Grade 7 - Unit 1 Topics

• Demonstrate knowledge of maps and of Canada.
• Know that different types of maps provide different information and serve different purposes . (COM)

• Brainstorm to generate ideas and information.
• Interpret maps to gather relevant information. (CCT, COM)
• Label maps with specified information. (COM)
• Work effectively, in groups and/or independently.
• Identify relationships among various elements of locations. (CCT)

• Appreciate that maps are useful tools that provide a variety of information. (PSVS)
• Appreciate that map interpretation skills are lifelong skills. (PSVS)
• Appreciate the vastness of Canada, and the variation of regions, industry, etc.

Teachers may choose to use this as a review lesson, having students work in groups, or complete the maps as a whole class using an overhead projector that allows all students to contribute.

The teacher could model labelling the maps of Canada as a whole class activity to review various map skills and concepts, and to prepare students for subsequent independent map work .

Or

Students could jigsaw this activity, with each group labelling a specific map and sharing the information in groups.  (See page 360 in this curriculum guide for more information about jigsaw grouping.)

Review map concepts as needed (e.g., explain “legends” and show examples), and monitor and assist students as they work.

Remind students to keep the maps of Canada for continuous reference and use throughout this unit and the rest of the course

• Map #1—geographic regions, major bodies of inland and ocean water, major rivers and mountain ranges.
• Map #2—climate regions, average precipitation-snow and rain, average temperatures in August and December and vegetation (e.g., tundra, forests, grasslands, deserts, prairies, icecap and highlands).
• Map #3— political regions and boundaries (remind students to include Nunavut) and capital cities, population density (including the population of capital cities), major railroads and highways that connect Canadians from east to west and north to south, and major ports.
• Map #4— resources (renewable and non-renewable), areas of major industry, mining, fishing, agriculture (e.g., grain, cattle, orchards), areas of greatest pollution (e.g., water, air), major hydroelectric power sources/dams, and major exports and imports. 

Extended Learning: Instruct students to watch the television news and/or read the newspapers for several days, and to make a list of all the types of maps and their purposes.

Group 1 will be able to provide an absolute location because they can name streets, while Group 2 will provide the relative location of the site by describing where it is located in relationship to other sites by using landmarks and buildings near the site (e.g., north of..., turn left after the...., near the ... hotel).

Student responses may include: when there is an emergency such as a house fire, when someone is in need of immediate medical care; when someone is lost on the ocean; to find forest fires or crashed airplanes.

· Observe students' abilities to describe a location in both relative and absolute terms.

· Ask students to define the terms relative location and absolute location, and to give an example of each.

· Use a map of the local community and have students state the relative and absolute location of a given site (e.g., street address)

· Divide students into two groups and provide each group with a street map of their own town/city, or one nearby.

· Instruct students to locate a specific site (e.g., a park, shopping centre, monument, building) that is easily identifiable on the map. Once each group has found the site, explain that each group will describe the location of that site.

· Instruct Group 1 to use street names and Group 2 to use other means of describing where the site is located in the town/city.

· Have a spokesperson from each group present his/her group's response. Encourage discussion that addresses questions such as: How helpful would each group's description be to a resident of the town/city? To a stranger? Why would one description be more helpful than the other?

· Explain to students that Group 1 provided the absolute or precise location of the site, while Group 2 provided the relative location.

· Explain to students that both relative and absolute descriptions can be useful in finding a location. Ask students to discuss when it would be necessary to know the absolute or exact location of a site.

· Tell students that, on a larger scale, all locations in the world can be described in relative or absolute terms. In relative terms we could say that La Ronge is in Saskatchewan, about 235 kilometres north of Prince Albert, and is situated on the banks of Lac La Ronge. In absolute terms we could give that same location in Latitude and longitude as 55°N and 105°W.
 

Checklists and anecdotal notes are useful for recording assessment data.

Lines of latitude and longitude are imaginary lines that cartographers put on maps to help people find the exact location of any place in the world. Lines of latitude are horizontal and run from east to west around the Earth, parallel to the Equator. Lines of longitude are vertical and run from north to south, meeting at the Poles.

Remind students that parallel lines are equal distance from each other at every point.

Longitude lines are numbered up to 180° east and west of 0° at the Prime Meridian. Longitude line 180° runs through the Pacific Ocean and is called the International Dateline.

· Observe students' understanding and use of a grid system.
· Assess students' ability to locate given places using latitude and longitude.
· Assess students' ability to use given latitudes and longitudes to locate places.

· Review the concepts of latitude and longitude. (Students should be familiar with these concepts from grade 6.)
· Explain that when lines of latitude and longitude cross each other on a map or globe, they form a grid system that provides the absolute or exact location of places in the world.
· Give students copies of "Student Handout #1: Grid System". Have them use the grid as instructed to find the absolute location of various sites.
· Once students have developed an understanding of using a grid system to find exact locations, use wall maps, globes and atlases to show them how the lines of latitude and longitude create a grid system that overlays the Earth. Discuss how these lines look different on a flat map and on a globe. (Provide students with "Student Handouts #2, #3 and #4" to assist the discussion.)
· Explain that the major lines of latitude have been given names: Arctic Circle, Tropic of Cancer, Equator, Tropic of Capricorn and Antarctic Circle. Have students locate these on a map or globe. Tell students that another name for the lines of latitude is parallels , because all lines of latitude run parallel to the Equator.
· Explain that the distance between parallels is measured in degrees. The Equator is at 0°, and any location above the Equator is specified in degrees north, while locations below

· Explain that the lines of longitude are also called meridians , and that all meridians are measured from the major line of longitude, the Prime Meridian, which is at 0° and runs through Greenwich in London, England. Have students locate the Prime Meridian.

· Explain that the lines of longitude are also measured in degrees and are either east or west of the Prime Meridian. Have students find examples of locations east and west of the Prime Meridian.

· Demonstrate how an absolute location can be named using both the latitude and longitude of a site.

· Have students complete Student Handout #5 to practise finding the absolute location of several Pacific Rim cites.

· Explain that the characteristics of a place depend upon its location in the world.

· Engage students in discovering the relationship between location and the physical and climatic regions of Canada, population density and industry, vegetation and climate, etc. Students will require their maps of Canada and an atlas for this task.

· Show the video How Geography Defines Culture.

Extended Learning: Students may investigate the International Dateline, and its origin and purpose. They may wish to present their findings to the class. View the Heritage Minute video clip about Sir Sanford Fleming, the 19^th century Canadian engineer who played a pivitol role in the adoption of Standard Time in 1885 .

· Label maps with specified information. (COM)

· Identify similarities and differences between Canada and another country. (CCT,COM)

Teachers may wish to use the included outline maps of Japan and Australia to model the expectations of this lesson with their students .

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· Have students submit their maps for assessment according to the given criteria (e.g., the list of specified information that they were asked to place on the maps).

· Assess students' similarities-differences charts.

· Explain to students that the Pacific Rim includes all lands bordering on, or contained in, the basin of the Pacific Ocean. Have them look in their atlases to find the basin of the Pacific Ocean and the countries within it.

· Ask students to give some reasons why these countries can be referred to as Canada's "Pacific neighbours". Discuss the term "neighbours" in a global sense (e.g., trade partners, exchange of ideas and information, financial and protection agreements).

· Give each student a copy of "Student Map #2: Outline Map of the Pacific Rim" and instruct them to label it with the following:

· major bodies of water
· Pacific Rim countries (give them a list if necessary).

· Give students outline maps of their chosen countries, or have them trace one from their atlases. They will require four copies of the same map.

· Instruct students to use a variety of atlases and maps to label the outline maps of their chosen countries as follows: 

· Map #1-geographic regions, major bodies of in land and ocean water, major rivers and mountain ranges.

· Map #2-climate regions, average precipitation (snow and rain), average temperatures in August and December, and vegetation (e.g., tundra, forests, grasslands, deserts, prairies, icecap and highlands).

· Map #3- political regions and boundaries and capital cities, population density (including the population of capital cities), major railroads and highways that connect Canadians from east to west and north to south, and major ports.

· Map #4- resources (renewable and non-renewable), areas of major industry, mining, fishing and agriculture (e.g., grain, cattle, orchards), etc., areas of greatest pollution (e.g., water, air), major hydroelectric power sources/dams and major exports and imports. 

· Explain to students that each map requires the following: a compass rose and appropriate, effective legends.

· Have students create a chart that identifies similarities and differences between Canada and their chosen Pacific Rim country with respect to elements such as the following:

geographic regions
landforms
waterways and sources
climate (temperature and precipitation)
population density
major cities
rural areas
railroads and highways

· Explain to students that they will use these maps and the information that they have gathered to explore their chosen countries further in future lessons and units (e.g., identifying resources, government structure/power, changes).

Scale is determined by the size of the map and by the size of the geographic space to be represented on the map. 

One way for students to use graphic or visual map scales is to place a piece of paper alongside the scale and mark the edge of the paper according to the units on the scale. The paper can be placed on the map to measure the distance between two locations.

The scale to which a map is drawn represents the ratio of the distance between two points on the Earth's surface and the distance between the two corresponding points on the map (map scale + map distance ÷ ground distance).

Types of Scales:

· Verbal scale is expressed in words (e.g., one centimetre represents one kilometre).

· Visual or graphic scale uses a bar scale that shows graphically the relationship between map distance and ground distance.

· Ratio scale is expressed as a numerical ratio of map distance to ground distance (e.g., 1:500, meaning that one unit of measurement on the map represents 500 of the same units on the ground).

· Observe students as they interpret map scales. Record observations as anecdotal notes or on a prepared checklist.

Instruction Suggestions

· Show students three maps of the same size representing different sized geographic areas, and two maps of different size representing the same geographic area. Ask them to respond to the question: How is it possible to represent different sized geographic areas on the same sized map? 

· If students do not suggest it, explain that because it is impossible to draw a map the same size as the area it shows, all maps are drawn to scale. Ask them the question: What factors determine the scale to be used?

· Explain to students that scale can be shown as a line divided into equal segments with each segment representing a specified distance on the Earth, or as the ratio between the actual distance and the distance on the map.

· Show students an overhead projection of "Teacher Overhead Master #1: Map Scale" and demonstrate how to determine the distance between two cities in Australia using the given scale.

· Have students work in pairs to determine the distance between where they reside in Canada and several of the Pacific Rim cities listed on "Student Handout #5. Absolute Location Using Latitude and Longitude." Encourage them to use more than one map, so that they become familiar with a variety of scale formats.

· Ask each student to identify which of the scale formats makes the most sense to him or her. Ask students to give reasons for their choices.

Use pictures from old calendars or magazines.

See page 399 in this curriculum guide for information about strategies for analyzing visuals.

· Assess knowledge objectives by having students apply his/her knowledge to different places.

· Use a checklist or rating scale to note observations as students interact in small groups.

· Give students pictures or photographs of a variety of places (e.g., desert, forest, mountains, cityscape, farm, park). Have students work in pairs to write a list of words and phrases that describe the places in their pictures. 

· Collect all pictures and descriptions. Post the pictures on a bulletin board. Distribute the descriptions randomly, and have students try to match the descriptions to the pictures.

· Give each pair of students a piece of paper with the name of a place that is familiar and that is easy to describe. Instruct students to write a description of the place without naming it. Have pairs exchange descriptions and try to identify the place from the description.

· To conclude either activity, discuss how students were able to identify the places from their descriptions, and what made descriptions easy or difficult to recognize.

· Establish that all places have characteristics that distinguish them from other places on Earth. Explain that geographers describe places by their physical and human-made characteristics. Ask students to identify some of the physical and human-made characteristics of the places.

· Have students return to the pictures they have described and discuss how different physical processes shape places (e.g., water movement, wind, volcanic eruption, glacial action). As well, ask them to look for evidence of ways that humans shape, or alter, places (e.g., cut forests, build highways, create cities, drain swamps, build dams). Explain that in a subsequent lesson they will explore this relationship in greater depth.

Students could be instructed to create a chart for the landforms and the analysis categories chosen.

Use Student Map #3 and #4 as models and/or practice maps for the landform activity. 

· Have students use a jigsaw group activity to learn about major landforms (e.g., mountains, plateaus, hills, plains). Brainstorm with students the categories for investigation. Some questions they might seek answers to are: How does the particular landform develop? What are its physical characteristics? How do humans use that type of landform to their advantage? Do humans ever alter that type of landform to serve their needs? If so, how and why? Which of the types of landforms is most likely to be altered by human characteristics? Give examples to describe adaptations made by humans.

· Have students select one Pacific Rim country and explore various maps to discover and label the major landforms that occur there. They could also explore why those types of landforms occur in those particular places, and the influence they have on the people who live there. As well, students could identify the major bodies of water that occur in or near the countries and determine how they affect the lives of the local people.

The region, a basic element of geography, is defined by certain unifying characteristics (e.g., human, language, climate, cultural, physical, religious).

It may help students understand the concept if coloured paper, boxes and labels are placed on and around each group of desks to demonstrate that each represents a different region for different reasons.

Students will require the maps of Canada and the Pacific Rim that they completed in an earlier lesson.

· Assess specific map interpretation skills as students use their atlases to identify and label regions on outline maps.

· Assess students' abilities to create a chart showing specific information in logical and complete ways.

· Read aloud the Brobdingnag section of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, which is set in a fictional region where everything is enormous.

· Summarize the story for the students, and discuss the geographic characteristics of Brobdingnag that make it different from other regions in the story.

· Have students give examples of other fictional regions in stories they have read and in movies or television programs they have seen. Ask students to identify and discuss the importance of using regions to depict differences and/or conflicts between regions and people, and to show interaction between people of different regions.

· Instruct students to move their desks around the classroom, into small groups of varied sizes. Explain that each group will be considered a different region of the world.

· Separate groups distinctly by explaining why they form a distinct region (e.g., different language and/or religion, physical barrier such as a river or mountain range, climate differences, time zones, political boundaries). It may help to give each group a brief written description of the reason(s) that they form a distinct region.

· What do these unique, regional characteristics mean to the   group?
· How do they unify the people in the region? Why?
· Would regional differences ever make people feel alienated? Why? In what ways?

Locate a current event article or news clip to exemplify the effects of regionalism in Canada.

· Brainstorm with students some reasons why regions change over time (e.g., a group of people believe they are entitled to the land, such as Northwest Territories and Nunavut; people of two or more regions may join together for their own benefit such as more resources, protection or greater land base; and war often causes regional changes). 

· Instruct students to research the regions of their Pacific Rim country and identify: the unifying factors of each type of region present in the country, and some regional changes that have occurred, including reasons for the changes.

Extended Learning: Have students trace the history of political regions of Canada since Confederation.