Guest Lecture: Canadian Geographic Society

Speaker: Michelle Chaput (chaput@rcgs.org)

Introduction
 www.cangeoeducation.ca
o Resources available for free
o Newsletter has more resources and info, region-specific info
 @CanGeoEdu

Map Resources

 Poster maps of various topics

o Languages
o Migration
o Map maps
 Tiled maps
o Print them off by section, puzzle pieces that can go together (intro activity for students)
 Interactive maps
o Open up on screen in classroom, lead through activity
o Play and explore on own devices
 Giant floor maps (GFM)
o 8m x 11m
o Topographical, migration, earth from space, arctic region, indigenous communities map,
etc.
 Indigenous Languages of Canada
o Language sustainability, and those going extinct
o More details about the languages
o Back of map: essay about important of preserving these languages, and laws

Learning activities

 Created with each new issue of Canadian geographic

 CanGeo in the Classroom
 Charting change: international development (see section on website)
 3M infographics: climate change, water consumption, urban smart cities, etc. (come with lesson
plan and activities)
 Energy IQ
 Curriculum-linked lesson plans
 Fieldwork guides
 Citizen science projects
 Technology and GIS
 Explorers in residence: amazing people who pair up with CanGeo (Guest Speakers for classroom)

New Resources
Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada
  www.indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca
 Metis, Inuit, First Nations, truth and reconciliation
 Atlas: Like an encyclopedia
 Personal stories, maps, residential schools, arts and culture, sports, music, loss of language, etc.
 Giant Floor Map (5 touring Canada at the moment – long waitlist), could get teachers together
and persuade school board to buy one
 App: icons for different indigenous groups (instead of purchasing an Atlas – most content is
there)
o Map – click and see which treaty is in that part of Canada, info about people living there,
and how to properly acknowledge the land in that region

GFM Teacher’s Guide and Activities

 Lesson plans (see online) – especially great for ideas to teach young students about topics such
as residential schools

Exploring Canada’s Energy Future Infographics

 Examples
o E.g. Energy Facts: map of Canada with a few important facts for each province/territory
(Good jumping off point for students to explore)
o Energy Life cycles: types of energy available/produced in Canada – where they end up
and how much ends up where (size of lines – proportion)
 https://energy.techno-science.ca
 Lesson plans cover:
o Provincial and territorial energy stories
o Poorly-known facts
o Energy Dragons and investing strategies (Dragon’s Den activity)
o Careers (interviewed people at different careers and ages)
 Meant to be paired with app: https://apps2.neb-one.gc.ca

Energy IQ Website

 https://energyiq.canadiangeographic.ca/
 Energy topics: energy surveys, videos, blog, glossary, giant floor map related to energy

Spanish Influenza Giant Floor Map and Teachers Guide

 Merge roads with topography

 Teacher’s guide: covers other diseases as well
 Teaches students about interconnectedness
 Activities focus on war: post-war is when a lot of diseases were spread (useful for history as
well)
 Activities such as: learn how to plan a safe trip in 21st century, different countries (card kits:
country cards with flags in the world), how diseases spread (e.g. patient 0 stands on map and
shakes hands with other students and travel to different countries)
New Professional Development Programs
National Geographic Educator Certification Program

 3 step process:
o Complete online or in person workshop (can just do this first step if you don’t want the
certification)
o Develop and implement 2 activities that apply skills, incorporate a National Geographic
resource
o Craft a capstone project that tells the story of student learning, demonstrates
professional growth, and inspires other educators

The Geo Inquiry Process

 Helps teachers learn how to apply the geo inquiry process

o Geo inquiry: geographic perspective and apply it to a problem
o Geo inquiry process: additional step – ACT on it
 Ask, Collect, Visualize, Create, Act (not just creating a project but acting on it)
 Case Studies from around the world: Ocean ecosystem, protecting human history

Geo School

 Teacher go to Offer students tools/tech they’ve never seen before, or guest speaker
 Urban planning: workshop in the morning and then design a conceptual project – students come
up with ways to design a building or restoration project (hands on activities)
 Indigenous ways of knowing: students are lead on a nature walk and teach students how to
appreciate the land around them based on what they see, and in the afternoon do a more tech
perspective (GPS, land survey materials)

New Banks of Online Resources

 Kindergarten: www.getbackoutside.ca
 See more online

Upcoming Resources
 Anthropocene GFM and Teacher’s guide: www.theantrhopocene.org
o Humans’ impact on the environment and how we can mitigate those effects
o Anthropocene project: beautiful photographs of devastating change, virtual reality
embedded (iPads and can scan a trigger to go further into the image – 3D)
o Exhibit at the National Art Gallery
o One of the photographic prints is made into a giant floor “print” – scene of a forest
being cleared, with embedded triggers where students can scan areas of it and learn
about climate change, effects on people/animals, etc.
 Exploring the Earth – Following David Saint Jacques’ Mission to the ISS
o Interactive map following the mission into space (similar to Google Maps) – click on icon
to see his blog post, more info/photos
o Can do activities with your class
o Launching in January
  Corey Trepanier – Into the Arctic Lesson Plans
o Filmed his expedition into the arctic, he travels there and paints what he sees
o Shows physical geography and he adds voiceover
o Show students arctic topography, can learn key terms from the film, do a project
afterwards

Contests
 Classroom Energy Diet Challenge: www.energydiet.canadiangeographic.ca
o Raise energy awareness in the classroom, get points for your class
 Canada’s Coolest school Trip: www.coolestschooltrip.ca
o Photo essay with only 150 words of text (5 pictures)
o Focus on sustainability and conservation (students in community doing something cool
and related)
o Get all expenses paid trip to Canada Parks location (and runner-up prize packs)
 Canadian Geographic Challenge: www.challenge.canadiangeographic.ca/en
o Geography quiz: top in class, top in school, province/territory, national (in Ottawa),
international

Google Geo Tools

 Google Earth: many different layer options
o Google Voyager: see tab, and there are stories on there (looks like a ship’s wheel)
 Canada’s place names: partnered with Indigenous educators, history of the
names of that place (what it would mean in their local language) – voyager will
narrate and take you to different points on the map
 Residential schools: locations of all the residential schools, and a story about
their opening, what happened, why they closed
 Finding the ABCs across the planet: satellite images to find letter shapes in
nature – identifies the letter and tells you about physical geography
 This is Home: stories about different cultures around the world in different
countries, takes you to actual homes and how they were built, demographics,
etc.
o Can scan images/maps and bring them into google earth to geo-reference them with
something that is there (link your photo with google earth) and play with transparency,
see how things changed through time
 My Maps: allows you to create your own basic map
o Add points, polygons, text
o Lesson Idea: after summer break, can map a trip that they went on over the summer
 Tour builder: follow someone else’s tour or make your own
o E.g. if students went on a vacation with their parents
o Can add points on the map and they’re all connected on the map, add photos and text
 Google Timelapse
o Show change over time, different time lapses for different topics
o Can give one to each of your students and have them do a project on the impact/change
that they see
  SketchUp
o Draw in 3D
o E.g. Draw an image of your school
o Can give to students and do a re-zoning project around their school, or project where
they add solar panels and lights
 Google Fusion Tables
o If you have a spreadsheet that has location data (column with
placenames/addresses/postal codes), can dump your data into a map and it will
populate the map for you
o E.g. addresses for a survey – google fusion tables will create points on a map
o Can play with colours, different intensities of certain features
 Google Cardboard
o Can order from google, or amazon or $10, or instructions how to build your own
o Virtual reality container – put your phone in it with google cardboard app and look
through it

Games
 GE Teach
o Two maps side by side (e.g. desserts on different sides of the world)
o Easy to compare
 Google Smarty Pins
o Game that uses google earth imagery
o Trivia game: question in top left, and drop pin to where you think the location is
o You have an allotted amount of km (if go to far you lose all your km)
o Students can be in teams
o Infinite number of clues
 GeoGuessr
o Drops you somewhere in the world and you have to move around and figure out where
you are