StatsCan Resources
CANADIAN
NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR GEOGRAPHY
RELATED
RESOURCES ON THE STATISTICS CANADA WEB-SITE
-Draft
– 7 PM. Nov. 23
This document provides a summary of information available related to the
Canadian standard geography curriculum for grades 2-12 on the Statistics Canada
web site http://www.statcan.ca. This web-site contains several sections of
materials relevant for this curriculum.
Teaching Resources under Education Resources at http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/index.htm
includes 8 complete teacher's kits and more than 40 lessons for the geography
curricula. The Census Results Teacher's Kit contains 13 lessons, many of these
appropriate for geography.
Canadian
Statistics includes more than 370 tables of continuously updated statistics on
significant aspects of Canada's economy, land, people and government. Many
tables have data at the province level.
A
Statistical Profile of Canadian Communities
is one of the most popular components of Statistics Canada's web site.
Researchers, students and the public can obtain a wealth of statistical
information for close to 6,000 Canadian cities, towns, villages, and Aboriginal
communities free of charge. A simple mapping feature allows users to pinpoint
the community in which they are interested. Information is provided for five
major topics: population, education, health, income and work, and families and
dwellings. Data are available for census metropolitan areas and the smaller
census agglomerations.
http://ceps.statcan.ca/english/profil/placesearchform1.cfm
E-STAT
contains Canada wide information from censuses of population (at province,
county and community levels) plus the current and historical record of 450,000
business and socio-economic subjects. Teachers and students can use E-STAT to
transform these statistics into colourful maps and graphs. This product is
provided free on the web exclusively to educational institutions and educators.
The
Historical Statistics of Canada
is accessible on the Statistics Canada web site as a free downloadable document.
The second edition of this unique reference volume was produced jointly by the
Social Science Federation of Canada and Statistics Canada in 1983. The volume
contains about 1,088 statistical tables on the social, economic and
institutional conditions of Canada from the start of the Confederation in 1867
to the mid-1970s. The tables are arranged in sections with an introduction
explaining the content of each section, the principal sources of data for each
table, and explanatory notes regarding the statistics. In most case, there is
sufficient description of the individual series to enable readers to use them
without consulting the numerous basic sources referenced in the publication. All
text are HTML pages, while each table is an individual spreadsheet in a comma
delimited format (CSV), which allows on-line viewing or downloading.
Information and resources available for each social studies course are
organized below in three sections: free data, E-STAT database, and teaching
materials.
Recommended
Publications and Lessons -
Canadian Social Trends (11-008-XPE, appropriate for grade 10 and up)
This publication discusses the social, economic, and demographic changes affecting the lives of Canadians. It contains the latest figures for major social indicators. Free copies of Canadian Social Trends articles since winter 1998 are now included on E-STAT as articles. At http://estat.statcan.ca
Canada
at a Glance (appropriate
for grade 6 and up)
Canada
at a Glance,
catalogue 12-581-XPE, is a free 24-page booklet containing over 60 tables from
Statistics Canada, updated once or twice per year, including 5 pages of tables
and graphs on the Canadian economy. Separate paper editions are available, in
English and French, from Statistics Canada's online catalogue. Educators can
order free class sets of this publication, which will be delivered by mail. You
can also view or download the booklet in pdf format.
There is also a related lesson plan at http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/glanc1.htm
Students examine the Statistics Canada publication Canada
at a Glance. They select data for subjects of their choice to prepare
graphs, formulate textual descriptions of data trends and make predictions
Canada
Year Book
The Canada year book presents
an overview of the social, economic and cultural life of Canada. Complete with
15 chapters, more than 240 tables, charts, graphs and a series of short feature
articles, the year book is Canada's most comprehensive reference resource.
Illustrated with more than 125 photographs - many in colour - and written in an
accessible and easy-to-understand style, it conveys a clear picture of the
trends and issues that dominate contemporary Canadian life.
The Canada year book first
appeared in 1867, the year Canada was founded. Collectively, it forms a body of
living history, which has successfully tracked and monitored the progress and
development of Canada since Confederation.
Canada
Year Book 1999 Teacher's Kit
This free kit provides educators with a variety of activities designed
to support the integration and use of the book and CD-ROM in curriculum-based
classroom applications. A demo of Chapter
one and two from the CD-ROM are currently available on the Statistics Canada web
site at http://142.206.72.128/canada99.htm. Activities are included to cover the
four sections of the Canada Year Book 1999.
Canada
Quiz
http://www.statcan.ca/english/new_quiz/quizindex.htm
Students explore our web-site and learn about Canada and Canadians. It
provides a fun-filled introduction to using Canadian statistics module on the
web site for students in grade 4 and up.
GRADES
2-3
Local
/ Provincial Canada / World
The
World in Spatial Terms (Location)
Content focus: location and distribution of physical and human features
- pg. 8
Sample learning activities: use Community profiles maps to locate the local community in Canada and in its province
URL: http://ceps.statcan.ca/english/profil/placesearchform1.cfm
Places
and Regions
Physical
Systems
Human
Systems
Content focus: pop. Distribution, Human settlement patterns
Sample learning activities: could use Stat. Profile of Canadian
communities - to compare the pop. density of different communities over time
using the maps and the highlights pages.
How
Many People Live in Your Household? Lesson plan
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/elemen.htm
Students conduct an inquiry on the number of people in their households. They classify the data creating a concrete graph then convert the data to a pictogram.
Immigration
lesson plan
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/pdf/censu8.pdf
In this activity, students make a paper chain to show the place of birth of people who immigrated to Canada between 1991 and 1996. They then look at how immigrants contribute to our society. This lesson plan is part of the 1996 Census Results Teacher's Kit.
Environment
and Society
Use
of Geography
GRADES
4-5
Local
/ Provincial Canada / World
The
World in Spatial Terms (Location)
Places
and Regions
Physical
Systems
Human
Systems
Content focus: patterns and processes of migration past and present (pg.
22)
Content focus: population characteristics of the state and the U.S. (pg. 22)
Lessons:
Population Counts This activity provides elementary school students with national, provincial and territorial population figures from the 1996 Census of Canada. Students will identify the provinces and territories, and colour those with the largest and smallest populations. Students will then do some basic analysis of the information on the map. This lesson plan is part of the 1996 Census Results Teacher's Kit.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/counts.htm
Population pyramids- age and sex: Students create a
population pyramid based on age and sex data from the 1996 Census. This leads to
a discussion of population aging and its ramifications for Canada's future. 10
pages, 1-2 class periods.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/four.htm
Content focus:
Environment
and Society
Content focus: Renewable and non-renewable resources
Lesson: HES has some materials that could be adapted
Content focus: Impact of extreme natural events on the human and physical environment
Lessons:
· Ice Storm
· HAE table ? on natural disasters
Use
of Geography
GRADES
6-8
Canada
/ World
The
World in Spatial Terms (Location)
Places
and Regions
Physical
Systems
Cdn
. stats - land and environment
Ice
storm
Content focus: causes and patterns of
extreme natural events (pg. 32)
Also:
impact of natural and tech. hazards/disasters on the human and physical
enviornment (pg. 37)
The Flood of the Century - From Out of This
World II
In this exercise, students determine the effects and
some of the processes used in the 1997 Red River Flood in Manitoba. http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/agric/flood2.htm
How Farmers Weathered Ice Storm '98 I
Students will explore and investigate events of Nature and their impact on
people and the environment. http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/agric/farmr1.htm
Human
Systems
Content
focus:
population density, distribution and growth rates (pg. 32)
Cdn . stats - The People
Lessons: Constructing a population pyramid
In this activity, students create and analyze a
population pyramid based on age and sex data from the 1996 Census. This leads to
a discussion of population aging and its ramifications for Canada's future. 10
pages, 1-2 class periods.
URL: http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/four.htm
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/life/life1.htm
Using Canadian Statistics, this exercise introduces line graphs. Students learn to label and plot line graphs with data from the table ‘Life expectancy at birth’ on Statistics Canada’s Web site and to determine the differences in trends in life expectancy between males and females.
Calculating Population Growth For a Region Students
select, retrieve and print data from a database. This activity will help
students become familiar with the components of population growth. This lesson
plan uses E-STAT
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/population/pop1.htm
Content
focus: human migration patterns (pg. 32)
Lesson:
Canada's Immigration Patterns, 1955 to
Present
This activity uses time series data in E-STAT
to examine how the source of immigrants to Canada changes over the years. In
1955, most immigrants to Canada were from Europe, while today, the majority of
immigrants come from Asian countries.
URL: http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/immig1.htm
Content
focus:
patterns of culture in Canada and the world. (page 35)
Sample Learning activities:
Use community profiles (population tables) to see the immigrants and
minority groups in selected Canadian communities.
Content
focus: transportation
and communications networks in Canada and the world
Lesson
on transportation to work - Students examine statistics
on the various means of transportation used to get to work in Canada,
discovering variations by province and by urban area. After considering the pros
and cons of various alternatives, they will make a responsible choice of
transportation to work for an individual with a particular set of needs. 12
pages, 2 class periods.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/labour.htm
Environment
and Society
Content
focus:
effects of the modification of the physical environment
HAE CD-ROM
Content focus: environmental issues
- HAE CD-ROM
Use
of Geography
GRADES
9-12
World
(Patterns, issues, problems, interdependence)
The
World in Spatial Terms (Location)
Places
and Regions
Physical
Systems
Human
Systems
Environment
and Society
Enviro-quiz
Household
environment survey
Use
of Geography
Ontario
Grade 11 curriculum
The
Americas: Geographic Patterns and Issues, Grade 11, University/college
preparation
Canadian Statistics - www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb.
Access the Canadian Statistics table of contents screen.
a) Then select the Economy, then International trade. It demonstrates
the growing importance of trade with the USA
http://www/english/Pgdb/Economy/International/gblec02a.htm
b) Travel within the Americas
Top 15 countries of origin for visitors to Canada shows that US is by far the main source of travelers, and Mexico has risen to number 9
http://www/english/Pgdb/People/Culture/arts37b.htm
c) Immigrant population by place of birth and period of immigration, 1996 Census, Canada shows that most immigrants to Canada from central and South America have come recently
http://www/english/Pgdb/People/Population/demo25a.htm
The Daily News bin at http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/DAILY/mdaily.cgi
has a wealth of related materials, for several strands in this course including
those listed below
a)
Travel between Canada and other countries, updated quarterly at
A recent edition is at http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/001024/d001024b.htm
b)
Characteristics of international travelers to Canada,
updated quarterly at http://www.statcan.ca/english/Release/2000.htm#19
c)
Travel between Canada and other countries updated monthly at http://www.statcan.ca/english/Release/2000.htm#17
d)
International merchandise trade updated monthly at
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/001019/d001019a.htm
E-STAT
at
http://estat.statcan.ca/content/english/over.htm
Very rich free data and articles organized under 4 main themes: the
Economy, Land and Resources, People, The Nation. Detailed data on immigration to
Canada travel and trade which relate to this course. There are over 1700
characteristics from the 1996 census for every community in Canada and for every
neighbourhood (census tract) in 43 large urban centres and by ecozone in Canada.
The software lets you extract and manipulate data and produce statistical graphs
and maps.
Free teaching materials under Teaching Resources under Education
Resources at http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/index.htm
includes many lessons for geography at http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/cour14.htm
Some of the best teaching materials for this course include:
Government Policy
and the Economy
Through the study of the fluctuations in Canada's economic growth during the
twentieth century, students will see the effects of government policies in
Canada's "modified market" economy.
Physical
Geography: Patterns, process and Interactions, Grade 11, University/ College
Preparation
Canadian Statistics - www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb.
Access the Canadian Statistics table of contents screen. Then select
Geography under The Land, and you will find data tables on Canada's land area
and resources, water and weather.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/Land/geogra.htm
Human Activity and the Environment, 2000 - book and CD-ROM.
Chapter 3 of this book provides a good overview of Canada's physiography,
and climate, as well as a geophysical and meteorological profile. We will
provide a complimentary copy of the book to the lead writer. Based on feedback,
we will load some sections of this book as a free resource on www.statcan.ca
Details will be worked out with the profile writing team.
GEOGRAPHICS:
The Geographer's Toolkit, Grade 11, Workplace Preparation
The Statistics Canada web site has very rich statistical data which can
be used to help meet one of the overall course expectations to "use
geotechnologies effectively to carry out geographic studies, with emphasis on
the local community". Two major resources on this site meet this local
community focus expectation very well.
1)
E-STAT at
http://estat.statcan.ca/content/english/over.htm
Very rich free data and articles organized under 4 main themes: the
Economy, Land and Resources, People, The Nation. There are over 1700
characteristics from the 1996 census for every community in Canada and for every
neighbourhood (census tract) in 43 large urban centres. The software lets you
extract and manipulate data and produce statistical graphs and maps. There are
also more than 10 geography lessons and other teaching materials that can be
used with classrooms at http://www.statcan.ca/english/Estat/teach.htm
2) The Census section of www.statcan.ca
at http://www.statcan.ca/english/census96/list.htm
has a wide range of data that would be useful for this course as well,
including:
a) Statistical Profile of Canadian Communities - 6 tables and interactive base mapping capability for over 6,000 communities from the latest Census
b) Federal Electoral District Profile about 100 variables and interactive base mapping capability for each federal electoral district from the 1996 Census
c) The Nation Series - selected tables hundreds of tables and related highlight news releases showing social and economic characteristics of the population for Canada, provinces and territories, and in many cases for census metropolitan areas.
d) Complete dictionary of all the geographic concepts and terms from the
census at http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/92-351-UIE/free.htm
Free teaching materials under Teaching Resources under Education
Resources at http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/index.htm
includes many lessons for geography at http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/cour14.htm
Some of the best teaching materials for the Geographics course include:
a)
Animated population pyramids and lessons at http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/animat/pyone.htm
The pyramids presented here are animated to show the change in
population distribution for Canada, the provinces and territories from 1971 to
2004. Pop. pyramids are mentioned
in the curriculum under the "Methods of Geographic Inquiry" strand
b) Household Environment Survey - School
Edition could be useful for "Methods of Geographic Inquiry"
strand at http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/houenv.htm
The Household Environment Survey was designed to collect information on the extent to which households were adopting facilities, products and behaviours that were, or were perceived to be, "environmentally friendly". It was also used to monitor changes in behaviour resulting from public concern for the environment. It was originally conducted in 1991 and repeated in 1994. The school edition uses the same questionnaire and provides an interactive form that classes may use to submit their results from the survey to a database containing results from other schools.
Regional
Geography: Travel and Tourism, Grade 11, Open
Canadian Statistics - www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb. Access the Canadian Statistics table of contents screen. Then select The People, then Culture, Leisure and Travel, then Travel. There are 7 tables on travel of Canadians and travel to Canada updated annually. Direct URL is http://www/english/Pgdb/People/cultur.htm#tra
The Daily News bin at http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/DAILY/mdaily.cgi
has a wealth of materials for travel and tourism, for several strands in this
course including those listed below
b)
Travel between Canada and other countries, updated quarterly at
A recent edition is at http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/001024/d001024b.htm
e)
Characteristics of international travellers to Canada,
updated quarterly at http://www.statcan.ca/english/Release/2000.htm#19
f)
Travel between Canada and other countries updated monthly at http://www.statcan.ca/english/Release/2000.htm#17
d) National tourism indicators updated quarterly at http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/000929/d000929b.htm
Here is the first paragraph of this article from Second quarter, 2000
"Total tourism spending received another strong boost from April through June, as foreign travellers continued to flow into Canada and fuel prices escalated.
Canadian tourists and foreign visitors spent nearly $13.0 billion on tourism in Canada during the second quarter, 7.4% more than in the second quarter of 1999"
URL: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/000929/d000929b.htm
E-STAT
at http://estat.statcan.ca/content/english/over.htm
Free data and articles concerning Travel and Tourism on E-STAT under People, then Travel and Tourism at http://estat.statcan.ca/content/english/articles/trav-a.htm
Some of the data included on E-STAT CANSIM time series database:
- domestic travel within Canada by Canadians - showing province, type of activity, expenditures and more
- international travel to Canada - detail on international travellers by type of transport, country, port of entry
- passengers - revenue and expenses from the taxi and limousine service by province
- tourism demand, exports and supply in Canada
- employment generated by tourism
(matrices 1847-1848)
File: ontcurgeo11.nov14.2000.doc
Updated: Nov. 22, 2000
Author:
Education Resources Team, Statistics Canada