INTRODUCTION
CURRICULUM STANDARDS
CRITICAL TERMS
WHY REGIONS MATTER....
BACKGROUND ON STUDENT TEXT PAGES
     Tips for Using the "Cultural Roots" Page
     Tips for Using the "Current Patterns" Page
     Tips for Using the "Tomorrow's Challenge" Page
WRAP-UP!
SOCIAL STUDIES READING SKILLS
MORE RESOURCES

INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of this decade, Scandinavian Americans (Icelanders, particularly) greeted the new millennium with special pride. After all, it was their ancestors — Nordic explorers sailing under Leifur Eriksson — who had reached this continent a full thousand years earlier! Today's Scandinavian Americans (roughly five percent of the U.S. population) don't trace their own family trees to that early adventure. (The earliest Nordic settlements in North America did not survive.) But they did use the arrival of the year 2000 CE to commemorate all that their own forebears have contributed to American history.

This unit, "Exploring the Nordic Region," aims to help teachers and students in Grades 9-12 focus on the background and current status of the region from which those immigrants came. In doing so, the unit also explores a phenomenon that underlines many news reports today — the influence of a region's geography, history, and cultural traditions on the nations, people, and events within its boundaries. One has only to think of the Middle East today and the Balkans in recent years, to know that "regions do matter" — both as a significant context for their peoples' internal relations and as a platform for their nations' role in the world.

This unit's three Student Text Pages — together with its Map Page and Data Page — should get your students off to a good start in exploring such topics.... Finally, if you want them to sharpen their Social Studies Reading Skills while using this unit, see LE's new reading skills segment near the end of this Teacher Page!

CURRICULUM STANDARDS
Each of the three student pages in this unit is self-contained, and the pages can be duplicated and distributed in any sequence (though the numbered "1-2-3" order makes good sense). As a whole, the unit should be an excellent supplement to courses in Modern History, World Regions, and Contemporary Issues (9-12). Among the learning goals it supports are the following objectives, selected from Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (EE), Geography for Life: National Geography Standards (GL), and National Standards for History (NSH). Thus, students should be better able to:

• "identify and explain the criteria that give regions their identity in different periods of ... world history." — Standard 5E: "Places and Regions" (GL, 9-12)
  
  
• "evaluate the role of institutions in furthering both continuity and change." — "Individuals, Groups, & Institutions" (EE, High School)
  
  
• "explain conditions and motivations that contribute to conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among groups, societies, and nations." — "Global Connections" (EE, High School)
  
  
• "analyze connections between globalizing trends in economy [and] technology ... and dynamic assertions of traditional cultural identity and distinctiveness." — "Era 9: Major Global Trends Since World War II" (NSH)
  
  
• "... analyze ways in which trade has contributed to economic and cultural change in particular societies or civilizations." — "World History Across the Eras" (NSH)
  

CRITICAL TERMS
"Scandinavian?" "Nordic?" In earliest usage, the geographic term "Scandia" ("Scandinavia," by the 17th century) applied only to the peninsula on which modern-day Norway and Sweden are located. (Actually, early Romans thought of Sweden as an island.) The early and frequent exchanges of people, goods, and ideas between this peninsula and what is now called Denmark extended the cultural meaning of "Scandinavian" to include Danes. Historically, the term was later expanded to embrace Iceland and Finland, too, given their role in the region's history (see Student Text Page No. 1). But recent practice, underlined by the five countries' own choice of name for their Nordic Council makes "Nordic" the term of preference for many commentators today — especially political speakers (including many "Scandinavians"!). Students researching the region should do searches under both labels.

Other terms you may want to preview include: cultural tradition, economic measurements, environment, EU, euro, foreign aid, information and communications technology (ICT), myth, NATO, peace accord, private sector, productivity (national), renewable energy, safety-net (welfare) laws, service industry, standard of living, stock exchange, and urbanization. (You may also want to point out this unit's use of BCE for "Before Common Era" and CE for "Common Era.")

WHY REGIONS MATTER....
In this unit, the Nordic Region is explored under three key questions, which (in effect) comprise a "yesterday-today-tomorrow" approach: What are the cultural roots of the people in the Nordic Region? (See Student Text Page No. 1) What values and institutions are shared by the nations and people in this region today? (Student Text Page No. 2) What challenges does the region, as a whole, face in the 21st century? (Student Text Page No. 3) Threaded throughout the entire unit are two other questions: How have the peoples/nations of this region influenced one another? How does this region influence the world? You may find it useful to employ those questions — as well as questions in the "Regional Matters" segment at the end of each student page — to evaluate student understanding, promote seminar discussions, and prompt research.

BACKGROUND ON STUDENT TEXT PAGES
An effective use of this unit's materials does not require in-depth studies of individual nations within the Nordic Region. But students interested in learning more about any of the five countries — including the European wars in which they were involved after the Kalmar Union — could hardly do better than look into articles on "Denmark," "Finland," "Iceland," "Norway," or "Sweden" in a current edition of the Microsoft® Encarta® encyclopedia. The 2005 version of the Encyclopedia also includes articles on: "Germanic Languages," "Vikings," "Saamiland" (region where descendants of the earliest known people in Scandinavia now live), and "Scandinavian Americans." And it provides a related map graphic on "Ethnic Groups Within the United States."

What follows here is a list of suggestions for expanding and extending the material in the student pages and the other two pages in this unit:

Tips for Using the "Cultural Roots" Page. This page traces the development of the Nordic Region, including major environmental and cultural influences on its identity. Students using this page should have access to a regional map (see the Nordic Region Map Page). A map showing the region in relationship to Europe and North America would also be useful. Here are just a few tips for extending the use of this page:

1a.    What's in a name? The "naming" of this region is a thread that runs throughout the "Cultural Roots" page, and it provides one option for helping students review and evaluate how the region developed its special identity.

Suggestion: Ask students to plot a timeline marking the approximate eras when the application of the term "Scandinavia(n)" changed or expanded. Be sure they include the adoption, in the 20th century, of the term "Nordic."

1b.    Cultural identity. The Icelandic Eddas mentioned at the top of Student Text Page No. 1 are one of the major sources for anyone researching early Scandinavian culture. A library or Internet search including the term "Saga" will turn up others. The Sagas, written in the 12th and 13th centuries, are considered part of the shared heritage of today's Nordic peoples and are evidence of the powerful, unifying effect that shared linguistic traditions had in shaping their region's culture. Students reading this page learn that "by 500 BCE.... [most peoples throughout the Region] used a local version of ... 'Old German.' " Ask: "How might similar languages have served as a bond among early peoples who sailed and fished in the same northern seas? How might language ties influence Nordic relations today?"

Suggestion: For a change of pace in their study of how language preserves and reflects culture, invite students to research and examine the lyrics of "Oceania," written by Iceland's pop-culture star Björk Guðmundsdóttir for the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. In her song, Björk (the only name she uses professionally) becomes the voice of the ocean, reminding humans of their profound links to it: "Your sweat is salty / I am why...." How might these and other lines in "Oceania" reflect the Nordic peoples' millennia-old relationship with the seas around their homelands?

1c.    Modern-day governments, Part I. Tell students that Iceland (geographically the youngest Nordic nation, since its volcanic terrain is of more recent origin than the Scandinavian Peninsula), has the region's — and the world's — oldest parliament: In 930 CE, its chiefs established a republican constitution and an assembly called the Althingi. Today's Nordic governments — a topic addressed near the end of this student page—may differ from one another in some respects (see the Nordic Region Data Page), but all have unicameral parliaments, in which political parties are represented on the basis of universal elections.

Suggestion: Urge students to research how these parliaments work (Denmark's Folketing, Finland's Eduskunta, Iceland's Althingi, Norway's Storting, Sweden's Riksdag), then discuss the pros and cons of having a unicameral legislature.

Tips for Using the "Current Patterns" Page. On this page, students will find allusions to the contemporary economic and social-welfare systems in the Nordic Region — descriptions that will expand in meaning if students are also given access to the Nordic Region Data Page. The contents of this second student page can be extended through these follow-up assignments:

2a.    Filling in the blanks... The "Current Patterns" page includes sample statistics for topics (taxation, etc.) related to the Nordic economies. You may want to send students to the UN and CIA sources listed in the "More Resources" section below, to research comparable data for the countries in the region that are not mentioned (see examples below) — or for further related data. Note also that statistics on the Nordic Region Data Page can be manipulated to yield further data. For example, multiplying a nation's population total by its per-capita GDP will yield its GDP.

• Export-to-GDP ratios. Sweden's ratio is given. The 2004 ratios for the other four Nordic nations were: Denmark 42:100, Finland 40:100, Iceland 31:100, Norway 42:100. (For the sake of comparison, the ratio for the USA in the same period was 7:100.)
  
• Urbanization. Given the isolated settlements in which the earliest Scandinavians lived, students may also be interested to know how urbanized this region is today. The 2003 urban rates were: Denmark 85%, Finland 61%, Iceland 93%, Norway 79%, Sweden 83%.
  
• Workers in service industries. By 2004, about 70 percent of the Nordic Region's workforce was employed in the service sector — and 25 to 30 percent of all employees in that category had government jobs. Here's the service-sector labor force data for all five nations, as reported in the CIA's World Factbook for 2005: Denmark 79%, Finland 64%, Iceland 71%, Norway 74%, Sweden 74%.
  
• Taxes ... and taxes. The student page indicates the high tax rates that Nordic populations bear as the price of a secure and universal welfare policy. However, you may want to tell students that those rates are based on the combined impact of a variety of tax types, including value-added taxes, etc. Breaking out the categories, here's the average tax rate on income and profits (for both people and companies): Denmark 30%, Finland 19%, Iceland 16%, Norway 20%, Sweden 19%.
  
• Women's roles.... The "Current Patterns" Page mentions the percent of Swedish parliamentarians who are women (UN Human Development Report, 2004). Comparable statistics for other Nordic nations: Denmark 38%, Finland 38%, Iceland 30%, Norway 36%. Nordic women are well represented in most public arenas: Nordic women are active in international organizations, too. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway and an early champion of the "sustainable development" theory for conserving Earth's resources, also completed a five-year tenure (1998-2003) as head of the UN's World Health Organization.

Suggestion: After students research and/or review the above data, ask them to imagine that they are writers for a nightly TV news show, with an assignment to write a 100-word, fact-packed "backgrounder" for a breaking news story dealing with the Nordic Region.

2b.    Cultural "exports"? Countries export more than the products of their economic activities and foreign policies. Ever since the days of the Icelandic Sagas, Nordic peoples have shared their artistic achievements with the rest of the world. In addition to researching the Sagas, students may be interested in identifying more recent cultural "exports" from the other four Nordic nations. Examples might include the works of (a) Denmark's Isak Dinesen (penname of Karen Blixen) and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, (b) Finland's composer Jean Sibelius and its renowned architect Alvar Aalto, (c) Norway's composer Edvard Grieg and writer Henrik Ibsen, (d) Sweden's Selma Lagerlöf (the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in literature) and the world-renowned film director Ingmar Bergman.

Suggestion: Invite students (perhaps working in groups) to research the contributions of these and other cultural noteworthies from the Nordic Region. After they report their findings, prompt students to reflect on and discuss what they learned: "(How) Do the works of these noted Scandinavians reflect the cultural traditions of their region?"

2c.    Modern-day governments, Part II. Students have many options today for keeping in touch with news of nations they're studying. See, for example, "More Resources" at the end of this Teacher Page.

Suggestion: One way for them to keep track of the nations in the Nordic Region would be to manage a bulletin board on which they post a regional map, together with current news stories about the five countries. Since heads of government are often the subjects of headlines, you may want to alert students to the names of the current (May 2006) prime ministers in the Nordic Region: Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Finland's Matti Vanhanen, Iceland's Halldor Asgrimsson, Norway's Jens Stoltenberg, and Sweden's Goran Persson.

Tips for Using the "Tomorrow's Challenge" Page. Here, students consider the numbers of ways by which the Nordic peoples are linked to the global community: through information and communications technology (ICT), trade agreements, international organizations, and various outreach efforts. Since this is the page that would most likely trigger students' ongoing attention to news reports about the region, you may want to engage them in one or more of the following exercises:

3a.    The future of the welfare state. The imminent death of the "Scandinavian welfare model" (see Student Text Page No. 2) is regularly pronounced (urged?) within the American media. Indeed, a final question on the "Tomorrow's Challenge" page suggests that sustaining generous welfare programs in tomorrow's world may prove difficult for Nordic governments. In Denmark alone, more than 20 percent of working-age Danes live on some type of public transfer income today. And, like Denmark, the other Nordic nations are grappling with the challenge of how to guarantee a safety net for all members of a population whose average age is steadily increasing. The debate over this issue touches on a variety of topics — tax policy and retirement-investment options, as well as public transfer income. It echoes similar debates over health, education, and retirement benefits within the USA. And American teenagers may benefit by having an opportunity to discuss the basic ingredients common to both.

Suggestion: Group students into committees, to research, compare, and report on various aspects of social welfare programs in the USA and in the Nordic Region. (One committee might focus on the principles underlying such programs; others might concentrate on economic and/or demographic statistics, related taxes, current legislation, and proposed changes.) After reports and discussion, invite essays on: "Caring for Those in Need Within the Modern Nation-State."

3b.    NATO/EU watch. Tell students that, although Sweden and Finland are not members of NATO, a substantial number of Finns favor joining NATO, while a growing number of Swedes think their traditionally neutral country should at least consider the possibility of membership. Indeed, several factors throw new light on the question of Nordic relations with that body. Perhaps most significant is NATO's eastward expansion: (a) In 1999, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary joined NATO's ranks. (b) More recently (in 2004), NATO admitted seven more members: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. (c) And at least three other nations — Albania, Macedonia, and Croatia — have been granted applicant status. Also shifting the spotlight eastward: Finland and Russia (countries that share a strategic border) announced a special partnership in May 2002.

Suggestion: Using a classroom map of Europe, prompt students to identify the location of NATO's original and current member nations — and of the applicant nations, too (see "a," "b," and "c" above). Be sure that students recognize NATO's eastward shift. Then turn their attention to the EU (which Norwegians and Icelanders have thus far chosen not to join). Have volunteers locate the 10 nations that were admitted to the EU in 2004: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Then point out countries still actively seeking EU membership: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Turkey. Ask: "What impact might the expansion of NATO and the EU have on the Nordic nations that are not members of these two organizations? And, even if they did join, what impact might membership in those larger groups have upon the independence of the 'Nordic Five'?"

3c.    Baltic Sea neighbors. It's hard to tackle the study of European history without discovering the role played by the Baltic Sea and its various coastal populations in the development of the Nordic Region. This was a sea plowed by Nordic Vikings (warriors and traders) from the 9th through the 11th centuries. This was the Late Middle Ages setting for the Hanseatic League, whose traders linked ports in the Nordic Region (among them, Norway's Bremen) with outposts in Russia.

Suggestion: Remind students of these historic episodes and of the economic and cultural ties they produced among early peoples living in the Baltic Sea area. Ask your class to speculate on the kinds of interests that link today's Baltic Sea countries — members of the Nordic Region, plus Germany, Poland, Russia, and the three so-called "Baltic States" (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Then urge students to research and report on that topic, consulting such Internet sources as the following:

• Economic ties. Trade is still a major link among Baltic Sea nations, as a quick search of the CIA World Factbook illustrates. Germany is the chief export partner of Finland, for example; Finland is the chief export partner of Estonia; and the largest single source of Norway's imports is Sweden.
• Shared environmental goals. The stock of Baltic cod fish is rapidly declining, a challenge that has prompted more than two dozen non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Baltic Sea area to collaborate on promoting the sustainable development of this great resource. Their Coalition Clean Baltic is just one example of the cross-border projects linking Baltic Sea scientists and other citizens.
• Inter-government cooperation. The range of mutual interests that engage the 11 Baltic Sea nations is perhaps most clearly defined by the ongoing agenda of the Council of the Baltic Sea States, a forum for inter-governmental cooperation at the ministerial level. Education, energy, finance, information technology, youth affairs.... The list of mutual policy concerns discussed at yearly CBSS meetings suggests that the Baltic Sea nations may now form a geopolitical "region" in their own right! Do they? As students report the results of their research, you might want to steer them toward a discussion of that new geopolitical topic.

SOCIAL STUDIES READING SKILLS
The U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has generated increased attention to the development of student reading skills at all grade levels. LE offers the following Tip for teachers wishing to focus on such skills in connection with their students' use of this unit. (See also LE's Page on Reading Skills in the Social Studies:

*Locate and interpret significant details. In this age of sound-bite news delivery, it's tempting to skim over the details and look just for the conclusion of a news article, editorial, or other piece of writing that deals with current issues. But that can be risky. The value of any piece of expository or persuasive communication depends heavily upon the writer's selection and/or omission of details. In most cases, if the writer hasn't provided good verifiable details in support of an article's stated premise or argument, its worth is diminished — maybe lost. And students need to become aware of that implied "test," especially with regard to materials they use in social studies classes. To help them develop their ability to look for — and identify — such details in assigned readings, you might want to take the following two steps toward introducing (or reviewing) this unit's Student Text Page No. 3: "Tomorrow's Challenge":

1. Ask students to identify the main idea and major themes addressed on the "Tomorrow's Challenge" Page. Answers could include variations on the following: Main idea: The 5 Nordic nations are — and will continue to be — deeply involved in international and global issues. Major themes: This involvement does not necessarily take the same form, from one country to another, but global trade is vital to all their economies, and the region is known for its members' willingness to support global peace and policies that nurture it.
2. Ask students to identify details used by the writer to clarify the article's main idea and major themes. Answers could include the following: Data indicating the importance of ICT technologies to Nordic jobs and Nordic nation expenditures; vulnerability of Nordic economies to economic conditions in other parts of the world (examples of impacts on Norwegian and Finnish exports); cooperation of Nordic and other Arctic nations in monitoring the effects of climate warming; various examples of peacemaking efforts (foreign aid, diplomacy) by individual Nordic nations; membership of all 5 Nordic nations in the UN; participation by each nation in either NATO or the EU (with Denmark belonging to both); shared efforts within the region to help bring an end to global terrorism.

WRAP-UP!
This unit was designed to help readers draw inferences about (1) how the cultural identity of the Nordic Region evolved, (2) how the legacy of that culture influences Nordic nations today, and (3) how the values and priorities of these nations might influence the world at large. (See also the questions under "Why Regions Matter", above.) With that goal in mind, you might want to suggest that students hold a wrap-up seminar on the topic. As they review the three student pages, the unit's data and map pages, and their own research, be sure they touch on the roles played by: common linguistic roots, shared environmental influences, dominant religions (first folklore, then Christianity), patterns of industry and commerce, and changing interactions among themselves — ranging from warfare in the distant past, to common democratic aspirations in the 19th century, to regional cooperation and shared world goals today.

MORE RESOURCES
The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is an excellent source of links to Web Sites dealing with each of the five nations in the Nordic Region. You may want to bookmark the ASF Site and use the clickable map on its Home Page to reach links to the official Sites for individual Nordic nations. Or you may prefer to reach those Sites directly by clicking on the following names: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden. Note: While you're at the ASF Site, look for the latest reprints of articles from the Foundation's terrific print publication, Scandinavian Review. (Select "Publications" on the ASF Home Page, then scroll toward the bottom of the page that opens.)

Another valuable resource — one that will help you update your files on cooperative efforts within the region — is the Site jointly maintained by the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The UN's annual "Human Development Report" on the relative status of world nations includes tabular data on such topics as education, health, government spending, etc. (Select "Human Development Indicators" on the page that opens.) And, because of its structured approach to reporting on every world nation (with comparable segments on "Geography," "Government," "Economy," etc.), the CIA's World Factbook is a source you will probably want to consult, too.

LE also recommends the following print sources. The parenthetical reference at the end of selected recommendations indicates the Student Text Page (STP1, -2, or -3) in this unit with which the suggested article or book could be useful:

Arctic Council. "Arctic Climate Impact Assessment". Select "Impact of a Warming Arctic...," then scroll to "Conclusions" and see Nordic Region data on the first four pages. October 2004. (STP3. NOTE: "Conclusions" requires Adobe® Reader®.)

Bakke, Marit. "Nordic Cultural Policy in Transition." Journal of Arts Management, Law & Society. Spring 2001. Page 5. (Worth trying to get through an inter-library loan. STP1)

Becker, Elizabeth. "Scandinavian economies thrive despite high taxes." The New York Times. October 14, 2004. (STP2, STP3)

Du Bois, Tom, and Mellor, Scott. "The Nordic Roots of Tolkien's Middle Earth." Scandinavian Review. Summer 2002. (STP1)

Economist. June 14, 2003. See the detailed survey of the Nordic countries today, beginning with "A Midsummer

Elam, Ingrid. "Nordic Writing Today." Scandinavian Review. Summer 2004. (STP1)Night's Dream" (on Page 2) and including many other articles. (STP1,2,3)

Gibbs, Walter. "Discovering Who's Buried in Halvdan's Tomb." The New York Times. September 29, 1998. Page F4. (STP1)

Haworth, David. "Nordic ... Serenity." Europe. February 2002. Page 16. (STP3)

Jones, Alison. Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore. Edinburgh: Larousse. 1995. (STP1)

Leiren, Terje. "A Century of Norwegian Independence." Scandinavian Review. Spring 2005. (STP1)

Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Denmark, and Nordic Council of Ministers. "The Nordic Region in a New Era...." (STP3)

Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. Politics in the Nordic Region. March 2002. (The whole issue.)

Powers, Michael. "In the Wake of the Vikings...." Scandinavian Review. Spring/Summer 1998. (STP1)

Richburg, Keith B. "No Longer Just Nordic: Growing Role of Immigrant Communities...." The Washington Post. October 22, 2004. (STP3)

Sachs, Jeffrey D. "The Best Countries in the World." Newsweek. July 26, 2004. (STP2, STP3)

U.S. Department of State. "Baltic Region Security Challenges". Policy statement released by the USDOS Director of Nordic and Baltic Affairs in 2003. (STP3)

Wallensteen, Peter. "War and Peace: Lessons from the 20th Century." Scandinavian Review. September 2001. Page 5. (Read this!!!)

Nordic Student Text Page No. 1 | Nordic Student Text Page No. 2 | Nordic Student Text Page No. 3 | Nordic Map Page | Nordic Data Page

LE wishes to thank the American-Scandinavian Foundation for underwriting the costs of developing this unit and making it available to our electronic audience! We hope that the unit meets LE's goal of serving the needs of teachers and students in Grades 7-12.

© Learning Enrichment, Inc. Content last updated: July 2005. Page last reviewed: July 2005.