Oh,
Canada!!
Grade: 5th
Teacher: Dawn Falcone
Location: P.S. 6
Unit Objectives:
1. This
project will address social studies standards by giving students an opportunity
to investigate why people and places are located where they are, as well as
gather and organize geographic information from a variety of sources and display
that information in a number of ways.
2. Students
will be working cooperatively to research provinces and territories of Canada
and construct a map.
3. Students
will also be developing their psychomotor skills (hand-eye coordination for
computer use, spatial awareness in map development, and effective body language
for presentation of research).
Materials:
1. A
variety of books about Canada (see Additional Resources)
2. A
large map of Canada and/or globe
3. Large
chart paper
4. Poster
board and tape
5. Rulers/Yardsticks
6. Pencils,
markers
7. Colored
index cards/construction paper
8. Computers
with Grolier and/or other Encyclopedia CD-ROMs, word processing software (i.e.
PowerPoint, AppleWorks), and Internet access
Suggested Sites:
http://craigmarlatt.com/craig/canada/
CanadaInfo: A Tribute to Canada is over 200 pages of
information about Canada - its government, history, facts, people, security,
geography, provinces, symbols and more. Browse through statistics, maps, and
photographs and then choose from dozens of fact sheets to download to your
computer.
http://civilization.ca
Canadian Museum of
Civilization Corporation: Would you like to embark on a journey through time and
see exhibits on aspects of Canada’s social and economic history? Virtual tours!
http://nlc-bnc.ca/caninfo/
Canadian Information By Subject: This site is an information service
developed by the National Library of Canada to provide links to information
about Canada from Internet resources around the world. The subject arrangement
is in the form of a "Subject Tree", based on the structure of the
Dewey Decimal Classification system. This service is updated regularly and is
constantly developing and expanding. Be sure to check back often to see the
latest additions.
http://atlas.gc.ca/
Learn about Canada's geography through texts and maps; access datasets;
use our interactive mapping tool; meet our partners; try our quiz and consult
our teaching resources section.
Additional Resources:
Books
Canada
is My Home
David
K. Wright
Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1992
Simple text. A look at one
girl’s life in Canada.
Canada: The Land & Canada: The People & Canada:
The Culture
Bobby
Kalman, Editor-in-Chief
Crabtree Publishing Co. 1993
Great series. Full
information.
Cool Geography
Jane
Glicksman
Price Stern Sloan, 1998
Describes maps, hemispheres, continents, countries, and people.
How
to Draw Maps and Charts
Pam
Beasant and Alastair Smith
Usborne Publishing Ltd, 1993
Contains easy to read how-to’s and different types of maps.
Let’s Discover Canada (Series)
Pierre Berton, Senior Consulting Editor
Chelsea House Publishers, 1992
Another great series, books are available on each province/territory.
People
and Places: Canada
Lionel
Bender
Templar Publishing Ltd, 1988
Nice, short overview. Good
maps.
Videos
Canada: A Nation’s Quest for Identity
Knowledge
Unlimited, Copyright 1994
Canada
,Video
Visits
Both are good to watch if you have time and
access to a TV/VCR.
Vocabulary:
Cartography
Boundaries
Latitude
Boarders
Longitude Quadrant
Parallel
Natural Resources
Province
Elevation,
Political, Physical Maps
Territory
Key (Map)
Session 1 Introduction of Project
Procedure:
1. Start a conversation with your students
about Canada. On a large piece of chart paper, make a list of what the
students already know about Canada. Things that are often mentioned
include: names of cities, French is spoken in different regions, it's cold
there, etc.
2. If no one has brought up the way Canada
is divided up-into Provinces & Territories-pose the question: Does
Canada have states like we do? (Without fail, so far, there is someone who
knows about the Provinces & Territories.) Be sure to explore and explain the
differences between states and Provinces & Territories.
3. Begin to generate a list (using the
large chart paper) of the Provinces (10) & Territories (3). Usually
some students will know the names of at least a few because of sports teams; you
can fill in the rest. (At this point, I don’t point out where each
province/territory is located. I
want the students to discover where they are on their own.)
Provinces Territories
Quebec
Yukon
British Columbia
Northwest
New Brunswick
Nunavut
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
New Foundland
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
4. Introduce the project--making a map of
Canada. Tell the students that for the next four sessions they will be
learning so many more things about Canada by becoming map-makers , or
cartographers if you prefer, and researchers. At the end of the project
they will have produced a large map of Canada that includes information about
each province and territory. Explain that they will be working with a
partner (This works ideally with 26 children, 2 students per province/territory.
But you can make it work for almost any number by making different sized
groups.) to learn more about one particular province/territory. For two
sessions one person will be working on the map and the other person will be
collecting information. They will switch roles for the last two sessions.
5. Give students time to find a partner (or
have the groups prepared beforehand) and discuss what province/territory they
would like to study and who would like to be map-maker or researcher first.
6. In a fair way (for example, drawing
names from a cup), have students select their province/territory-one group per
province/territory.
7. Finally, decide what type of map you
will be making. Make a list and show examples of different types of maps
your students have seen. Types you could include are: road, elevation,
bodies of water, political, population, tourist attractions, and natural
resources. (I do this with 7 different groups over the course of the
school year, so I have each group make a different type of map.)
8. Wrap up by saying that you are excited
to begin working on the map and learning more about Canada at your next session.
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Session 2 Begin Map and Research
Procedure:
1. Begin with a quick review of what you
discussed at the last session. Be sure to have the chart that you made
visible.
2. Students will then separate into their
map-maker and researcher groups. Researchers should go off to where the
Canada books are located and begin gathering information, while you get the
map-makers started.
Map-Makers:
3. Meet with map-makers in your rug area
(or another large open area). Give them copies of a small, simplified map
of Canada.
Ask students for their ideas about how to go about
making a larger version of the map, that will be about 4' x 6'. List suggestions.
The goal is to get the students to see the importance of breaking down the map
into manageable chunks. I recommend a quadrant system. You begin
by dividing the small map into four equal quadrants (so it looks like a 2x2
array). Then divide each of those quadrants into four more equal parts,
so that you wind up with 16 sections on your small map. You may want to
use an overhead projector to demonstrate the map breakdown. Students should
be dividing their maps as well.
4. Bring out four pieces of poster board and tape and discuss how to put
them together so that they will work for the map, 2x2 array. Discuss how
each large piece of poster board corresponds to the original four quadrants
you drew on the small map. Students will then need to divide each of those
quadrants into four quadrants with rulers for the total of 16 quadrants.
5. Talk about how the content and detail of each quadrant on the small
map should now be transferred into the corresponding quadrant of the large map.
You need to discuss the importance of working together on the outer boarders
before moving in to the individual province/territory boarders.
1. Let
them get started in PENCIL. (There will be mistakes and frustration.
This is not an easy task.)
Researchers:
7. Meet with the researchers and talk
about the kinds of information they are finding and where they are looking.
Make a list of the things that they want to be sure to include on their information
cards about their provinces and territories, suggestions include: the capital,
population, brief history, and natural resources. (Be sure to add anything
you want them to have and gear toward the type of map you want to make.)
If you have a limited amount of computer access, set up a schedule for researcher
use. Let them keep working.
8. Wrap up by calling every one together
and explaining that during the next session they will have the same jobs. They
will come in and get right to work. You may want ask students to look for information on their
own that will assist their research and/or map development, before the next
session.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Session 3 Continue Map and Research
Procedure:
1. Begin
with a quick review of what you discussed at the last session.
2. What
have you learned so far about your provinces and territories?
3. What
questions do you have about your provinces and territories?
4. How will you gather information about your provinces and territories and
proceed on the map during this session?
5. Map-makers will get to work on the map. Remind students to focus on putting the content and detail from each
quadrant on the small map onto the corresponding quadrant of the large map and
that outer boarders should be put in first. At some point during this session, you will want to discuss why boarders
are shaped the way they are, i.e. they follow a natural boundary like a river,
they follow a parallel, etc.
6. Prior to the researchers returning to their research, discuss briefly the
importance of using their own words when taking notes. (The amount of
time you spend on this will depend greatly on the amount of research experience
your students have. You may want to have examples of notes, ranging from
excellent to fair, ready to show.)
7. Allow the students to work for the rest of the session. Float
around the room offering assistance and advice when necessary. By the
end of this session, the map should really be taking shape. All of the
outer boarders should be in place, as well as the interior province/territory
boarders. Researchers should have found most of the information they will
need to compile.
8. Wrap up by informing the students that at the next session they will
be switching jobs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Session 4 Switching of Jobs & Continue Map and Research
Procedure:
1. Begin
with a quick review of what everyone was working on during the last session.
· How far have we gotten on the map?
· What still needs to be completed?
· Have researchers found enough information on their
provinces and territories?
2. Move into a discussion of how to have a successful transition of jobs
as a whole class then give students 10 minutes or so to meet with their province/territory
partner to discuss what they have been working on specifically and where the
other person needs to get started. Map-makers should go over the process they
have gone through to get the map to the point it is at. Researchers should
let their partners know what information is required on the final card for the
map.
3. Allow the students to work for
the rest of the session. Float around the room offering assistance and
advice when necessary. By the end of this session, the map should be nearly
finished. For example, if you are making a bodies of water map all of
the outer borders should be in place, as well as the interior province/territory
boarders and the outlines of the major rivers and lakes. Researchers should
be nearly finished also, to the point writing up their information and typing
it into the computer. (Again, a schedule may be necessary in order to get the
research typed up in a timely manner, for example, I have three computers in
my classroom so I usually have researchers go on them in twenty minute shifts.)
4. Wrap up by informing the students that at the next session they will
be finishing up the map and talking to the other students about their province/territory.
(You may want to provide this information earlier in the project if you need
to motivate your students to work more efficiently.)
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Session 5 Map and Information Card Completion &
Presentations
Procedure:
1. Bring the students together and let them
know how much time they have to complete their work, about half of the session.
Have them get started.
2. Meet briefly with each group.
· Map-makers need to make sure that all parts of
the map are labeled, that there is a title for the map, and a key if needed.
· Researchers need to finish typing up their work,
mount their work on colored index cards/construction paper, and attach the cards
to the map near their province/territory. (I suggest taping all the way around
the cards to make them very secure.)
3. Partners should meet after each
of their assignments are complete to discuss their province/territory presentation. After collecting information over the course of the unit, I expect students
to be able to discuss their research freely in an unscripted manner.
4. When all of the work is finished, put the map up on a wall and gather
students for their presentations and culminating discussion.
Final Activity:
Each group will present highlights of what they
have learned about their province/territory for two to three minutes.
Students will be able to ask questions of each other. If available when
presentations are finished, compare your map to a large wall map of Canada.
What differences/similarities do they see? Also, talk about the process
of making the map and doing the research. What did they do really well?
What could they have done better? (Sometimes I have them write a reflection
of the project instead.)
Evaluation:
Students will be assessed on their performance
throughout the project, the accuracy of the map, their province/territory information
card, and their presentation of information. You may want to use the following Canada Evaluation sheet.
Canada Evaluation
Names________________________________________________
Province/Territory________________________________________
I. Map
Is province/territory complete?
Does the province/territory resemble the actual province/territory?
For the type of map being made, is enough information included?
Was province/territory completed in a timely manner?
Points possible: 30
Points earned:_____
II. Research
Does province/territory information card include all necessary
information?
Did
students use a variety of resources to gather information?
Is writing in students’ own words, free of spelling/grammatical
errors?
Is
information card neat and easy to read?
Was research completed in a timely manner?
Points possible: 30
Points earned:_____
III. Group Cooperation
Did students work on the map/research cooperatively?
Were
students able to remain on task?
Were students able to switch roles from researcher to map-maker
effectively?
Points
possible: 30
Points earned:_____
IV. Presentation
Were students able to
answer questions?
Did
students use vocabulary discussed in class?
Points possible: 10
Points earned:_____
Total points possible: 10
Total points earned:______
Pictures
1. Students begin working on the map using rulers and yardsticks to divide
the poster board into sections.
2. Students continue working on the map using the small maps of Canada
that have been divided into quadrants, pencils, and rulers.
3. Students use computers to learn more about their provinces and
territories.
4. A student begins to take notes and uses a computerized dictionary to find
the meaning of a word.
5. Completed maps: Bodies of Water and Natural Resources
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