GIS Lab #6: Which region of Canada is the most productive agriculturally?
Goal: By the end of this activity you will be able to create Chloropleth map layers and answer the question above. There is NO GOOGLE FORM. You will submit your FINAL MAP as the assignment to be marked.
Background Info:
You learned in unit 2 that Canada’s geologic past (plate tectonics, glaciers & erosion and weathering) had an impact on soil quality. In this lab you will explore agriculture in further detail by looking at where certain types of crops are grown and in what amounts.
Canadian Agriculture Statistics: Source Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
 Canada is the 5 th largest agricultural exporter in the world, and the agriculture and agri-food industry employs 2.2 million Canadians
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We produce about 80% of the world's maple syrup, we are the world's largest exporter of flaxseed, canola, pulses and durum wheat and we’re one of the largest producers of flaxseed, canola, pulses and durum wheat.
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Did you know the airbag in your car contains cornstarch? That diabetic test strips contain an enzyme found in horseradish? Or that some shampoo and skin care products contain oats? The list goes on! Agriculture also has a major impact on the economy. Canola - now the oil of choice for millions around the world - was developed by Canadian scientists and planted by
Canadian farmers. In 2013, Canada contributed 33% to global canola exports.
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There are approximately 4 million beef cattle in Canada. In addition, roughly 26 million pigs are raised in
Canada each year, making us the world's third-largest exporter of pork products.
Part A: Spatial Significance:
Climate is the number 1 factor that influences where agriculture can take place in Canada. With proper
temperature and precipitation conditions agriculture is possible.
Turn on the layer “ Canada’s Climate”
Which 3 regions in Canada have the most suitable temperature conditions for agriculture? (hint red in colour)
Temperature and precipitation alone does not guarantee great agriculture. Quality soils and drainage patterns also have an impact.
Turn on the layer “Canada land inventory: Land capability for Agriculture”
Turn off “Canada’s Climate”
This layer creates a colour coded (chloropleth) map showing all 7 classes of farmland you learned about in class yesterday.
What two LANDFORM REGIONS or CLIMATE REGIONS (since they overlap so closely) does the majority of
CLASS 1 and CLASS 2 farmland exist in? (hint: class 1 is dark brown and class 2 is light brown)

Part B: Patterns & Trends
There are hundreds of different agricultural products grown across Canada but they are not equally distributed.
Locate the layers “spatial density of soybean” “spatial density of canola” and “spatial density of corn” but only view them INDIVIDIUALLY.
Look at each of these layers individually. Where are each of these crops grown in the largest density in Canada? (hint red means most, blue means least , no colour means no growth)
Soybean Canola Corn
Considering WHERE each of these crops grow and the climate of that region, which of these 3 crops:
Requires the most water?
Can withstand the coldest temperatures?
Soybean, Corn and Canola are the 3 largest crops grown in Canada but we produce many other agricultural products. In the next section you will create 3 new layers to show LIVESTOCK,
VEGETABLES, MAPLE SYRUP & GRAPES.
To create these layers you will be copying and manipulating the layer “census of agriculture
2011 by consolidated census division”
Creating a Chloropleth Map layer for Livestock:
1)make a copy of the layer “census of agriculture 2011 by consolidated census division” by clicking on the 3 circles below the layer name and choosing copy.
2) Find the new layer created named “census of agriculture 2011 by consolidated census division-COPY” and rename it to “Total Value of Livestock Canada”. Turn it on.
3) Click on the grey triangle beside the layer name to expand its content.
4) Under the “business” sub layer click the “change style” icon (circle square triangle).
5) Change the attribute to show to “ farm capital (farm machinery and equipment , livestock and poultry, land and buildings) 2011 (76) Value of livestock and poultry- market value in current dollars ”. It is about ¾ of the way down the list.
6)Choose “counts and amounts colour” as the drawing style and choose “options”
Instructions continue on next page…….

7)under classify data change to “manual breaks” with “5 classes”
8)Change the slider bar classes from:
This to This
Click on each black slider or the number beside it to type in the new class . You are changing random numbers to
100000000 (100 million)
50000000
20000000
10000000 (10million)
0
9. Change the colour ramp to one of your choice by clicking on the symbols icon.
10. Click Done!
Save your map if you have not already.
Creating a Chloropleth Map layer for Vegetables:
1)make a NEW copy of the ORIGINAL layer “census of agriculture 2011 by consolidated census division” by clicking on the 3 circles below the layer name and choosing copy.
2) Find the new layer created named “census of agriculture 2011 by consolidated census division-COPY” and rename it to “Total Vegetable Production Canada”. Turn it on.
3) Click on the grey triangle beside the layer name to expand its content.
4) Under the “Crops (vegetables, berries…)” sub layer click the “change style” icon (circle square triangle).
5) Change the attribute to show to “ Vegetables (excluding greenhouse vegetables), 2011 - Total vegetables
(excluding greenhouse vegetables) - hectares ”. It is the last on the list.
6)Choose “counts and amounts colour” as the drawing style and choose “options”
7)under classify data change to “manual breaks” with “5 classes”
8)Change the slider bar classes from:
This to This
Click on each black slider or the number beside it to type in the new class values .
You are changing random numbers to
1000
750
500
250
0

9. Change the colour ramp to one of your choice by clicking on the symbols icon.
10. Click Done!
Save your map
Creating a Chloropleth Map layer for Maple Syrup:
1)make a NEW copy of the ORIGINAL layer “census of agriculture 2011 by consolidated census division” by clicking on the 3 circles below the layer name and choosing copy.
2) Find the new layer created named “census of agriculture 2011 by consolidated census division-COPY” and rename it to “Total Maple Syrup Production Canada”. Turn it on.
3) Click on the grey triangle beside the layer name to expand its content.
4) Under the “Crops (vegetables, berries…)” sub layer click the “change style” icon (circle square triangle).
5) Change the attribute to show to “ Maple taps, 2011 - Taps on maple trees (52) - number ”. It is about
1/3 of the way down the list.
6)Choose “counts and amounts colour” as the drawing style and choose “options”
7)under classify data change to “manual breaks” with “5 classes”
8)Change the slider bar classes from:
This to This
Click on each black slider or the number beside it to type in the new class . You are changing random numbers to
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
9. Change the colour ramp to one of your choice by clicking on the symbols icon.
10. Click Done! Save your map
Creating a Chloropleth Map layer for Grapes (wine production):
Follow the same steps you did for the last 2 chloropleth map layers but without the detailed instructions.
*Make a copy of the “census of agriculture 2011 by consolidated census division” layer
*The attribute data for grapes is located in the same “Crops (vegetables, berries…)” sub layer as vegetables and maple syrup. It is called ‘Fruits, berries and nuts, 2011 - Grapes total area - hectares “
*reclassify the data to the same “manual breaks” and “5 classes” as the other layers.
*Set the classes to the values 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and choose a new colour ramp.
SAVE MAP and Share a copy through email with Mr. Scott. This will be marked

Part C: Interrelationships:
Fill in the blanks based on the layers you just created
Alberta’s main agricultural income/practice is ______________________
Niagara Falls and the Okanogen valley in Central BC grow lots of ____________________
Southern Ontario and southern BC grow the majority of Canada’s ______________________
Southern Quebec is an agricultural powerhouse for _______________________
Connections to Climate change:
Answer the following questions based on each of the 4 layers you just created.
Grapes:
The Niagara Region of Southern Ontario has temperatures just warm enough to support grape production. In a warming climate how would you expect grape farming to change in southern
Ontario?
Maple Syrup:
Maple syrup requires a quick change in temperature from cold to warm to cause sap to flow from maple trees. How might a warming climate impact the maple syrup industry?
Livestock:
Raising and consuming livestock is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. As Canada pushes to become more sustainable and reduce our consumption of meat, what could happen to the livestock industry in Alberta?
Vegetables:
Production of vegetables requires a large supply of water and warm temperatures. Using your knowledge of how precipitation and temperature will change in Ontario (remember back to the forest fire lab), predict what will happen to the vegetable industry in future.