on Earth!

Step № 3​Unfreeze your words

Let’s practise to understand the video better. Read the sentences and match the highlighted
words with their meanings

The world’s ​output​​of CO2.

The ​sustainable​use of resources.

People who do not ​conform​to traditional standards of
behaviour.

Constant criticism ​beats ​her ​down​.

The best way to ​perfect ​your language is to live in the

country where it’s spoken.

We had ​leftovers​for dinner last night.

 Vegetable grow much faster in the ​greenhouse​.

output
sustainable
to conform
to beat down
to perfect [​
pəˈfekt​]
leftovers
greenhouse

(...) - an amount of something produced by a person, factory, country, etc.

(...) - food remaining after a meal
(...) - to obey a rule or behave according to the standards
(...) - a glass building used for growing plants
(...) - to make something as good as it can be
(...) - to make somebody feel defeated; to exhaust somebody
(...) - causing little or no damage to the environment

The polar bear has eaten all the letters in the words except for the first ones! Let’s restore the
words

1. For the whole team to be successful, everyone on the team should ​(c…)​.

2. (L…)​, cans and other garbage are handled separately.

3. Toyota is ab​out to increase its car ​(o…)​next year.

4. This technique was ​(p…)​by the ancient Greeks.

5. The severe winters here just ​(b…)​​me​​(d... )​.

6. Traditional agricultural methods seem to be more ​(s…)​.

7. He had built a ​(g... )​on the back of his yard and prided himself on his tomatoes.

Answer the questions using the following words:​​sustainable, to perfect, to conform, to beat
somebody down, leftovers
 ● What is ​eco-friendly​tourism?
● What are the skills you want to ​master​?
● What are the rules you don’t like but have to ​obey ​to?
● What are the things that ​get​you ​down​?
● What do you usually do with the​meal remnants​? Are there any ways to use them in a
nature-friendly way?

Step № 4​ ​
The Arctic farmer

Listen to Ben’s story about growing plants in a hostile environment and find out what made
him try this experiment

Glossary
per capita​- per head of population
fertilizer​- a natural or chemical substance given to plants to make them grow
to ship ​- to send goods or people somewhere by ship
a dome​ - a round roof of a building

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MC2_VmOcq8W-Z7SRt0M-J7Vw0zx4n_cp/view?usp=sharing

What encouraged Ben to start growing vegetables himself?

❏ He wanted to become famous doing such an unusual thing.
❏ He wanted to earn money providing the local restaurants with fresh vegetables.
❏ He wanted to make his town more sustainable.

Watch the video again and complete the sentences

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MC2_VmOcq8W-Z7SRt0M-J7Vw0zx4n_cp/view?usp=sharing

● Ben advises not to give up on one’s dreams, keep going and keep​( )​.
● The town has the highest CO2 ​( )​per capita in the world.
● All the vegetables they have in the town come ​( )​in plastic, which they throw away and then
it has to be ​( )​to the mainland.
● The conditions are very ​( )​there because of three months of darkness.
● He hopes to​( )​this practice there and help people around the world.

Let’s discuss:
● What do you think of Ben’s initiative?
● How can you cut down on the amount of plastic litter?
● What are the ways you can reduce your CO2 footprint?
● Do you believe such projects should be supported by the authorities? Why?
● What do you know about the global warming effect on the Arctic?
● What are the consequences for its habitat?

Step № 5​​
Sustainable city
Which of the following can be applied in your city? Comment on the ideas and add some
yours

To make your city more sustainable focus on:

❏ a good supply of alternative means of transport
❏ promoting cycling and walkability
❏ urban growing like rooftop and vertical gardens
❏ using locally generated wind and solar energy
❏ promoting wise and ethical consumption
❏ raising awareness about the importance of recycling
❏ smart street lights
❏ gas and water leak detection

Useful language

Expressing agreement Expressing disagreement Giving and clarifying one’s

opinion

● I agree... ● Well, I see things rather ● Well, it is considered

● I totally agree…
● Definitely…
● Absolutely…
● I couldn’t agree more…
● That’s convincing…
● That’s a good point
differently…
● I agree up to a point,
but…
● There is no way I could
agree with that…
● That’s out of
question…
● I find that very difficult
to accept…
that…
● As far as I’m
concerned…
● From my view point…
● By this I mean…
● Here I'm referring to…
● To be more precise…

Step № 6​​
Sustainability matters
Read about another Arctic problem and discuss it with your teacher.

Siberia, Alaska, Greenland and Canada are currently battling unprecedented wildfires. In Russia an
area of 3.3m hectares is burning and smog has blown across major cities making it difficult to
breathe. The smoke from Siberian fires has spread as far as Alaska. Although the wildfires are
common for this areas between May and October, this is intensity that has been particularly unusual.
Scientists believe that temperatures in Arctic are growing much faster than the global average. Dry
ground and hotter than average temperatures cause the fires to spread so aggressively.

● What are the main reasons of these severe wildfires?

● Does your region suffer from such a disaster?
● What are the ecological issues of your area or city?
● How are they connected to global warming effect?
● How can you contribute to minimizing the CO2 output?

Write a post about the importance of changing your city into a nature-friendly one and the
ways to do it. Tick the instructions as you follow them.
Instructions
❏ Plan what you are going to write about.
❏ Write the text according to your plan.
❏ Try to include the following features:
❏ headline or introduction should be attention grabbers
❏ the post should encourage a dialogue
❏ it contains internal linking for relevant posts
❏ it reveals personal interpretation of the subject
❏ Use the ‘green’ words from the list.
❏ Check your writing before sending it for evaluation.
❏ Please see ​Grammarly​to avoid spelling and grammar mistakes.

Wordlist
1. sustainable
2. a greenhouse
3. a leftover
4. recycling
5. to perfect

Useful language
● to beat somebody down
● CO2 output
● urban growing
● wind and solar energy
● ethical consumption

#sustainabilitymatters