Selected Expectations

Grade 8 Geography: Identify the push and pull factors that influence people to move (e.g., push: drought, war, lack of freedom, discrimination and persecution; pull: employment opportunities, security, and climate)

Grade 9 Geography (CGC1D): Explain the role of selected international organizations and agreements and why Canada participates in them (e.g. United Nations)

Introduction

"Against All Odds" is about the global refugee experience from the time people are forced to leave their countries of origin to the beginning of their new life abroad. You will take on the persona of a refugee and work your way through the various challenges of escaping and starting a new life. There are twelve steps to the simulation.

Michelle Lindsay, Earl Haig Secondary School, Toronto District School Board

Introduction

In this activity students will use the Government of Canada Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website, www.travel.gc.ca, to complete an online mapping activity. The concepts of cultural awareness, factors that influence travel destination choices, socio-cultural influences as well as culture comfort are brought into this activity. The Canadian Government informs tourists and citizens living abroad of current travel warnings and issues through reports that they publish online. These warnings and reports are used to help Canadians decide whether travel to a specific destination, country, or region is safe at the current time.

Activity Overview

Pretend you are a travel agent and you have just been assigned a task from your head office from Canadian Foreign Affairs to advertise to your clients places around the world that are currently not safe tourist destinations. How will you get this information across to your clients in a way that is easy to read that you can post in your office? Since not many tourists use the Government Travel Advisories that are published online, it’s your job to use the information the Government provides to us for free to produce a map that is easy for anyone to read and understand who may come into your office.

Expectations 

• Identify selected factors that influence travellers’ destination choices (e.g., location, accessibility, cost, safety, amenities, personal preferences) 
• Describe the types of cultural conflicts that tourists may experience in selected world regions and the reasons for these conflicts 
• Describe global patterns of travel and tourism and the factors that influence them
• Use the methods and tools of geographic inquiry to locate, gather, evaluate, and organize information

Andrea Latford, OISE Honours Geography Specialist Course candidate

Expectations 

• analyze the ways in which natural systems interact with human systems and make predictions about the outcomes of these interactions; 
• describe how Canada’s diverse geography affects its economic, cultural, and environmental links to other countries; 
• analyze connections between Canada and other countries; 
• communicate the results of geographic inquiries, using appropriate terms and concepts and a variety of forms and techniques; 
• analyze and interpret data gathered in inquiries into the geography of Canada, using a variety of methods and geotechnologies; 
• use the methods and tools of geographic inquiry to locate, gather, evaluate, and organize information about Canada’s natural and human systems.

Lesson Overview

The students are responsible for designing a city, with specific land use constraints. The purpose of the activity is to allow the students to get a real sense of how urban planners decide "why is what where it is?’ and all the variables they have to consider when they make that decision. The assignment will also provide the students with a good understanding of the relationship between high residential density and the value of land. This is also a good way to involve students with potential careers in the field of Geography.

Prior Knowledge

• the principal types of urban land use 
• factors that affect land use patterns 
• how urban expansion affects the surrounding countryside

Overall Expectations

• UMV.01B explain how natural and human systems change over time and from place to place
• UMV.02B predict how current or anticipated changes in the geography of Canada will affect the country’s future economic, social, and environmental well-being

Specific Expectations

• UMI.02B recognize the similarities among cultures and the need to respect cultural differences
• UM2.01B explain how selected factors cause changing human and natural systems (e.g. technological developments, corporate and government policies, zoning by-laws, natural hazards, global warming)
• UM2.03B evaluate the impact of change (e.g., new technologies) on a selected planning project (e.g., residential or resort development, urban renewal, installation of water and sewage systems)

Gary Birchall, Editor, The Monograph

Editor’s Note: Why Do Climates Differ? represents an activity that can be used to introduce, or review, climate controls before students tackle Susan’s Weather Forecast activity where these controls are needed to answer some of the questions.