We are continuing with our studies on Scandinavian countries and this week has us exploring Sweden.
Wonderful Animals: In Sweden you can find a variety of animals according to this source: https://www.wildsweden.com/about/the-wild-animals/
- Moose usually are found deep in the forests. There are about 300,000-400,000 moose and they live 12-25 years. Their predators are the brown bear, wolf, and humans. Moose are in every part of Sweden except on Gotland and the outer islands. The Swedish name for moose is Alg.
- Beavers are rather common in central parts of Sweden and are less popular in Northern parts and South of Stockholm. They like to gnaw at Aspen and Birch trees. They live to be 16-24 years old and there are about 150,000 of them. Their natural predators are the Lynx, Wolf, and Human. They almost went extinct until 1922 when more European beavers were brought over from Norway.
- There are a few Scandinavian wolves in the northern half of Sweden however not too many in the very South part however some can be found in the Southern part of Central Sweden such as Västmanland, Örebro, Värmland, Dalarna and Gävleborg. There are rarely any Wolves in the Northern half of Sweden, nor in the very South. There are about 400-500 Wolves. The natural predators are other wolves and men. Wolves went extinct in the 1800's however in the 1980's Russian and Finish wolves recovered the population. The average life span is 7-8 years old.
- Bears are found in the Northern two thirds of Sweden mostly in Central Swedish areas of Dalarna, Gävleborg and Jämtland. More Bears live in this area than anywhere else in Europe. Bears live 20-30 years and hibernate from October or November to April or May. There are about 300 of them.
- Arctic Foxes sometimes known as white and blue foxes come in two different colours one is white and one is blue. The white color is white in Winter and grey with brown and legs, face, and back in the Summer. This is the most popular ones found in Sweden. The blue type has a blueish-gray fur throughout the entire year. are in the mountains of North-Western Sweden, especially the alpine areas of Jämtland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten. Their life span is about 5 years. There are about 200 of them. The white colored ones can camouflage more and are better adapted to survive however both can be found in the same litter. Their natural predators are the red fox.
- Wolverines are found in remote mountainous regions of Sweden such as Norrbotten, Västerbotten and Jämtland, but now also further South in the forested regions of Dalarna and Hälsingland. They have been noted in South-East forested regions of Central Sweden such as Värmland and Gävleborg and Southern areas like Gyllbergen in Dalarna. They have a lifespan of 10-12 years. There are about 600-700 and their natural predators are humans although it is illegal to hunt them. The wolverine belongs to the otter family and they are powerfully built and has short legs with wide feet for traveling across the snow. The wolverines like to climb trees and swim very well. Young wolverines are called cubs or kits.
- Lynxs can be found all across Sweden. Many are found in Stockholm, Sörmland, Uppland and in Bergslagen. They like to come around dawn and dusk in the early mornings. When in danger a Lynx will likely climb a tree. They live for 10-14 years and their natural predators are humans who could injure them in traffic or hunt them. They are the largest cat animal in Europe and the third largest predator in Sweden after the Brown Bear and Wolf. These lynxs are one of the four lynx species in the World. In Northern Sweden Reindeer is their main prey while Roedeer is their main prey in the South.The Lynx has powerful legs, with slightly longer hind limbs adapted for springing. The lynx uses various scent marks, including urine, faeces and scrapes to mark territory and also to communicate with neighbours.
- Wild boar or sometimes called wild pig live in Southern parts of Sweden, mostly in the Stockholm area down to Skåne. Södermanland. They are often looking for food in fields and meadows and there are about 300,000 of them. They live for about 15-20 years. Wolves and humans are their natural pre1970’s – and 1980’s, the wild population has increased in various parts of southern Sweden and is now estimated to over 300,000. The population is still growing at a fast rate as they populate new regions of Sweden at a steady pace. The wild boar became extinct and then in the 1970s it return. The tusks in the lower jaw are sharp and shaped for grazing. Boars feed on fruits, seeds and roots and the wolves’ leftovers.
- Most Otters live by the rivers in Northern Sweden however more are being found in the South. Many wild otters are found at the Gysinge bruk by river Dalälven in Färnebofjärden National Park where they play on the ice during Winter. There are about 1500-2000 of them and their predators are chemicals and traffic. To survive in the water they have webbed feet, the ability to close the small ears and the nose when under water, and very dense, short fur which traps a layer of air to insulate the body. They feed mainly on fish and sometimes frogs, crayfish, birds and small mammals. In the 1950's this population of animals almost went extinct due to PCB an environmental toxin.
Barron is a member of the Earth Rangers as you may have learnt from another post of ours and since bears are rather popular in Sweden and they happened to have a cute little game that allows you to discover which type of bear you may be we thought it would be great to share this in our unit on Sweden. Join us in this neat quiz: https://www.earthrangers.com/EN/CA/creative-corner/which-bear-are-you/
Barron has achieve the Black Bear status. Hibernation was mentioned above by some animals, it is good to review what happens during that period of time: Hibernation https://youtu.be/OhrhcsICrE8 usually bears and groundhogs do this whereas Migration information can be learnt at: https://youtu.be/hMAS4SdPj-w usually caribou and the arctic tern embark on this method. To learn about the Artic Tern watch this: https://youtu.be/u7UlXH6mcno
A neat art to create: https://www.paintedpaperart.com/2022/12/over-and-under-the-snow/ Barron drew the following picture:
On the topic of migration we found that the Artic Tern is the most fascinating bird that migrates the furthest. These are great books:
Before leaving the topic of animals there is a lovely free otter anatomy poster for download at this remarkable artist: https://www.fiddlestickseducation.com/anatomy-posters.html Barron drew a cute picture of an Otter:
The official language in Sweden: Swedish is mainly spoken although the aboriginal people Sami speak their language. Sapmi is the land which they live and that spans from Artic Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. In the town of Jokkmokk there is a museum: htts://www.ajtte.com/english/ We watched a lovely short film regarding the end of a reindeer herding generation due to climate change making the snow nor fluffy any longer but hard crispy ice: https://youtu.be/0Tf2Qgcvfk4
There are many countries around the Baltic Sea and Sweden is a main one. We found this free sheet to label the many countries: https://assets.moomin.com/uploads/2020/04/Map-task.pdf
Special Delights:
Puzzle Collection is a nice game that we have on our Nintendo Switch and we think this puzzle represents Sweden's national parks and animals:
Astrid Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking https://www.astridlindgren.com/en
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pippi-Longstocking-8713353 informative pdf slideshow
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pippi-Longstocking-Venn-Diagram-958803?st=d9264bb992ed222d53a042b79b790957 free Venn Diagram
Special Delights: A neat video to learn about Sweden is found: https://youtu.be/ni00ulWwG5w where you will discover that Sweden was the first in Europe to have National Parks and they invented the current seat belts that we use, which reminds us of a great song by a neat American P. Holla who reminds us to do the seatbelt: https://youtu.be/7wphKatrEho
The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren comes from Sweden, you can watch it: https://youtu.be/NzDpa1HaDak We read this cute book which the Tomten goes around telling children and animals a little verse, I created one for Barron inspired by it:
A Christmas craft we created is called a smallkarameller and we placed some chocolate inside of it. We learnt it from: https://annasjul.blogspot.com/2012/10/smallkarameller.html
- classical muscian
- painter
- Finland has created several famous scientists
- Santa Claus who is called
- A lovely children's author is Astrid Lindgren.
- https://www.astridlindgren.com/en
lullaby
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