Northern Europe: Society and Culture

Students explore the influence of geography on cultural and social elements of Northern Europe. They do a scavenger hunt to find the languages, religions, cultural activities, and cuisine of the region and connect those to the geographic location of the region. Then, they learn about the history of Scandinavian design and its relationship to geography, manufacturing, and urbanization. Finally, students consider their own geographic location and design a piece of furniture based on it.

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

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Overview

In this experience, students explore how geography has influenced society and culture in Northern Europe, including language, religion, traditions, sports, and cuisine. They examine both shared regional patterns and differences among individual countries and communities. Students then investigate Scandinavian design as an example of how climate, natural resources, urbanization, and manufacturing can shape cultural expression. Finally, they apply the same geographic reasoning to their own surroundings by designing a piece of furniture that reflects the place where they live.

Objectives:

Describe the cultural and societal features of Northern Europe
Identify and describe the geographic influences on the societies and culture of Northern Europe

Northern Europe includes countries with different languages, histories, religions, and cultural traditions. People across the region have also been influenced by geography, migration, trade, political change, and long histories of interaction with neighboring societies.

Society and culture can be seen in many parts of life, including language, traditions, beliefs, education, family life, celebrations, and community institutions. These patterns are not the same everywhere in Northern Europe, and they can vary within individual countries as well.

In this experience, you will explore examples of society and culture in Northern Europe and examine how geography and history have influenced daily life, traditions, and social institutions.

Objectives:

Describe the cultural and societal features of Northern Europe
Identify and describe the geographic influences on the societies and culture of Northern Europe

Galdhøpiggen Mountain, Norway

Based on Northern Europe’s geographic location, what can you infer about daily life in the region?

Post your answer

Discuss student responses as a group and ask students to identify the specific geographic evidence that supports each inference.

Guide students to notice that much of Northern Europe has a cool climate, with long winter nights and short summer nights in the far north. Also draw attention to the region’s extensive coastlines, seas, islands, and waterways.

Help students connect these physical features to possible effects on daily life. Climate and daylight patterns can influence seasonal activities, clothing, transportation, and how people use indoor and outdoor spaces. Access to the sea can influence fishing, food, trade, travel, and recreation.

Emphasize that geography can influence daily life, but it does not determine how everyone in a region lives. Experiences vary by country, community, season, and individual.

Possible follow-up questions include:

What evidence from the map supports your inference?
How might long winter nights affect daily routines or recreation?
How might access to the sea influence food, jobs, or transportation?
Why might daily life differ between northern and southern parts of the region?
Which conclusions can we make from geography alone, and which would require more information?

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