|
ParkWise
> Students >
Documents
It's
All About Resources at
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Bering
Land Bridge National Preserve contains internationally significant
natural and cultural resources. A resource is something that has
a value. Natural resources occurring naturally, such as plants and
animals, mountains and rivers, forest and tundra, natural quiet
and scenery. Cultural resources have to do with past and present
cultures, and include such things as archaeological sites and artifacts,
locations of ceremonial or religious importance, traditional hunting
grounds. One purpose of the Preserve is to preserve and protect
these resources.
Significant natural resources
in the Preserve include: arctic plant communities, habitat for and
populations of migratory birds, fish and wildlife (marine mammals,
bears, wolves, moose, caribou, etc.) Other natural resources include
areas of past volcanic activity (lava flows, maar lakes and hot
springs), dynamic coastal barrier beaches, and a full representation
of tundra vegetation.
Significant cultural
resources in the Preserve include the Trail Creek Caves archaeological
site, which dates human occupation in the Preserve as far back as
possibly 15,000 years ago. Other resources are former Eskimo village
sites. Another cultural value is the continuation of present day
subsistence lifestyles, which are similar to the lifestyles that
have existed for generations.
As human populations
increase in the arctic, more stress is being put on our natural
and cultural resources. Although the arctic looks vast and the resources
seem endless, they are not. Arctic tundra ecosystems are extremely
fragile. It takes decades to hundreds of years for an area that
has been disturbed or damaged on the tundra to be restored. This
is also true for wildlife populations. Changes in a single plant
or wildlife population effect other populations of wildlife that
depend on that plant or animal for survival.
It is important to raise
awareness and appreciation for our natural and cultural resources
in students. Children are the future of Bering Land Bridge and the
future of our world.
In this unit students
will become familiar with some of the resources in the Preserve.
The first activity, The Lost Jim Lava Flow, is an activity about
one geological feature in the Preserve. The second activity, the
Beringia Puzzle, is about the importance of archaeological resources
in the Preserve. The next two activities, Plant Adaptations and
the Perfect Arctic Animal are designed to help students gain an
understanding of how unique arctic plants and animals are.
|
