THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – GRADE 10
Canada Rail Passenger Service:
All Aboard for the Future!
Lesson Overview
For motivation, the lesson starts with a matching challenge that highlights famous
passenger trains. The lesson next focuses on rail as a viable form of transportation in terms
of its small carbon footprint. In the culminating activity, students complete a brochure that
promotes a passenger service on a selected three-hundred kilometre stretch of rail shown
on CANADA'S STEEL ROADS poster-map. They will name the train; indicate the route on a
map; describe points of geographic and historical interest that can be viewed through the
window; and create a trip-related activity for children.
Grade Level
Grade 10
Time Required
Two classes
Curriculum Connection (Province/Territory and course)
Atlantic Provinces Curriculum for Social Studies: Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education
and Training (CAMET): Prince Edward Island
Geography 10: Canada Studies
Additional Resources, Materials and Equipment Required

Famous Trains Matching Challenge (attached)

Brochure Assignment: A 300 Kilometre Passenger Rail Trip (attached)

CANADA'S STEEL ROADS poster-map

Computers, display equipment and internet access
Websites:
Andy Hayes. Famous Trains: The World’s Named Passenger Trains
http://www.sharingtravelexperiences.com/named-passenger-trains/
(Source for answers to the Famous Trains Matching Challenge)
Canadian Atlas Online Tracking rail theme
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
Outline map of Canada (one can be found at: The Atlas of Canada)
http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/outlinecanada/canada01/map.p
df
Railway Association of Canada (RAC) – Rail Facts
http://www.railcan.ca/education/facts
THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – GRADE 10
Rail and the Environment
http://www.railcan.ca/environment/rail_environment
Moving the Economy
http://www.railcan.ca/economy/moving_economy
Moving People
http://www.railcan.ca/economy/moving_people
Rail by Provinces
http://www.railcan.ca/economy/provinces
The Environment
http://www.railcan.ca/environment/thinking_green
Main Objective
The main objective has two parts: the short-term outcome, to engage students in exploring
passenger rail service in Canada and its small carbon footprint; and the long-term outcome,
to interest students in utilizing passenger rail services.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
 understand that the Canadian passenger rail service leaves a small carbon footprint;
 gather geographical information from maps and other sources;
 synthesize information;
 convey information in an interesting way.
THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – GRADE 10
The Lesson
The Lesson
Teacher Activity
Introduction
Instruct students to complete the Famous Trains
Matching Challenge (attached).
Review the answers and ask:”What do you know
about Canada’s trains?”.
Lesson
Development
Student Activity
Complete the
challenge and share
responses.
Divide students into five groups. Assign each of the
groups one of the websites below by the Railway
Association of Canada:

Rail Facts

Rail and the Environment

Moving the Economy

Moving People

The Environment
Ask groups to find two or three quotations that
clearly present Canadian passenger rail service as a
viable form of transportation in terms of its small
carbon footprint. Instruct the groups to record the
the quotations.
Select two or three
quotations. Record
the title and the
quotations.
Ask students to present their quotations and explain
what they have concluded.
Introduce CANADA'S STEEL ROADS poster-map.
Indicate a sample 300 kilometre stretch of track on
the map. Ask students to choose the 300 kilometre
section of rail in Canada which they would be most
interested in travelling. Ask them to explain their
choice.
Present findings.
Introduce the Canadian Atlas Online Tracking rail
theme and the section called Tourism under the
broader title People. Its presentation of “the various
destinations/trips one can access with passenger
trains,” may help undecided students.
Choose the stretch of
track that is the most
interesting and
explain the selection.
Distribute the Brochure Assignment: A 300
Kilometre Passenger Rail Trip. Review the
instructions and assign it to groups or individuals.
Review the
instructions to the
Brochure
THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – GRADE 10
Request that students include a map of their section
of track in the brochure.
Assignment: A 300
Kilometre Passenger
Rail Trip.
Create a brochure
that includes a map.
Conclusion
Invite presentations and display the brochures.
Present/display
brochures.
Lesson Extension

A plaque on the Charlottetown Railway Station states, “The building ceased operation
as a station with the closure of the railway in 1989.” Would it be viable to
reintroduce this service?

Discuss the feasibility of a train tunnel under the Northumberland Strait.
Assessment of Student Learning
The brochures should be assessed in accordance with the criteria provided in the attached
Brochure Assignment: A 300 Kilometre Rail Trip.
Link to Canadian National Standards for Geography
Essential Element #1: The World in Spatial Terms

Map, globe, and atlas use (e.g. observing and analyzing relationships)
Essential Element #2: Places and Regions

Political and historical characteristics of regions
Essential Element #5: Environment and Society

Environmental issues (e.g. global warming, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, ozone
depletion, air pollution, water pollution, acid precipitation, disposal of solid waste)
Geographic Skill #2: Acquiring Geographic Information

Systematically locate and gather geographic information from a variety of primary
and secondary sources.
Geographic Skill #3: Organizing Geographic Information

Make inferences and draw conclusions from maps and other geographic
representations.

Use a variety of media to develop and organize integrated summaries of geographic
information.
THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – GRADE 10
Famous Trains Matching Challenge
Can you match each of these famous world trains with its corresponding geographic
description?
Geographic Descriptions:
1. Also called the Harry Potter Railway, it connects from Fort William, near Glasgow, to
Mallaig in the Highlands of Scotland.
______________________
2. Traverses from St. Moritz to Zermatt in Switzerland.
______________________
3. From Thailand, through Malaysia, and into Singapore.
______________________
4. Its flagship line travels from Pretoria to Cape Town.
______________________
5. As one of the longest named passenger trains (in terms of route), it carries you
almost 3 thousand miles across the entire continent of Australia, from Perth to
Sydney.
______________________
6. Depart Montreal in the evening and wake the next morning with the most incredible
view of the Maritimes from your dome car.
______________________
7. Connects Uganda to Kenya, offering views of lions.
______________________
8. Follows the trail of explorers Lewis and Clark from Chicago to Seattle/Portland on the
west coast of the USA.
______________________
9. VIA Rail’s flagship service from Vancouver to Toronto.
______________________
10. Starting in Saint Petersburg or Moscow, the train traverses across Asia and
terminates in the Pacific port town of Vladivostok with alternative trains that go all
the way to Beijing, China and Pyongyang, North Korea. ______________________
Trains:
The Eastern and Orient Express
The Ocean
The Canadian
The Lunatic Express
The Glacier Express
The Indian Pacific
The Blue Train
The Lunatic Express
The Empire Builder
The Jacobite
Bonus:
Can you name the world’s fastest trains and in what countries they are found?
____________________________
What train goes from Britain to France under the English Channel?
___________________________
THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – GRADE 10
Brochure Assignment:
A 300 Kilometre Passenger Rail Trip
Overview:
Choose a 300 km stretch of track from the thousands of “rail passenger kilometres”
represented on CANADA'S STEEL ROADS poster-map. Prepare a four-page promotional
brochure intended to attract people to take this train trip.
Directions:
(1) On page one, the cover page, write an interesting and attractive title and caption for
your train trip. On your blank map, clearly show the beginning and end of the
journey. Identify interesting geographic and/or historical features/landmarks that
can be seen on the trip. Use original art to reflect a highlight of the trip.
(2) On pages two and three, the centre of your brochure, expand upon your cover page.
Offer a brief but vivid narration (of about 200 to 250 words) of some of the
interesting geographic or historical features that can be viewed through the window.
Will passengers see panoramic mountain scenery, blue-green rushing rivers, and
prairie grasses stretching to the horizon? Will they see certain human-made
structures—grain elevators, abandoned rail stations, perhaps—that reveal something
about the past or present human geography or history of the landscape? Support
your words with either original art or downloaded photography and art. If you
choose the latter, remember to acknowledge the source of these visuals.
(3) On page four, the concluding page, present an original geographic activity for
children between the ages of seven to twelve making the trip. This activity is
intended to enhance their trip and to pass the time. You may, for example, prepare
a word puzzle related to points of geographic interest on the trip.
(4) Somewhere in your brochure, remark upon the small carbon footprint of rail travel
(attractive information to some potential rail passengers). If you wish, refer to the
information collected from the Railway Association of Canada brochures.
Criteria for evaluation:
(a) Quality of the map (Does it clearly show the route?) and of the other visuals (Do
they interest people in taking the trip?) (Value: 40%)
(b) Quality of written expression (Does it interest people in taking the trip?): (Value:
40%)
(c) Quality of the activity for children (Is it likely to engage them and enhance their
trip?) (Value: 20%)