Grade: 7

Unit: Canadian Identity

Week
This unit will take
place at the end of
the school year

1
Is there an
"average"
Canadian?

Concept/Theme
General Learning Outcomes

Specific Learning Outcomes

2
As pre-contact First
Nations Canadians,
how do we
understand our
community?

Art: Components 1:
Students will
experiment with colour
effects on compositions.
ELA: Students will
listen, speak, read,
write, view and
represent to explore
thoughts, ideas, feelings
and experiences.
Math: Collect, display,
analyze data to solve
problems
Science: 1) Investigate
plant uses; and identify
links among needs,
technologies, products
and impacts
Science: 2) Conduct
investigations into the
relationships between
and among
observations, and gather
and record qualitative
and quantitative data

Art: students will

identify similarities and
differences in
expressions of selected
cultural groups
Math: use direct and
indirect measurement to
solve problems
Science: 1) Investigate
plant uses; and identify
links among needs,
technologies, products
and impacts

2) Science: state a
prediction and a
hypothesis based on
background information
or an observed pattern
of events (e.g., predict
the effect of a particular
plant treatment)
SS: Students will
demonstrate an
understanding and
appreciation of the
distinct roles of, and the
relationships among, the
Aboriginal, French and
British peoples in
forging the foundations
of Canadian
Confederation

Art: Demonstrate their

understanding of colour schemes
through designing their digital
portfolio
ELA: 1) Discover and explore, 2)
clarify and extend
Math: 1) determine mean, median,
mode, which is most useful for a
given scenario, and what is the
effect on these when an outlier is
present, 2) determine range
1) Students will: describe human
uses of plants as sources of food and
raw materials, and give examples of
other uses (e.g., identify uses of
plants as herbs or medicines;
describe plant products, and identify
plant sources on which they
depend), 2) identify examples of
human impacts on ecosystems, and
investigate and analyze the link
between these impacts and the
human wants and needs that give
rise to them (e.g., identify impacts
of the use of plants and animals as
sources of food, fibre and other
materials; identify potential impacts
of waste products on environments)

Teaching Activity

Learning Activity

Teaching Resources

Assessment
We will create a new rubric with the
students each week based on the general and
specific learner outcomes for the week. This
rubric will be used each week to formatively
evaluate their learning. In the final week, the
entire portfolio will be summatively
assessed.

1. The overarching question will be introduced to the

students: How would we explain being a Canadian
to someone from another country?
o Lead discussion based on the question and
ask the students who they think represents
the average Canadian
Ask: Is there an average Canadian?
How can we prove it?
2. Ask the students: what does average mean?

1. Brainstorm ideas about what it means to be Canadian

and who the average Canadian is
2. Participate in class discussion

3. Studentswillbegintheweekbyaskingthemto
identifyasmanyCanadianslangtermsastheycan.A
listofschoolfriendlytermscanbefoundbyclicking
here.

List of Canadian Slang

http://www.schoolsincanada
.com/Canadian-Slang-andPhrases.cfm

Wix/weebly/moovly/etc.
YouTube video about
scientific method
Examples of images that
show how to create mood,
balance, directing attention
Internet

4. Studentswillbeintroducedtotheofficiallanguages
3. Show the students the specific learning outcomes for
ofCanadaandaskedtodrawfromanyadditional
math and inform the students that for the unit they
languagestheyknowtodiscoverhowmany
will be making a digital portfolio
languagescanbeincludedintheclassroom
4. Create a rubric with the students for the math
component of the digital portfolio for week 1
5. Form the students into small teams of 3-4 people.
Teams will be responsible for investigating 2 traits
or preferences of people in the class (one qualitative
and one quantitative)

6. We will review the scientific method (a YouTube

video)
o We will lead the class in forming questions
of investigation and creating hypotheses
7. We will assist students in conducting research and
collecting data
o Students will research the definitions of
mean, median, mode, range and outlier
o Students will collect data from the class
regarding their question
8. We will instruct on how to begin assembling a
digital portfolio (paying attention to specific art
concepts such as colour scheme: creating mood,
balance, and directing attention)
9. We will lead a discussion on the results of the
research
10. Based on the average favourite food (mode), we will
launch an investigation into where the food comes
from and how it is grown
11. Based on the average language spoken (English), we
will explore Canadian English slang
12. We will assist students in adding details to their
digital portfolios (with their help in forming the
rubric)
We will pose the question for the week and ground it
Art: 1) Symbolic meanings are
in our overall question
expressed in different ways by
Discuss land use by pre-contact First Peoples
different cultural groups:
Investigate plant uses for medicine, food, etc.
Art: 2) Different cultural groups use Take students to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
different materials to create images
We will book the Living Off the Land
or artifacts
program offered by the World Heritage Site
t: students will use expressiveness in Take students outside to the school field to
their use of elements in the making
investigate farm area and shapes
of images
Visit the medicine wheel at Nose Hill Park
Math: 1) determine area of triangles,
Lead activity on spirituality
circles and parallelograms
Investigate properties of circles
Math: 2) demonstrate an
Our Aboriginal Education Liaison will put us in
understanding of circles
contact with a local Aboriginal artist who we will
invite to visit our class. This artist will share their
Science: Investigate trends in land
knowledge about the way symbolic meanings are
use from natural environments (e.g.,
expressed by Aboriginal groups. This experience
forests, grasslands) to managed
will also set the foundation for analyzing art in terms
environments (e.g., farms, gardens,
of how it reflects culture, traditions, etc.
greenhouses) and describe changes
Teachers will show Canada: A Peoples History,
SS: students will appreciate the
Episode 1: When the World Began... which
focuses on pre-contact North America. They will
influence of diverse Aboriginal,
discuss as a class and in groups questions relating to
French and British peoples on
the themes in the film and also write a journal
events leading to confederation and
response.
appreciate the challenges of coexistence among peoples
Teachers will lead exploration on connections
between pre-contact Iroquois society
Teachers will assist in collage making
We will lead the class in reflecting on what they
have learned in the week. We will work with the
students to update the digital portfolio rubric and
add to their portfolios.

5. Studentswillbeintroducedtophonemicwaysof
spellingwords(includingtheirnames)inordertoaid
inpronunciationanddrawonpreviousunderstandings
oflettersounds

Students will think about the overarching

question
Students will participate in discussion
Students will visit Head-Smashed-In Buffalo
Jump and participate in program
Students will go outside to the school field to
investigate farm area and shapes
Students will go to Nose Hill Park to visit the
medicine wheel to learn about spirituality and
circles
Students will meet an Aboriginal artist
Watch Canada: A Peoples History and
participate in class discussions
Students will explore the connections between
the functioning of pre-contact Iroquois society,
land usage, and how the medicine wheel is an
expression and organizing tool.
Students will work on a personal collage
representing how they understand the
relationship between themselves and their
community (including their family roots), with
a written rationale for their choice of pictures,
colours, and organization.

Bus
Aboriginal artist
Book program
Need guiding
worksheets for Nose
Hill Park discovery
Projector
Internet
http://www.history.alber
ta.ca/headsmashedin/ed
ucationprograms/docs/H
SIBJ-EducationPrograms-2015.pdf
http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/
b418/aboriginal.htm

Students will share their portfolio by the

end of the week; it will be formatively
assessed over the weekend according to
the rubric created with the students
o We will be looking to see if they
have met all of the required
outcomes
Start of week slip: What does it mean to
be Canadian to you?
End of week slip: What else do you want
to know about Canada?
During discussions to check for learning:
thumbs up/down/sideways, fingers 1-5,
they can hold up small whiteboards with
their answers
Questions we can pose to check: what
part of that was most confusing/difficult?
How are we feeling with this (e.g.,
muddy, clear, frustrated)

Students will share their portfolio by the

end of the week; it will be formatively
assessed over the weekend according to
the rubric created with the students
o We will be looking to see if they
have met all of the required
outcomes
Start of week slip: How do you
understand your community?
End of week slip: How did pre-contact
First Nations Canadians understand their
community?
During discussions to check for learning:
thumbs up/down/sideways, fingers 1-5,
they can hold up small whiteboards with
their answers
Questions we can pose to check: what
part of that was most confusing/difficult?
How are we feeling with this (e.g.,
muddy, clear, frustrated)

How do our
colonial roots shape
who we are?

Art: students will

identify similarities and
differences in
expressions of selected
cultural groups
SS: Students will
demonstrate an
understanding and
appreciation of the
distinct roles of, and the
relationships among, the
Aboriginal, French and
British peoples in
forging the foundations
of Canadian
Confederation
ELA: Studentswilllisten,
speak,read,write,viewand
representtoexplore
thoughts,ideas,feelingsand
experiences.

4
How does our
environment in
Canada affect our
identity?

Art: Components 1:
Students will
experiment with colour
effects on compositions.

Science: 1) Investigate
and describe
relationships between
humans and their
environments, and
identify related issues
and scientific questions

5
Using various
media, how do
Canadians across
the country
represent
themselves?

How do we assess
our learning?
(Visit Vancouver
and Montreal)

Science: 2) Identify and

interpret relationships
among human needs,
technologies,
environments, and the
culture and use of living
things as sources of
food and fibre

ELA: Students will

listen, speak, read,
write, view and
represent to manage
ideas and information

Art: Students will

identify similarities and

differences in
expressions of selected

cultural groups
ELA: Students will
listen, speak, read,
write, view and
represent to comprehend
and respond personally
and critically to oral,
print and other media
texts
ELA: Students will
listen, speak, read,
write, view and
represent to enhance the
clarity and artistry of
communication

Art: Components 1:
Students will
experiment with colour
effects on compositions.

1. Present symbols and artwork from Aboriginal,

French and British peoples in pre-Confederation
Canada to analyze. We will explore artifacts and
their symbolic meanings, as well as how symbolic
Art: 2) Power and authority can by
meaning is expressed differently by different groups,
symbolized in various ways
including the ways in which power and authority are
symbolized.
SS: 1) students will appreciate the
2. Visit Heritage Park for a self-guided tour
influence of diverse Aboriginal,
a. Look at art
French and British peoples on
3.
Show
Canada: A Peoples History, Episode 3:
events leading to confederation and
Claiming the Wilderness which focuses on the
appreciate the challenges of cogrowth of French settlements and Episode 4: Battle
existence among peoples
for a Continent which presents the competition
SS: 2) Students will compare and
between the French and British for control of North
contrast diverse social and
America. They will discuss as a class and in groups
economic structures within the
questions relating to the themes in the film and also
societies of Aboriginal, French and
write a journal response.
British peoples in pre-Confederation
4.
Present four or five current topical situations which
Canada.
will allow students to investigate present day
SS: 3) Students will assess,
relations between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals
critically, the economic competition
through the lens of such connected issues as land
related to the control of the North
claims, pipeline/oil sands development, and Idle No
American
More. They will receive instruction and conduct
fur trade.
research on these topics by focussing on different
SS: 4) Students will assess,
texts and representations across multiple media.
critically, the political competition
a. Lead inquiry
between the French and the British
5. Building off previous work they will work in groups
in attempting to control North
to produce a collage that represents how they
America
understand current Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
ELA:1.1Discoverandexplore
relations in Canada. Besides a written rationale for
1.2Clarifyandextend
their choice of pictures, colours, and organization,
they will also work on a script for presenting their
collage in a showcase.
6. Assist students in updating their digital portfolios
and updating the rubric
Art: 1) Artifacts can have religious,
magical and ceremonial meanings

1. We will visit Heritage Park and participate in the

Explorers and Ecosystems program
a. Learn about how human relationships with
the environment have changed over time
2. We will go outside to investigate what we learned
from the expert at Heritage Park and apply it to our
ELA: 1) Plan and focus, 2) select
local environment
and process, 3) organize, record,
3. We will assist students in researching the places we
and evaluate 4) share and review
are planning to visit (Vancouver, Ottawa and
Montreal) in the following weeks based on what
Science: 1) Students will: identify
they think they need to know before they visit
examples of human impacts on
4. We will guide students in the direction of
ecosystems, and investigate and
understanding the characteristics (e.g., languages,
analyze the link between these
ecosystems, industry) of each destination and how
impacts and the human wants and
those characteristics shape the identity of the place
needs that give rise to them (e.g.,
5.
Assist students in continuing to work on elements of
identify impacts of the use of plants
designing their digital portfolios paying particular
and animals as sources of food, fibre
attention to the art concepts of the way colour
and other materials; identify
scheme effects mood, balance and directs attention.
potential impacts of waste products
on environments)
Art: Demonstrate their
understanding of colour schemes
through designing their digital
portfolio

Science: 2) investigate and identify

intended and unintended
consequences of environmental
management practices (e.g., identify
problems arising from monocultural
land use in agricultural and forestry
practices, such as susceptibility to
insect infestation or loss of
diversity)
Art: Symbolic meanings are
expressed in different ways by
different cultural groups
ELA: 1) Use strategies and cues 2)
respond to text 3) understand forms,
elements, and techniques, 4) create
original text 5) enhance and
improve 6) attend to conventions 7)
present and share

Art: Demonstrate their

understanding of colour schemes
through continuing to design their
digital portfolio

Studentswilldiscovertheoriginandhistoryoftheir
firstandlastnamebyusingthewebsite:Behindthe
Name
o Studentswillthenbeaskedtoreflectiftheir
namemeaningaccuratelyreflectsthemasa
personoriftheyagreewiththedefinitionof
theirnames

Studentswillbeaskedtocreateavisual
representationoftheimagesimpliedbytheirname

StudentswillvisitHeritagepark

StudentswillbeaskedtocompleteaFramingSelf
activity.Studentswilldrawarectangleonapieceof
paperandfilltheboarderwithwordsandimagesthat
reflectthewaytheybelieveothersseethem.Onthe
insideoftherectangle,studentswillbeaskedtolist
thetraitsandcharacteristicsaboutthemselvesthatare
notreadilyapparentfromappearance.Thisactivity
servestointroducestudentstotheconceptof
representationandhowindividualscannotbejudged
onappearancealone.

Students will watch Canada: A Peoples History

Investigate present day relations between Aboriginal

people and non-Aboriginal people by looking at
current topical situations

Students will create a collage

Studentswillbeaskedtoidentifyimportant
informationthatpeopleneedtoknowaboutaplace
beforetheydecidetovisitit.Essentially,what
informationwouldbeimportanttoknowtodetermine
ifyouwanttovisitaplace?

Studentswilldetermineandidentifythedifferent
kindsofknowledgeneededtounderstandaplace:
practical,procedural,informal

Canada: A Peoples History

Bus
Topical situations
Symbols and artwork
internet

Bus
Book program
Internet
Images to analyze
Books, magazines, computers
for researching

Studentswillbeabletoidentifygapsintheirown
knowledge

Students will visit Heritage Park

Students will go outside at the school to apply what

Studentswillbeintroducedtodifferentwaysof
knowingandtransmittinginformation:traditions,oral
history,writtenhistory

Students will share their portfolio by the

end of the week; it will be formatively
assessed over the weekend according to
the rubric created with the students
o We will be looking to see if they
have met all of the required
outcomes
Start of week slip: What do you know
about Canadian history?
End of week slip: What else do you want
to know about Canadian history?
During discussions to check for learning:
thumbs up/down/sideways, fingers 1-5,
they can hold up small whiteboards with
their answers
Questions we can pose to check: what
part of that was most confusing/difficult?
How are we feeling with this (e.g.,
muddy, clear, frustrated)

Students will share their portfolio by the

end of the week; it will be formatively
assessed over the weekend according to
the rubric created with the students
o We will be looking to see if they
have met all of the required
outcomes
Start of week slip: What are two factors
in our environment that affects your
lifestyle?
End of week slip: What are two factors
in Vancouver, Ottawa, or Montreal that
affect the lifestyle of the people who live
there?
During discussions to check for learning:
thumbs up/down/sideways, fingers 1-5,
they can hold up small whiteboards with
their answers
Questions we can pose to check: what
part of that was most confusing/difficult?
How are we feeling with this (e.g.,
muddy, clear, frustrated)

they learned at Heritage Park to the local environment

1. AssiststudentsinpullingCanadianadvertisingfrom
magazines,websitesandtelevisiontodiscoverthe
waysinwhichCanadaisrepresentedandwhatthat
impliesaboutthevaluesandsystemofthecountry.
Studentswillbeaskedtoexaminewhatismissing
andhowthatcanbeaddressed.

2. Providestudentswithablackandwhitephototouse
asawritingprompttoeithercreateashortstoryor
personalreflectionthataddresseswhattheysee
beingrepresentedinthephoto.

3. Wewillaskstudentstocreateanadvertisementfora
realorfictionalproductthatcouldbesoldinCanada
4. During week 3, students analyzed historical images
and artifacts to discover the ways different groups of
people express meaning through symbols. This

week, we will help them analyze contemporary

forms of media and artifacts to discover the ways
different Canadians across Canada express and
represent themselves. We will facilitate a discussion
surrounding how expression has changed over time
and across cultures.
Visit Craigellachie (The Last Spike) to learn about

different interpretations of the meaning of it

UBC Museum of Anthropology
Visit Stanley Park and the Seawall
Visit ScienceWorld in Vancouver for the Green by
Design programming

Fly to Montreal

We will guide the students in peer-reviewing each

others portfolios
We will provide feedback to the students on their
digital portfolios

StudentswillpullCanadianadvertisingfrom
magazines,websitesandtelevisiontodiscoverthe
waysinwhichCanadaisrepresentedandwhatthat
impliesaboutthevaluesandsystemofthecountry.
Studentswillbeaskedtoexaminewhatismissing
andhowthatcanbeaddressed.

Advertising (magazine,
internet, tv programs)
Black and white photos
internet

Studentswillbeprovidedwithablackandwhite
phototouseasawritingprompttoeithercreatea
shortstoryorpersonalreflectionthataddresseswhat
theyseebeingrepresentedinthephoto.

Studentswillthenbeaskedtocreateanadvertisement
forarealorfictionalproductthatcouldbesoldin
Canada.

Studentswillparticipateinafieldtriptoexamine
advertisingandrepresentationinaction.

Throughout the trip, students will be taking pictures

to add to their digital portfolio. Some of these pictures
will reflect concepts we discussed over the past weeks
expressions of different cultural groups, artifacts
that have religious, magical, or ceremonial meanings,
symbols of power/authority
Write personal responses in journals
Discuss how where we are visiting helps understand
the questions

Bus

Plane

Laptops
Book program:
http://scienceworld.ca/fieldtrips
earch - Green by Design
Camera
Book program:
http://www.basiliquenddm.org/e
n/events/light.aspx

Students will share their portfolio by the

end of the week; it will be formatively
assessed over the weekend according to
the rubric created with the students
o We will be looking to see if they
have met all of the required
outcomes
Start of week slip: How do you represent
yourself? List the various ways: visually,
language, clothing, behaviour. Are these
representations accurate?
End of week slip: How has your
understanding of representation changed
or been influenced? If not, why?
During discussions to check for learning:
thumbs up/down/sideways, fingers 1-5,
they can hold up small whiteboards with
their answers
Questions we can pose to check: what
part of that was most confusing/difficult?
How are we feeling with this (e.g.,
muddy, clear, frustrated)
Assess learning based on rubric created
with the students
Students will give and receive peer
feedback
Students will write a personal journal
response after each field trip or museum
visit

How can we
address possible
student
misunderstandings
?

Art: Components 1:
Students will
experiment with colour
effects on compositions.

Art: Demonstrate their

understanding of colour schemes
through completion of their digital
portfolio

(Visit , Montreal,
Ottawa and return
home)
8
How do students
demonstrate their
learning?

Art: Components 1:
Students will
experiment with colour
effects on compositions.

Art: Demonstrate their

understanding of colour schemes
through the design of their digital
portfolio

1. Go to Notre Dame
2. Visit Old Montreal
3. Go to Chez Dany in between Montreal and Ottawa
(Sugar Shack)
4. Visit Parliament for a tour and look at the National
War Memorial
5. Do a Haunted Walk in Ottawa
6. Fly home

1. Teachers will assist students in combining their peer

and teacher feedback and updating their digital
portfolios
2. Teachers will help students with filming videos

Throughout the trip, students will be taking pictures

to add to their digital portfolio. Some of these pictures
will reflect concepts we discussed over the past weeks
expressions of different cultural groups, artifacts
that have religious, magical, or ceremonial meanings,
symbols of power/authority
Write personal responses in journals
Discuss how where we are visiting helps understand
the questions

Students will focus on experimenting with creating

various types of texts using techniques studied in
previous weeks. Students will demonstrate the
importance of organizing information in terms of
function (procedural, practical, informal) and begin
writing outlines for scripts regarding what to include
in their final project with attention to discovering gaps
in their own knowledge and effective arrangement of
information

Bus
Plane
Laptops
Book program:
http://hauntedwalk.com/ottawatours/
Camera
Book program:
http://www.cabanechezdany.co
m/

Students will write a personal journal

response after each field trip or museum
visit

Filming resources
o Cameras
o Computers
o internet

Art: Students will complete their digital

portfolio and it will be marked based on
the ways in which they experimented
with colour effects colour schemes:
mood, balance, directing attention.
Summative assessment: Grade portfolios
based design and on the rubric created
with students
Summative assessment: Grade videos
based rubric