Canada Clinic:
Looking Beyond the 49th Parallel
CANADA’S GEOGRAPHY
November 11, 2010
Betsy Arntzen
Canadian Studies K-12 Outreach Coordinator
Canadian-American Center . University of Maine
www.umaine.edu/teachingcanada
Welcome! Geography of Canada
Presenter: Betsy Arntzen
Canadian Studies K-12 Education Outreach
Northeast National Resource Center on Canada
Canadian-American Center, University of Maine
► Please
take 3 minutes to:
 take the quiz
 eat some dulse
 look at the back of a cereal box
Back of
Cereal Box
_____
Kroger’s
Toasted
Oats
Cincinnati, Ohio
Importance of
Geography Education
Lack of geographical knowledge can be more
than an embarrassment. Two examples:
► How
can we assess the merits of NAFTA if
we are unfamiliar with trade patterns?
► How can US and Canada effectively
co-manage the Great Lakes without
understanding existing agreements and
how each country uses the lakes
Canada-U.S. trade and
investment partnership
Canada is #1 trading partner
for 36 states
Three-Part Presentation:
► 1st:
a discussion about Geography
► 2nd:
an overview, Geography of Canada
► 3rd:
an exercise which brings it together
Geographers try to answer
three questions:
► Where?
► Why
there?
► Why do we care?
Dulse
Think like a geographer –
► Where
does dulse grow?
► Why is it harvested?
► How can we find out how Dulse fits
into the economy, into the culture?
Five Fundamental Themes
► Location
► Place
► Human/Environment
► Movement
► Region
Interaction
LOCATION
Absolute Location:
latitude, longitude, an address, site and
situation, scale
Relative Location:
distance and direction to other places
Questions:
Where is ____?
Where is ____ relative to where I am?
PLACE
Physical or Natural Characteristics:
landforms, bodies of water, climate, minerals,
soil, plants, animals
Human or Cultural Characteristics:
history, buildings and roads, economy,
settlements, race and ethnicity, religion and
language, population distribution, land use,
government
Questions: What does ____ look like?
Why? How is it different from ____?
Human/Environment
Interaction
Relationships between people and their
environment; the development and
consequences of human-environment
relationships
Human adaptation, use or resources, human
impact. Evaluation, analysis of ecosystems,
natural resources, consequences of the
interaction
Questions: What human-environment relationships
are occurring? How do they affect the place,
the inhabitants?
MOVEMENT
Movement of material (earth, air, water,
goods) people, or ideas and information
among places.
Explanation, prediction of migration,
diffusion, globalization
Questions: How has this pattern developed?
Will it continue to change? What does it
mean for the places involved?
REGION
Region – an area with places which share
similar characteristics or processes
Human Regions: economic, political, human
characteristics
Natural or Physical Regions: landforms,
climate, physical characteristics
Composite Regions: area sharing several
characteristics
Geography of Canada
Canada’s Really Big
“Our mountains are very pointy.
Our prairies are not.
The rest is kinda bumpy-
- Lyrics by
Arrogant
Worms
But, man, do we have a lot
we gotta lot of land,
we gotta whole lot of land”
►Regions
of Canada
Powerpoint
Think like Geographers
Where Do People Live?
Why There?
Five criteria are:
► near
coasts
► near rivers and fresh water
► temperate climates
► flat terrain
► fertile soil
Exercise to tie it together
► You
are a part of a family immigrating to
Canada from another part of the world.
► Your
family will explore and analyze
geographic information about each region.
Take 5 minutes or less per region
► Goal:
decide where will be best for your
family to settle, and why there
Welcome To Canada!
Immigration Canada has accepted you
and your family as new Canadians!
Canada is a big country. Where will be the best
place for your family to relocate? At this
Immigration Canada Office, you will be able to
visit exhibits about each of Canada’s six regions
and learn more about Canada’s regional
geography, economy, and culture.
Then, you will be asked as a family, where you will
move to start your new life in Canada.
Reports
► Zhang
Family will move to:
► Ledgister Family will move to:
► Chandrark Family will move to:
► Huynh Family will move to:
► Agbayani Family will move to:
► Khaskheli Family will move to:
► Languages





English:
French:
Chinese
Italian:
Punjabi:
in Canada: Number of speakers
21,863,015
7,214,280
855,655
371,200
280,535
Canada’s Largest Cities
Name
1) Toronto, ON
2) Montréal, QC
3) Vancouver, BC
4) Calgary, AB
5) Ottawa, ON
6) Edmonton, AB
7) Mississauga, ON
8) North York, ON
9) Winnipeg, MB
10) Québec, QC
Population
4,612,191
3,268,513
1,837,969
1,019,942
812,129
712,391
668,549
636,000
632,063
528,595
Lat/Long
43.7 / -79.416
45.509 / -73.588
49.25 / -123.119
51.05 / -114.085
45.411 / -75.698
53.55 / -113.469
43.579 / -79.658
43.767 / -79.416
49.884 / -97.147
46.812 / -71.215
What fundamental
themes of
geography were
introduced and/or
explored in the
Immigration
exercise?
How could each
theme be
extended?
Diagram developed by
Michigan Geography Alliance
Extensions
Additional geography exercises
► Your
State & Province/Territory of Canada
Select one province or territory from a list of five. In one paragraph, describe 5 ways
that this province or territory is geographically similar to your state. In a second
paragraph, 5 ways that it is geographically different.
► Thunder
Bay and Toronto
Toronto is a city in southern ON, population 2.5 million. Thunder Bay, population
120,000, is located 850 miles northwest of Toronto. What geographic data will you
need to analyze to be able to describe in what ways these cities are similar and different
in important ways? Report your findings.
► Locate
a Korean Auto Plant
A Korean auto manufacturer plans to build a plant somewhere in Canada to produce 800
electric cars per day and employ 3000 workers. Identify the criteria for selecting a good
site for the plant. Using the criteria recommend three sites. Draw a map that identifies
their locations. Explain why they are good sites.
Geography made us neighbors,
History made us friends, and
Economics made us partners.
-JFKennedy
Canada Clinic:
Looking Beyond the 49th Parallel
CANADA’S GEOGRAPHY
November 11, 2010
Betsy Arntzen
Canadian Studies K-12 Outreach Coordinator
Canadian-American Center . University of Maine
www.umaine.edu/teachingcanada