Systems Thinking
Canada’s Ecozones
The Ecozone Jigsaw
 UNIT 1 REVIEW: A region is an area
with certain characteristics that
distinguish it from other areas.
 Ecozones are multi-factor regions
based on a combination of natural and
human characteristics.
 Canada has 20 ecozones, 15 are terrestrial
and 5 are marine (ocean) regions.
 Ecozones are like pieces of a puzzle that fit
together to form Canada.
In the Zone
 “Eco” means home in Greek so the
ecozone is the natural environment that
is the habitat or home of distinct
communities of plants and animals.
 These characteristics are generally
similar throughout the whole ecozone.
The characteristics of an
Ecozone:
1 Landforms (geology)
2 Climate
3 Soil
4 Water
5 Natural Vegetation
6 Wildlife
7 Humans
Word Power
 Open your textbook to pg 106 and we will
look at the Word Power box together.
Ecozones are useful
 Geographers gather and organize a lot of
data.
 They layer bits of information about the
individual elements of a region, one on top
of the other, and then connect all the
information together (systems thinking).
 In the 1990s the idea of ecozones became
widely accepted.
People Affect Ecozones
 People are a part of nature and can affect
it in significant ways.
 Many parts of the environment are
experiencing stress because humans
ccause serious, and sometimes
irreversible, damage.
 What are some examples?
 How can we learn more about how to act
wisely with respect to our natural habitat
and the resources it provides?
 We need to understand how the
Earth's natural systems work and
interact with one another.
Drawing the Line
 How do we decide where to draw the
boundaries of each ecozone?
 Data is collected and combined with aerial
photos and satellite images.
 You can then see gradual changes in the
combination of climate, natural vegetation and
wildlife from one place to another.
 Boundaries are actually marking a
TRANSITON ZONE - where the
characteristics of one ecozone gradually
blend into those of the next.
Exploring Canada’s
Distinct Ecozones
 For your unit project, you will
explore/research the ecozone that your
summative community is located in.
 We will practice this by exploring the
ecozone that we live in, the Mixedwood
Plains.
MixedWood Plains
 Turn to page 138.
 As we read we will fill in our research
organizer for the Mixedwood Plains.
Case Study: The holes in
the Niagara Escarpment
 How are people affecting our ecozone?
 Sarah Harmer’s Escarpment Blues:
If they blow a hole in my backyard
Everyone is gonna run away
The creeks won’t flow to the Great Lake below
Will the water in the wells still be ok?
We’ll need to build some new apartments
And I know we’re gonna have to fix the roads
But if we blow a hole in the escarpment
The wild ones won’t have anywhere to go
If they blow a hole in the backbone
The one that runs cross the muscles of the
land
We might get a load of stone for the road
But I don’t know how much longer we can
stand
We’ll keep driving on the Blind Line
If we don’t know where we want to go
Even knowledge that’s sound can get
watered down
Truth can get sucked out the car window
We’re two-thirds water
What do we really need?
But sun, showers, soil and seed
We’re two-thirds water
The aquifers provide
Deep down in the rock
There’s a pearl inside
If they blow a hole in the backbone
The one that runs across the muscles of the
land
We might get a load of stone for the road
But I don’t know how much longer we can
stand