Social Studies Grade Five

Unit 3: Interdependence

Module Three - Canada's Economy

Concepts

interdependence, economy, entrepreneurship

Knowledge Objectives

Students will know that:

Canada's economy is related to producing goods and services.

Skills/Abilities Objectives

Students will:

access, organize, and present information.

Attitudes/Values Objectives

Students will:

appreciate economic relationships.

Citizen Action Objectives

Students may:

recognize examples of entrepreneurial behaviour in the local community.

Suggested Approaches

Learn about markets, profits, imports, exports, trade, and factors that lead to a healthy economy. Collect media items about Canada's economy. Develop a profile of current trends.
Bring packages of Canadian made products into the classroom. Show students how to examine the packages to determine the location of the manufacturer. Familiarize students with the Maple Leaf that appears on Canadian products. Mark a wall map with symbols to represent items produced in different parts of Canada. Use a flow chart to help students understand that Canadian residents make a contribution to the economy by purchasing items produced in Canada. Predict what would happen if Canadians purchased only the goods produced in other countries. Consider why the government encourages people to buy goods made in Canada. Reflect on purchasing goods made in Canada by writing about it in their journals.
Gather information about Canadian goods that are exported and their destination.
Use a simulation to develop understandings about economics. Divide the class into groups and have them form a company. Choose a good that they will produce. Research, finding out as much as possible about the production of this good. Then decide on the feasibility of producing the good in the local community, taking into consideration factors such as the availability of resources, markets, transportation, labour, and power sources.
Make connections between industry and the economic well-being of our country.
Provide an example of entrepreneurship.
Some children want to raise money for the fair. They notice a construction site nearby and realize that there is no place for the workers to get a drink. They make lemonade, put it on a wagon and take it to the construction site.
Entrepreneurship involves identifying problems and then entering into problem-solving. Use the Student Information Page to identify entrepreneurial activity.

Module 3: Activity Guide

Teacher background

Some pertinent ideas and information that may be incorporated in this module include:

resources and industries along with money and trade combine to create Canada's economy;
attracting investors is important to Canada's economy;
selling the goods and services we produce to others is important to our economy;
entrepreneurs take a problem and identify a plan to get the problem solved;
entrepreneurs consider a problem a challenge; and
entrepreneurs may address problems in areas such as healthy lifestyles, agriculture, environment, and business.

Entrepreneurship

Have students watch for examples of entrepreneurial activities in their communities. Make an award to present to group(s) displaying entrepreneurial activity. Compose a group letter to send to the editor of the local newspaper or the school newspaper, recognizing examples of entrepreneurial behaviour. Both these activities could be considered citizen action projects.

Have students watch for problems in the classroom, school, neighbourhood to which they could apply their entrepreneurial skills and understandings.

If Canada is going to be a strong country economically, it has to sell the goods and services it produces to people in other countries. Explore population maps of the world. Identify areas of the world with large populations that would make potential markets. Among other places, students should recognize the huge potential of the Asian Pacific region and central America. In groups, list things Canadians could do to develop potential markets. Bring the class together and share the ideas. Students may identify:

the importance of knowing about the people with whom you want to do business;
the importance of knowing the language of your potential customers;
the importance of knowing what goods and services are likely to meet the needs and wants of the potential customer.

Have students reflect on things they can do in the present and in the future to contribute to Canada's well-being. Include learning about other people and places and learning languages. Guide the students in understanding the entrepreneurial nature of such learnings. They are steps taken to solve Canada's economic challenges and to prepare themselves for future occupations.

Trade with other countries, for example, Korea

Learn about Korea and its position in the world and in relation to Canada.

Using a wall map compare the location of Korea to Saskatchewan with relation to the equator. Have students speculate on the type of climate that might be found in Korea. Tell students that Korea has four seasons, just like Saskatchewan. The winters are not as severe.
A physical relief map will reveal that the north and east parts of Korea are very mountainous while the south and west have more fields. It is said that you can see a mountain from everywhere in Korea. Have students speculate on the amount of land that would be available for agriculture in such a mountainous country. (Only about one fourth of the land comprising the Republic of Korea is arable). Using pictures Learn about terrace agriculture that is carried out on the mountain slopes. It is difficult to use modern farm machinery on these narrow mountain terraces and this type of agriculture is labour intensive. Make a model of terrace agriculture. Make a contour map of the model.

Ask students to identify the route they would fly to get to Korea. Use a globe and a piece of string to make a comparison between flying directly over the Pacific from Vancouver to Seoul and following the northern route. Have they changed their minds about the route they would fly to Korea? Flights to Korea from Vancouver follow the arc of the world, flying north to Alaska, over the Bering Strait and then south along the coast of Asia to Korea.

Ask students to identify nations that could be considered Canada's neighbours. (United States and Mexico). Using atlases, identify and label the nations that border the Korean Peninsula and those that are a three or four-hour airplane ride away: Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Locate and label the following bodies of water: Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan (Koreans call it the East Sea), and the Pacific Ocean. Students could locate the following Korean cities on this map: Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Inchon, Kwangju, and Panmumjom.

In March 1986, Hyundai Motors, a large Korean automobile manufacturer, began exporting Excels, inexpensive subcompact cars. Have parents purchased or considered purchasing the Excel? Have students seen the Excel? Are other Korean cars presently being imported? Interview owners of Korean cars to identify qualities they like and don't like about their Korean car. Explain that the Excel is put on ships bound for Canada at Hyundai's Ulsan Shipyards, 50 miles north of Pusan. Locate Ulsan, the Korean city where Excel production begins and where these cars are prepared for export.

Research the Korean War, that began on June 25, 1950 and ended in July 1953. Canadian troops and 15 other members of the nations of the United Nations committed troops for this `police action.'

The armistice that ended this war left Korea a divided nation. One and a half million civilians perished in this war and several million became refugees. This conflict took place in an area less than one-quarter of Saskatchewan. Thus, besides the loss of thousands of lives, the Korean Peninsula suffered extreme destruction. Today, the border splitting Korea in two is among the most guarded borders in the world.

South Koreans are very grateful to Canadians who fought to protect their country during the Korean war. Invite veterans of this international conflict to speak to the class.

Suggested Resources
(listed in other bibliographies and catalogues)

Deals (MHP, V8017)
Entrepreneurship for Canadians: The Spirit of Adventure (MHP, V3521) This resource can be used as teacher background information.
Entrepreneurship for Canadians: The Spirit of Adventure (MHP, V3512)
Use tape #1, Catching the Spirit, of this six tape series to introduce understandings about entrepreneurship.
Made In Canada (MHP, V8023)
Money (MHP, V3270)
Ready For Take-Off (MHP, V2676)
Why Does Trade Occur? (MHP, V2540)

Student Information Page: Entrepreneurship

Making and Marketing Products

A woman living in Northern Saskatchewan has a thriving business sewing and selling articles made out of leather and furs. Her husband is a trapper. For years he trapped and sold his furs to big manufacturers who made fur coats. The market for fur coats declined and he was no longer able to sell his furs. His wife had been a seamstress at one time. She decided to try her talents with furs. She started making gloves. They were very popular and she did not have any trouble selling them. Her business grew and she started making other articles like hats and bags. Today about half of her inventory is sold in Europe.

Hand and Foot Artists

Have you ever tried to paint a picture holding the brush with your mouth or foot? Have a friend tie your hands behind your back and give it a try.

A group of people who lost the use of their hands through illness, accident, or birth defect wanted to be able to support themselves. They did not want donations or hand outs. They developed their ability to paint by holding a brush in their mouth or toes. They still market their products through the mail. Packages of greeting cards are sent to homes and people may choose to purchase the cards and place additional orders.

For more information about the hand and foot artists or to order cards write to Rehandart Canada Limited, 74 Victoria St., Suite 908, Toronto, ON, M5C 2S1.

Community-based Agriculture

A group of farmers were frustrated about their lifesytles and they wanted to do something about it. They were mad because they could not find markets for their produce. Also, they had difficulty getting money to purchase seed and other materials needed for the next growing season. They came up with a new marketing system that would link city folks with the farm called Community Based Agriculture. They hoped it would help family farms survive and provide healthy, affordable food for city people.

They offered a wide variety of fresh vegetables, and meats to customers in the city. Products included corn, strawberries, lettuce, beans, peas, beets, cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes, radishes, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, turnips, cucumbers, spinach, poultry, and much more.

The city folks purchased a share of the summer harvest. They made the payment ahead of time so the farmers could buy the seed and other materials they needed in the spring. Produce was delivered to depots in the city during the growing season.