Postcard Geography: Finland
We talked only briefly about Finland's history. We talked about it only in terms of the history of the world we have already studied in depth, so that they would have something to connect it to. Swedish-speaking settlers arrived in some coastal regions during the medieval time. Swedish kings established their rule in 1249.
Then we talked about how Finland looks and it's climate and related it to it's position on the globe -that it is colder the nearer you get to the poles. A student colored in Finland in a map. We talked about how it is part of an area called Scandinavia.
Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands. The Finnish landscape is mostly flat with few hills, and its highest point found in the extreme north of Lapland at the border between Finland and Norway. It is the largest forested area in Europe. The forest consists of pine, spruce, birch, larch and other species. Finland is the largest producer of wood in Europe and among the largest in the world. The landscape is covered mostly by coniferous taiga forests and fens, with little crop-growing land. 
Finland is home to the brown bear, which is their national animal, gray wolf, wolverine, elk (moose) and reindeer. Snow typically covers the land from middle of December to early April. Finland is near enough to the Atlantic Ocean to be continuously warmed by the Gulf Stream, which explains the unusually warm climate considering the absolute latitude. At Finland's northernmost point, the sun does not set for 73 consecutive days during summer, and does not rise at all for 51 days during winter. One of my students said he wouldn't like that part.
Finland is home to the brown bear, which is their national animal, gray wolf, wolverine, elk (moose) and reindeer. Snow typically covers the land from middle of December to early April. Finland is near enough to the Atlantic Ocean to be continuously warmed by the Gulf Stream, which explains the unusually warm climate considering the absolute latitude. At Finland's northernmost point, the sun does not set for 73 consecutive days during summer, and does not rise at all for 51 days during winter. One of my students said he wouldn't like that part. |
This card has on the front in Finnish:
Inside we know what makes us happy
|
 |
This one says, You're the one I've always been looking for. |
We then talked about what the Finnish eat. Fish and meat play a prominent role in traditional Finnish dishes from the western part of the country, while the dishes from the eastern part have traditionally included various vegetables and mushrooms. Finnish foods often use rye, barley, oats and berries such as blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, and sea buckthorn. Milk and its derivatives like buttermilk are commonly used as food, drink or in various recipes. Various turnips were common in traditional cooking, but were substituted by the potato after its introduction in the 18th century. We decided to make Cinnamon Buns with cardamom (as well as cinnamon) called Korvapuustit. They were so delicious!
visited 5 countries (2.22%)
