Presented by Valley View Elementary School. Funded by

Unit 11: Canada - What's the Difference?

Grades 5-6

PDF Version

Lessons: Canadian Geography, Prominent Canadians, Web Research, People of Canada, Make a Postcard, Provinces of Canada, Comparison of Two Governments, Comparison of Newspapers, Field Trip to Victoria

Resources

Appendices

Introduction: The Pacific Rim countries are always interesting to study but often they are too far away from our state to visit. Canada is different. What an opportunity to travel to another country that is only a few hours away from Seattle! This unit directs the students through some very interesting activities to learn about the geography, historical figures, government and culture of Canada. The boys and girls will use Publisher software for several lessons. The grand finale is a trip to Victoria, Canada, for the whole class—a high point for the year!

Desired Academic Results

Essential Academic Learning Requirements in Social Studies

Geography
EALR #1. The Student uses maps, charts, and other geographic tools to understand the spatial arrangement of people, places, resources, and environments on Earth’s surface.

EALR #2. The student understands the complex physical and human characteristics of place and region.

EALR #3. The student observes and analyzes the interaction between people, the environment, and culture.

Overarching Understandings

• Canada has ten provinces and three territories
• Canada and the U.S. have many commonalities. Canada and the U.S. were countries formed at the same time, created by Europeans supplanting existing Native people.
• Native peoples still live in the U.S. and Canada.
• For the most part, Canada and the U.S. have a similar contemporary culture.
• The governments of both the U.S. and Canada have roots in Britain.
• France and Britain fought over Canada. Britain won but many French remain.

What the Students Will Understand

Overarching Questions

• What makes Canada a separate country?
• Why does a big part of Canada speak French?
• Why does most of Canada speak English?
• What happened to the first peoples of Canada?
• What is the current popular culture of Canada?
o What are their tastes in music, entertainment, and food?
o What kind of jobs do they do?
• What ethnic backgrounds do the people of Canada have?
• How does Canada differ from the U.S.A.?
• What is the governmental structure of Canada?

Unit Questions

• Describe the geographic regions of Canada.
• What makes Canada a distinct nation from the U.S., when so much is the same?
• What does “Customs” do?
• What is the “Parliament?”
• What are provinces?
• What is the economy of Canada as reflected in the jobs listed in Canadian papers? How do these compare to U.S. papers?
• How are Canadian newspapers organized compared to U.S.? (How is information categorized?)
• What are the ethnic backgrounds of Canadians?

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Assessment: The Evidence That Will Demonstrate Student Understanding

Performance Tasks and Projects

• Digitally produced (Publisher) postcard from Canada.
• Analogies. Devise three of more analogies comparing Canada to U.S.
• A pie chart detailing the ethnic composition of the Canadian population
• A digital postcard of a significant Canadian place
• A travel brochure on a specific province or territory
• A student generated general question True/False quiz
• A Venn Diagram comparing/contrasting Washington and British Columbia governments
• Several paragraphs detailing new information learned about French Canadians
• A “letter home” describing a field trip to Victoria, B.C.
• A brochure or “wax museum performance” on a famous Canadian
• A Venn Diagram comparing/contrasting two newspapers: Canadian and American

Observations

• Cooperative group work behaviors checklist
• Answer to questions
• Questions asked in class
• Ability to find locations on maps

Student Self-Assessment

• Filling out a K-W-L learning log

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Learning Experiences and Instruction

What the Students Will Need to Know

• Basic U.S. history
• Basic map skills
• Analogies format

What the Students Will Need to Be Able to Do

• Find sites on the Internet
• Use Microsoft Publisher
• Make a Venn Diagram

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Lessons

Lesson 1: Canadian Geography Activities

Using classroom atlases, and a blank Canadian map, students: draw the major physical and geographical features of Canada; place Canadian provinces, provincial capitals, and territories; label a list of natural features evident in the map. A more detailed atlas activity is to create a class atlas. An additional activity is to answer the 40 questions on Canadian Geography. (See the Appendix, Lesson 1, for more descriptions on these activities).

Lesson 2: Prominent Canadian Brochure or “Wax Museum”

Students research a prominent Canadian and make a brochure about this person using Publisher. Alternately, students can research a well-known Canadian and offer information on that person through a “wax museum” format. The Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia lists prominent Canadians by home province. See the Appendix for details on the Wax Museum activity and a presentation evaluation form .

Lesson 3: Virtual Tour of New France—Website Research

Take a virtual tour of the “Virtual Museum of New France.” Each student is to explore this site. Then write about what they learned in the site. See the Appendix.

Lesson 4: The People of Canada

Students make a pie chart showing the ethnic composition of Canada.

Lesson 5: Make a Postcard of a Canadian Place

Using the World Wide Web and Publisher. Students download a picture of an interesting site in a province or territory of Canada into a Publisher file. On the reverse side they describe in words the pictures and add other Canadian information they have learned. See the Resources section for provincial and territorial government websites to assist this activity. Further details on the lesson are in the Appendix.

Lesson 6: Brochure/Poster on Province

Make a travel brochure/poster on the province or territory of your choice. Utilizing provincial websites and other sources, students make a travel brochure using Publisher or other software.

Lesson 7: Write Your Own Class Quiz

Devise a true or false quiz of 5 questions, each comparing/contrasting Canada to U.S. Questions must be general, “big” questions. Students are to list their resources they consulted to make their questions.

Lesson 8: Canadian Government Comparison

Compare/contrast provincial government organization with Washington State government. This lesson builds on the field trip to Victoria, assuming students visit the parliament and receive a tour.

Lesson 9: Newspaper Comparison

Examine select sections of the Seattle Times Sunday Edition and compare it to the Vancouver Sun. These papers are also online at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/home/ and http://www.canada.com/vancouver/ Students will discover through a detailed reading of the Canadian newspaper that most of the content is comparable to a U.S. paper of the same date. Students are assigned a major section of each paper (e.g. world, local, sports, jobs, etc) and make a Venn diagram of what is different and common within that section. Students in the classified section make a list of items they understand, and items they don’t know in the employment section and the classified ads.

Alternatively, preview these publications and select articles from them on the same subject to compare and contrast. Another possibility: select uniquely Canadian articles for student analysis.

Lesson 10: Field Trip to Victoria

Field trip to Victoria, Canada. This is an all-day field trip departing from Seattle around 8 AM and returning around 8 PM. (Since the field trip extends past the normal school day, permission from the school district is required.) Clipper Navigation offers student discounts in May. Cost per student is about $50. See the following section on Field Trip Contacts for more details.

Preparation for field trip emphasizes the Canada is a separate country. Canadian Customs regulations must be consulted for what food items are allowed. Proper identification is required. Proper etiquette while passing Customs is practiced. We have done this with parents each chaperoning a group of 4-6 students. Friday is the best day to allow time to recover for another teaching day. A useful itinerary is to make appointments at Parliament and the Royal British Columbia Museum for the afternoon for the entire class, with just enough time to return to the Clipper dock (an easy 5 minute walk away). The morning is left to individual-chaperoned groups to explore Victoria and eat lunch. For many students, this is the first time out of the country and they are very excited about it. Be mindful that foreign-born students need a valid visa to reenter the USA. A possible assignment for students upon your return is to write a letter to an imaginary relative back home describing what you experienced on the day of the field trip.

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Resources

Websites

http://www.civilization.ca/vmnf/vmnfe.asp
Site devoted to French exploration and settlement in North America. A project of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the site includes biographies of the explorers, articles about people such as fur traders, trappers and settler and historical places to visit. Much more.

http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ks/index_e.html
This link (Kids’ Zone) from the Canadian government web site is maintained by the Indian and Northern Affairs department of Canada. It contains kid friendly information on the Native peoples of Canada

http://www.canada.gc.ca/main_e.html
National Government of Canada official web site. Links to official provincial sites listed below. The content of these sites, and therefore their usefulness to U.S. students varies. Subjects include: tourism; economic; current events; connecting with provincial governments etc. Some have “kid links.” All provide insights into Canadian government and culture. As they are maintained by provincial government, they should be available in the years ahead.

http://www.gov.bc.ca/
Province of British Columbia official website

http://www.gov.ab.ca/home/
Government of Alberta home page

http://www.gov.sk.ca/
Government of Saskatchewan home page

http://www.gov.mb.ca/splash.html
Manitoba

http://www.gouv.qc.ca/Index_en.html
Quebec

http://www.gov.pe.ca
Prince Edward Island

http://www.gnb.ca/index-e.asp
New Brunswick

http://www.gov.ns.ca
Nova Scotia

http://www.gov.nt.ca
Northwest Territories

http://www.gov.yk.ca/
Yukon Territories

http://www.gov.nu.ca/gnmain.htm
Government of Nunavut web site

http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/index.html
Natural Resources Department of Canada. All sorts of maps.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/home/
Web page of The Seattle Times newspaper

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/
Web page of The Vancouver Sun newspaper

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Books

LeVert, Suzanne. Let’s Discover Canada. British Columbia. New York. Chelsea House Publishers. 1991. Nanton, Isabel. British Columbia. Toronto. Grolier. 1991.

More Books on Canada in the series Discover Canada
Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. Timothy and Susan Gall editors. New York: U*X*L c1996

Liptak, Karen. Indians of the Pacific Northwest. New York. Facts on File 1991.
Lands and People 1995: North America vol. 5. Grolier Inc. Danbury CN

Bowers, Vivian, WOW Canada! Exploring this Land from Coast to Coast. Owl Books. Toronto. 1999.

Canada: Northern Neighbor. 2nd edition. Center for Canadian-American studies. Western Washington University. Bellingham. 1999.

Field Trip to Victoria B.C. Contacts

Clipper Navigation.
Special rates to students in May and June.
(206) 448-5000
Cost is about $35 round trip to Victoria B.C. from Seattle.

The Royal British Columbia Museum
(250) 387-3701.
This natural history museum has one of the finest displays of Northwest culture and artifacts in the world.
Special rates to school groups:
Student rate: $1.71 CDN per person; Chaperon rate: $4.28 CDN

Parliament
(250) 387-3046
The buildings, which house the seat of government for the Province of British Columbia, are open for visits. Reserve time to sit in when Parliament is in session and your students can listen to the debating politicians.
Contact Pamela Welch.
Admission is free.

Royal London Wax Museum
(250) 388-4461
Offers a wide range of life-like displays, including Canadian and U.S. history makers. Guided tours at no additional charge.
Contact Ginger Smith.
Fees Grades 1-7: $2 CDN per person; Grades 8-12: $4.50 CDN per person.

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Appendices

Lesson One: Canadian Geography

Use colored pencils. On the 11” X 17” map of Canada provided:
1. Draw a line 150 miles north of the U.S.— Canada border. On the back of the map, on the upper left side, tell how you figured out how to measure where 150 miles was.
2. Lightly shade the area you just made.
3. Place on your map the following Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec.
4. Label the ten provinces and three territories.
5. Label the capitals of each province and territory.
6. Label these bodies of water:
- Hudson Bay and Strait
- Gulf of St. Lawrence
- Arctic Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Pacific Ocean
- Lake Winnipeg
- Labrador Sea
7. Label these Islands:
- Victoria Island
- Baffin Island
- Ellesmere Island
- Queen Charlotte Island
- Vancouver Island
8. Label these rivers:
- Fraser River
- St. Lawrence River
- Detroit River
- Ottawa River
9. Label the “Great Lakes,” Great Slave Lake, and Great Bear Lake.

Lesson One: Map Activities, continued

Use an atlas to answer these 40 questions on Canadian Geography
1. What body of water connects Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean?
2. What are the names of the five Great Lakes?
3. How many Great Lakes border Canada?
4. What large bay is located north of Lake Superior in Canada?
5. The following four countries are among those with the largest land areas in the world: (1) Russia (2) Canada (3) China (4) United States. On what continent is Canada located?
6. What countries have land borders with Canada?
7. What is the capital of Canada?
8. States are to the United States of America as _____ are to Canada.
9. Which oceans border Canada?
10. Find two lakes in Canada that have “Great” in their names.
11. What country is both west and south of Canada?
12. What mountain range runs through western Canada, but not along the coast?
13. What is the westernmost province in Canada?
14. Which province is divided by water and is both an island and on the mainland?
15. Which province is only an island?
16. Name the two parts of Canada which are not provinces.
17. Which provinces border Hudson Bay?
18. What is the capital of Alberta?
19. Name the large island north of Quebec.
20. Which of the Great Lakes does NOT border Canada?
21. Name two ‘landlocked” Canadian provinces.
22. Name the provinces that border the Pacific Ocean.
23. What is the special name of the parallel north of 65ºN latitude that runs through the Yukon and Northwest Territories?
24. What is the capital of Manitoba?
25. Name all of the provinces that border the Atlantic Ocean.
26. Name the mountain range in northeastern Canada.
27. Name the island on which the city of Victoria is located.
28. The capital of which province is located closest to 50*N Latitude and 105*W Longitude? What is the name of that city?
29. Name two bodies of water north of the Yukon Territories and the Northwest Territories.
30. Name two straits north of Quebec.
31. How many provinces does Canada have?
32. List the provinces in alphabetical order.
33. The northern border of four provinces runs along what parallel?
34. Name the westernmost mountain range in Canada.
35. What is the largest city in Canada? (Hint: note the size of type)
36. The southernmost tip of Canada is located in what province?
37. Name three rivers in Alberta.
38. What is the capital of Newfoundland?
39. Where is the Mackenzie River located?
40. Name the lake that has the same name as the capital of the province in which it is located.

Canada Geography Key

1. St. Lawrence River
2. Superior, Erie, Michigan, Huron, Ontario
3. 4 (Ontario, Huron, Erie, Superior)
4. Hudson Bay
5. Continent of North America
6. United States
7. Ottawa
8. Provinces
9. Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean
10. Great Slave Lake, Great Bear Lake
11. United States
12. The Rockies
13. British Columbia
14. Newfoundland
15. Prince Edward Island
16. Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories
17. Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec
18. Edmonton
19. Baffin Island
20. Lake Michigan
21. Alberta and Saskatchewan
22. British Columbia
23. Arctic Circle
24. Winnipeg
25. Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Is.
26. Labrador Highland
27. Vancouver Island
28. Saskatchewan, Regina
29. Any two: Beaufort Sea, Amundsen Gulf, Arctic Ocean, Baffin Bay
30. Hudson Strait, Davis Strait
31. 10
32. Alphabetical order: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan
33. 60°N Latitude
34. Coast Mountains
35. Montreal
36. Ontario
37. Any three: Peace River, Athabasca River, Bow River, North Saskatchewan River, South Saskatchewan River
38. St. John’s
39. Northwest Territories
40. Lake Winnipeg

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Return to Lesson 1
Lesson One: Class Atlas Activity

Objective: Students will practice their mapping skills as they learn more about Canada¹s geography.

Introduction:
Bring in a variety of atlas for students to explore. Ask students about the type of information that they can find in an atlas. Inform students that they are going to create a classroom atlas which focuses on Canadian geography.

Procedure:
1. Have students work in pairs. Let students know that each atlas will contain 12 pages. Each student pair is responsible for one of the following sections. Title page, Map of the World, Map of North America, Map of Canada, Canadian Province and Capital Map, Canadian Landform Map, Canadian Latitude and Longitude Map, Canadian Time Zone Map, Canadian Climate Map, Canadian Population Map, and a Canadian Natural Resource Map.

2. Student pairs create each of their maps on one 11”by 18“ page.

3. Students write a summary of what information can be found on each map.

4. Students present map to class; Maps are comb-bound together to make a class atlas that remains in the class as a valuable resource as we continue studying about Canada.

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Lesson Two: Prominent Canadians ~ The Wax Museum

Objective:
Students will learn more about the people of Canada by researching and summarizing a biography on a famous or influential Canadian. Students will create a “wax museum” by dressing up as their subject and reciting the summary of their subject¹s life when statue is activated.

Introduction:
Survey class to find out how many students have been to a wax museum. Discuss with class what they saw at the wax museum? What did they learn there? Inform class that they are going to create a “Wax Museum” featuring famous Canadians. They are going to become the statues found in the wax museum and each statue will have a button by it. When the button is pressed the statue will come alive and recite a summary of the statue¹s life.

Procedure:
1. Present list of famous Canadians. Have students select a Canadian to research.

2. Discuss with the students what kinds of information are needed to have in a biography (Name or names, Place and date of birth, Family, Places lived, Education, Hobbies, Occupations, Significant incidents in his/her life, and What made him/her famous?)

3. After researching subject, students will create a speech with the purpose of informing or educating the patrons of the museum about their subject¹s life. The speech should include an attention-getting beginning, a convincing main part, and a strong ending.

Culminating Activity:
Invite other classes to come visit the Wax Museum. The day of the Wax Museum, students come dressed up as the person they researched. Depending on ability level of students, you could have students memorize speech, or they can use their notecards. Have students spread out in a large area. Place a small paper circle (for the “on” button) in front of each statue. Inform students that when patrons of the museum press the button, they are to recite their speech. Inform students that they are wax statues and are not allowed to talk or interact with patrons of the museum--only recite their speech.

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NAME ________________________________

DATE _________________________

WAX MUSEUM EVALUATION

_______ VOICE: speed, volume, fluency, intonation ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X2

_______ BODY LANGUAGE: appropriate movements ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X1

_______ INFORMATIONAL CONTENT: What we learn about your character, length of speech ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X3

_______ MEMORIZATION: Can you recite without looking? Longer speeches count more. ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X2

_______ COSTUME: matches the character, effort ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X1

_______ TOTAL POINTS

_______ LATE? Deduct 40%


NAME ________________________________________

DATE _________________

WAX MUSEUM EVALUATION

_______ VOICE: speed, volume, fluency, intonation ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X2

_______ BODY LANGUAGE: appropriate movements ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X1

_______ INFORMATIONAL CONTENT: What we learn about your character, length of speech ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X3

_______ MEMORIZATION: Can you recite without looking? Longer speeches count more. ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X2

_______ COSTUME: matches the character, effort ( 5 4 3 2 1 ) X1

_______ TOTAL POINTS

_______ LATE? Deduct 40%

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Lesson Three: Virtual Tour of New France

This site, a project of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, is devoted to French exploration and settlement in North America. The site includes biographies of the explorers, articles about people such as fur traders, trappers, and settlers, and historical places to visit. There is a lot to explore.
Go to http://www.civilization.ca/vmnf/vmnfe.asp
Here is one possible example activity on this site. There are many possibilities.
1. Click on “Bienvenue”
Notice the language. What language is it? Why is this? Click Back.

2. Click Settling in New France. Read the selection. Write down three things about the life back then that you find interesting. Click Back (Main Menu).



3. Click on the Explorers icon. How many different French explorers are listed?



4. Click Cartier. Click To The New Lands. Copy down the quote telling what he was supposed to do on his mission.

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Lesson 4: The People of Canada

Objective: Students will read a selection detailing the ethnic composition of Canada’s population and make an annotated pie-chart. One source for this selection is Lands and People: North America, vol. 5

Materials: 11” x 17” paper with circle drawn in center
glue
scissors
colored pencils
rulers
handout: “The People of Canada”
handout: “A Multicultural Society”
Preview the reading selection: Ask for initial impressions on the content of the article based on the title and headings.

Preview the vocabulary:
descended ancestors derogatory
reserves retain Loyalists
influences “trace their ancestry”

Allow students one minute to scan the text for a few additional unfamiliar words, and go over these.

Begin the Reading:
Explain that students each will present the information in the article in another mode--a pie chart. Each section of the pie chart should have a label adding more information. Readers who finish early can get another article and add more information and answer additional questions. Students will work in existing table groups.

The pie chart should:
• have a title
• be neat and pretty
• be in colored pencil
• show accurate in information and proportion
• contain labels for each major ethnic group giving more information from the article on:
• Native peoples
• French Canadians
• British Canadians
• Other Canadians

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Lesson Five: Digital Postcard

When students have some familiarity with useful websites (start with the websites listed in the Resource section), have them use Publisher to make a digital postcard. Divide the possible images/places into categories: Natural, Historical, Cultural, Political, Economic, and so on. Assign students a certain category or have students decide which category to look for in their internet search.
Students select an image, and copy it to a Publisher document. In a text box underneath the image, copy the address where the image was found on the World Wide Web. (For copyright protection.)
On the “back side,” students write a brief description (two sentences) of what and where the site is. In the “message home” section, students include further details on the site, and add any other facts on Canada learned in this unit.
Alternately, students, working alone, or in pairs, can make one or several PowerPoint slides. These can be put together for a class slide show.

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