Northeast Asian History Network

Let's learn plants and animals inhabiting in Dokdo and complete the picture below using stickers. Use Appendix 4.

Dokdo is a harsh place for plants to live because there is not much soil and strong winds are blowing all the time. Because of this environment, plants living on the island are small in stature and hardy. Plants like aster, Sedum takesimense, dianthus superbus, and Sedum oryzifolium are in the wild of the island.

Hello, Hello, I am the Black-tailed Gull. My Korean name is cat seagull because my cries sound like cat meows. Dokdo is such a great place to rest for us migratory birds before arriving at our destination. Some of us give birth to babies and raise them here. That's why you can find so many migratory birds on Dokdo. Why don't you find my friends?

Now, let's turn to sea creatures and resources found near Dokdo.

First, do you want to learn about sea creatures?
As warm and cold ocean currents meet in waters off Dokdo, there is plenty of plankton living in the waters, attracting so many marine life to feed on them. That's why Dokdo is an important fishing ground abundant with fish, shellfish, and algae. What can you find in the waters near Dokdo? Let's write the names of marine life found in the waters of Dokdo from the list below.

What kind of marine life can you find in Dokdo?
Example: Examples: Mackerel pike, rudderfish, squid, abalone, seaweed, barnacle, octopus, purple sea urchin, and striped shore crab
What kind of mineral resources can you discover on the bottom of Dokdo waters?
Methane hydrate (or gas hydrate), nicknamed as "burning ice," is billed as the future clean energy because it is flammable easily and emits less carbon dioxide. A huge amount of gas hydrate is believed to be buried underneath the waters near Dokdo. In addition, deep ocean water found 200-meter deep below the surface of the ocean is free of microorganisms and rich with minerals. It is used for drinking water, food items, and cosmetics. Dokdo is an island rich with so many marine resources.

It's cool that you can make a lot of good things with deep ocean water coming from waters near Dokdo!
Deep ocean water
What? Burning ice that you can set ablaze can be found in the bottom of Dokdo waters?
Gas hydrate

Let's find out the value of Dokdo.

Plant and animal species designated to be protected under a law is called the Natural Heritage Species.
As Dokdo is located in the middle of migratory birds' migration paths and thus hosts many migratory bird species including Black-tailed Gull, the government designated on November 16, 1982 the island as a habitat for seaweed species (Natural Heritage Species No. 336). Then, recognizing the special values of Dokdo as a volcanic island with a wide array of sea creatures and plants, the government changed the designation to the Dokdo Natural Habitat Protection Area (Natural Heritage Species No. 336) in December 1999.

Let's make a list of Dokdo's values.

Dokdo is Korea's oldest volcanic island.
The island is valuable for academic research on the formation of its variety of rocks and volcano.

Solve the following quizzes:

1. Dokdo, designated as a habitat for seaweed species (Natural Heritage Species No. 336), changed its designation in 1999 as ( ) to conserve the value of marine life, plants, and volcanic island.
2. The waters off Dokdo contain a large amount of ( ), the next-generation clean energy resource nicknamed as "burning ice."

We have so far examined the natural environment of Dokdo and its value. Now, let's collect news articles and photos from newspapers and magazines and create a scrapbook.

How to make a scrapbook on news articles and photos of Dokdo

1. Prepare drawing paper, newspapers and magazines, color paper, colored pencils, markers, glue, and scissors.

2. Find articles and photos talking about Dokdo.

3. Write headlines on the color paper.

4. Cut off with scissors or tear off with your hand relevant news articles and photos.

5. Attach them on the color paper with glue.

6. Now, it's all set if you add something to explain.