Canada unit study for homeschoolers

1. CANADA
Unit Study of Canada
For homeschooling families.

3. O Canada!
National Anthem Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons
command.
quot;O Canadaquot; With glowing hearts we see thee
rise,
was proclaimed
The True North strong and free!
Canada's national
From far and wide,
anthem on July 1,
O Canada, we stand on guard for
1980, 100 years thee.
after it was first God keep our land glorious and
free!
sung on June 24,
O Canada, we stand on guard for
1880.
thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for
thee.

4. All About Canada!
• Canada is on the continent of North America.
• The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean
to the Pacific Ocean.
• The Arctic Ocean is north and the United
States is south.
• Canada is north of the 49th parallel of
latitude.
• The 49th parallel was chosen as a border from
the Great Lakes to the west coast.
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5. All About Canada!
• The second largest country in the world (Russian Federation is the largest)
• Ten provinces and three Territories –
• Provinces :
1. Alberta (Edmonton)
2. British Columbia (Victoria)
3. Manitoba (Winnipeg)
4. New Brunswick (Fredericton)
5. Newfoundland and Labrador(St. John's)
6. Nova Scotia (Halifax)
7. Ontario (Toronto)
8. Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown)
9. Quebec (Quebec City)
10. Saskatchewan (Regina)
• Territories :
1. Yukon (Whitehorse)
2. Nunavut (Iqaluit)
3. Northwest Territories (Yellowknife)
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6. All About Canada
• Population 33,212,696 (July 2008 est.)
• Capital city of Canada – Ottawa, Ontario
• Leader of Canada - Prime Minister
• Emblem - maple leaf
• Flag - red and white with a red maple leaf
• Canada's birthday is on the first of July.
• Animal - the beaver
• Motto - quot;From sea to sea“
• National anthem - quot;O Canada“
• RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) the national police force
• There are six time zones
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7. The People of Canada
• Most of the people live in the southern part of
Canada.
• About 77 percent of Canadians live in cities and
towns.
• •
The largest cities are Toronto, Montreal and Canada is the home of over a million
Aboriginal people.
Vancouver.
• Toronto - 5.5 million
• Three Aboriginal groups :
• Montreal - 3.6 million
First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
• Vancouver - 2.1 million
• Eastern Canada : the Maliseet, Algonquin,
• Canada's two official languages are English and
Iroquois, Micmac, Huron and Ojibwa.
French.
• The Plains : Blackfoot, Cree and
• More than 9 million Canadians speak French.
Assiniboine.
• Ethnic groups include-
• Pacific Coast : Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, and
• British Isles origin 28% Haida.
• •
French origin 23% Northern regions : Dene, Tsimshian and
Slavey peoples
• other European 15%
• Arctic region : the Inuit
• North American Indian 2%
• Other mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed
background 26%

8. Land and Water
• -Canada has the world's longest coastline.
• There are oceans on three sides - Pacific ( west), Atlantic ( east), Arctic
(north).
• Nearly one-fourth of all the fresh water in the world is in Canada.
• Glaciers shaped the land and created many lakes (about 2 million lakes).
• The Mackenzie River ( in the N.W.T. ) is the longest river in Canada.
• Ships sail inland on the St. Lawrence River (from the Atlantic Ocean to
the Great Lakes).
• Forests cover almost half of Canada.
• Canada has one-tenth of the world's forests.
• Mount Logan in the Yukon Territory is Canada's tallest peak at 5,959
metre’s.

9. GEOGRAPHY
Canada has six main geographical regions:
Appalachian Highland, Canadian Shield, Arctic, Lowlands,
Interior Plains, Cordillera

10. HISTORY
-The first people were the Aboriginal
people.
-Explorers and settlers from Western
Europe arrived in the 1500s.
-Canada was named by the French
explorer Jacques Cartier (1535).
-The name quot;Canadaquot; comes from the
Huron and Iroquois word quot;Kanataquot;
meaning quot;villagequot;.
-Canada became a country on July
1st, 1867.
-The first provinces were Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and
Quebec.
-The first prime minister was Sir John
A. Macdonald.

11. RESOURCES
• -Forests, plants, animals and fish are some of
• There are 42 national parks in Canada.
Canada's renewable resources.
-Renewable resources can be replaced by
nature.
• Parks were created to protect the forests,
-Canada has 10% of the world's forests.
plants and wildlife.
-Minerals, metal, natural gas, and oil are some
Canada has laws to protect the wild
of Canada's nonrenewable resources.
animals and plants that are endangered.
-They cannot be replaced by nature.
-Hydroelectric power is sold to the United Hunting, mining and logging are not
States. allowed in parks.
-Canada is one of the largest mining nations in
the world.
• The largest park in Canada is Wood
-Over 60 minerals and metals are produced in
Canada. Buffalo National Park, in Alberta and the
-Canada is the third largest diamond producing Northwest Territories. It is home of the
nation in the world.
world's largest bison herd and the only
-Canada is the world's leader in the production
nesting site of the endangered whooping
of potash and uranium.
crane.
• -There are many different types of farms in
-The oldest National Park is Banff in
Canada:
Alberta. It was created in 1885 as Rocky
grain farms, vegetable farms, fruit orchards,
Mountain Park.
livestock and dairy farms

12. Exports and Transportation
TRANSPORTATION
EXPORTS
-The main highway system (completed in 1962) is
- motor vehicles and parts, called the Trans-Canada Highway.
It goes from St. John's NFLD to Victoria, B.C.
- industrial machinery, The highway is 7 604 kilometres long.
It is the longest national highway in the world.
- aircraft,
The Dempster Highway in the Yukon territory is the
- telecommunications northernmost highway.
equipment; The major ports are Vancouver, Churchill, Montreal,
Quebec City, Halifax and St. John's.
- chemicals, The St. Lawrence Seaway allows ocean-going ships to
sail inland.
- plastics,
The Seaway has twenty-six locks and five canals.
- fertilizers; The two main freight railway systems are the
Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific Railway.
- wood pulp, VIA railway provides passenger service.
Workers began to build the national railroad in 1872.
- timber,
The Canadian Pacific Railway was finished in 1885.
- crude petroleum, Upon completion many settlers were able to travel
west.
- natural gas,
- electricity, • -In 1937 Bombardier invented the first snowmobile.
- aluminum

13. GOVERNMENT
• Democratic system of government
• Parliament of Canada is in Ottawa, Ontario
• Parliament consists of House of Commons
(elected) and Senate (appointed)
• Canada has a Prime Minister
• Canada has a Governor General of Canada

14. Sports
-The native people of
Canada invented the game
of lacrosse.
-Lacrosse is the national
summer sport of Canada.
-Ice hockey is the winter
national sport of Canada.
-Five pin bowling was
invented by T.E. Ryan of
Toronto in 1909.
-Basketball was invented
by James Naismith in
1891.

15. ALBERTA
Quick Fact’s People
• Alberta is home to over 3.5
• -Alberta is one of the three prairie provinces.
million people.(April, 2007)
-It is the fourth largest province.
-The largest cities are Edmonton
-Saskatchewan is east of Alberta; British
Columbia is west.
(capital) and Calgary.
-The Northwest Territories are north of Alberta.
-More than half of the people live
-The state of Montana is south.
in these two cities.
-Alberta was named after Princess Louise
Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of Queen -Immigrants came from Britain,
Victoria.
Western Europe, Eastern Europe,
-Edmonton (capital city) and Calgary are the
the East and Southeast Asia.
largest cities.
-Ethnic backgrounds - British (44
-Alberta's flower - Wild Rose, tree - Lodgepole
Pine, bird - Great Horned Owl,
percent), German, Ukrainian,
mammal - Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
French, Scandinavian, Dutch,
-Alberta's motto - quot;strong and freequot;.
and many other countries
-It is known as Canada's quot;energy provincequot;.
AB - 1

16. ALBERTA
History Land and Water
• -The first people settled in the area about 8000 years ago.
• -The main rivers are the Peace River,
• -In the woodland areas the Woodland Cree and Chipewyan
North and South Saskatchewan River,
• tribes hunted moose, caribou and deer, fished and gathered
and Athabasca River.
• plants and berries.
• -They used bark canoes to travel up and down the streams. -There are icefields in Banff and Jasper
• -On the plains the Blackfoot, Blood, and Peigan hunted the
National Parks.
• bison and lived in tipis.
-The icefields help to fill the rivers.
• -Anthony Henday ( European explorer and fur trader ) came
-There are five national parks.
to
• Alberta in 1754. -Banff National Park is the oldest national
• -Fur traders built trading posts on the Athabasca River and
park in Canada.
• North Saskatchewan River.
-Wood Buffalo National Park is the home
• -Forts were built to keep law and order.
to about 2200 wood buffalo
• -The First Nations traded furs and received guns, blankets
and (endangered).
• metal goods. -In 1874 The North-West Mounted Police
-A large mountain range ( Rocky
• (NWMP) established their first post in Alberta at Fort
Mountains ) is along the western border.
• Macleod.
-The badlands ( dry, sandy, rocky area)
• -Alberta grew when the railroad was built in 1883.
• are in southeastern Alberta.
-Early settlers were ranchers from England and the United
• States.
-Northern Alberta is covered with forest
• -Immigrants came from Ukraine, Germany, Romania and
and muskeg.
many
-The rest of the province is on a great
• parts of Europe to farm.
• plain or prairie.
-Alberta became a province on September 1, 1905.
AB -2

17. RESOURCES
-Alberta has oil, natural gas, and coal.
-Oil was discovered at Leduc (near Edmonton) in 1947.
-It is the main producer of coal in Canada.
-Coal was first mined near Lethbridge in 1872.
-The province is also the main producer of oil and natural gas in Canada.
-Alberta sells the oil, natural gas and coal to other provinces and other countries.
-There is also sulfur, silica sand, potash, quartz, thick salt deposits, clay and
limestone.
-Forests cover over half of Alberta.
-There is good soil for growing crops like oats, canola and barley.
-The main crop is wheat. Alberta is the second largest producer of wheat in
Canada.
- Alberta is the only province to produce sugar from sugar beets.
-There are many dairy farms and cattle ranches.
-There are also poultry, hog and sheep farms.
-Most of the beef cattle in Canada are raised on ranches in the southern foothills.
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18. .
CLIMATE PEOPLE AND PLACES
-The mountain scenery of Banff and
• -The foothills receive the Jasper national parks attracts
thousands of tourists.
most rainfall. -Calgary stampede has bull riding,
calf roping and wagon racing.
• -Warm, dry quot;chinookquot; winds -Dinosaur Provincial Park is in the
are produced when air badlands.
-Historical sites include Head-
funnels through the Rockies. Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Rocky
Mountain House (fur trade) and the
• -Chinook winds sweep down Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village.
on southern Alberta and raise -A 9 m. high Ukranian Easter egg is
displayed at Vegreville, east of
temperatures in the winter. Edmonton.
• -Cold arctic air masses bring -Figure skater Kurt Browning (born in
Caroline, Alberta) won four World
cool weather in the winter. Championships.
-Tantoo Cardinal (born in Fort
McMurray) is a Canadian film and
television actress.
AB - 5

19. BRITISH COLUMBIA
Quick Fact’s People
-B.C. is the most western province in -B.C. is the home to over 4.2 million people.
Canada and the third largest. (2006)
-Alberta is to the east, and the Yukon and -The largest city is Vancouver. (2.1 million
Northwest Territories are north . estimated)
-The Pacific Ocean is to the west. -The Northwest Coast Native peoples live in B.C.
-To the south, B.C. is bordered by three U.S. -People came from Britain, Western Europe, East
states - Washington, Idaho and Montana. and Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
-There are many islands off the coast that are -B.C. has the largest Chinese community in
also Canada.
part of B.C. -The top 10 languages spoken are English,
-Victoria, the capital city is on Vancouver Island. Chinese (including Cantonese and Mandarin),
-Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada. Punjabi, German, French, Tagalog, Korean,
-B.C.'s flower - Pacific Dogwood, bird - Stellar's Spanish, Persian, and Italian.
Jay, tree - Western Red Cedar. -About 75 percent of the people live in the
-motto - quot;Splendour without diminishmentquot; southwest part of the province.
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20. LAND AND WATER
HISTORY
-The Fraser River is one of the largest
-The first people to live in BC : Tlingit, Sekani, Haida,
Nootka, Chilcotin and Shuswap. rivers in Canada.
-They fished for salmon and seals and hunted deer,
-Both the Fraser and the Columbia
bear and elk.
-They built large wooden houses and carved totem
River flow into the Pacific Ocean.
poles.
-(1778) Captain James Cook a British explorer sailed
-Ferry boats take people to and from
to Vancouver Island.
the Islands off the coast.
-George Vancouver mapped the coastline (1792
-1794).
-There are seven national parks
-Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser and David
Thompson explored the interior of B.C.
-The three main mountain ranges are
-Fur trading posts were built.
-(1857-1858) Fraser Valley Gold Rush brought many the Coastal Mountains in the west,
people.
the Columbia Mountains in the
-B.C. became a province in 1871.
-Canadian government promised to build a railway to
centre, and the Rocky Mountains in
B.C.
-Thousands of Chinese labourers arrived to pan for
the east.
Gold and to help build the railway.
-There are thousands of islands along
-The Japanese came to work as agricultural labourers
and fishermen.
the coastline,including the Queen
-In 1885 the CPR railway reached Vancouver.
-British settlers came by train to the west coast.
Charlotte Islands (north) and the
Gulf Islands near the southern end of
Vancouver Island.
BC - 2

21. • Draw a picture showing the climate.
CLIMATE
-The coastal mountains
protect the Lower
Mainland and the coast
from the cold Arctic air
masses in the winter.
-The mountains along the
coast bring the coastal
region a lot of rain.
-Vancouver and Victoria
are warmer in the winter
and cooler in the summer
than the central areas of
the province.
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22. RESOURCES and INDUSTRIES
-Forestry is the largest industry. Forest covers over half of B.C.
-B.C. has the largest and oldest trees in Canada.
-B.C.'s mountains, parks and beaches attract many tourists.
-Mining is the third largest industy. (copper, coal, gold, silver, zinc, sulphur,
asbestos)
-B.C. has a large fishing industry (salmon, halibut, clams, cod, crab, oysters,
rockfish, shrimp and herring)
-Fraser Valley has cattle and dairy farms and farms that grow fruit and
flowers.
-There are many orchards in the Okanagan Valley. ( apples, cherries, peaches,
apricots, and plums)
-The province is Canada's second largest generator of hydro electricity.
-B.C. is Canada's second largest natural gas producer.
-B.C. is the third largest film and television production centre in North America
(after New York and Los Angeles).
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23. PEOPLE and PLACES
-Emily Carr (1871-1945) - painted the West Coast Aboriginal people
-Terry Fox (1958-1981) - tried to run across Canada to raise money for
cancer research
-Chief Dan George (1899-1981) - actor and poet -Stanley Park in Vancouver
Is one of Canada's biggest city parks with an aquarium, gardens, beaches,
Trails and totem poles carved out of wood by the native people of the west
coast.
-The mountains, the coastline and the mild weather attract thousands of
tourists.
-Tourists come to ski at Whistler Mountain and other ski resorts in B.C.
-Okanagan Valley is known for the warm weather, wineries and as a fruit
growing region.
-Vancouver has Canada's largest port.
-Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
BC - 5

24. MANITOBA
Quick Fact’s
THE PEOPLE
-Manitoba is one of the three prairie provinces
in Canada.
-Manitoba is the home of over a
-It is located in the centre of Canada.
million people.(1.2 million October
-Ontario is to the east and Saskatchewan to the
west.
2008)
-Nunavut and Hudson Bay are north and the
-Winnipeg is the largest city. About
United States is south.
653,000 people live there. (2007)
-quot;Manitobaquot; may come from the Cree words
quot;manitou bouquot; meaning quot;strait of the Great -Manitoba is home to many Métis and
Spiritquot;.
native peoples.
-The name may also come from the Assiniboine
-The native people include Assiniboine
Words quot;miniquot; and quot;tobowquot; meaning quot;Lake of the
and Saulteaux; Northern, Woodland,
Prairiequot;.
-About 60 percent of the people live in the capital
and Swampy Cree; Chipewyan; and
city of Winnipeg and its suburbs.
Inuit.
-The second largest city is Brandon.
-Ethnic backgrounds include British,
-flower-Prairie Crocus , tree-White Spruce, bird
Great Gray Owl German, Ukrainian, French, native
-motto-quot;Glorious and Freequot;
people, Dutch, and Poles. MAN -1

25. HISTORY
-The first people to live in Manitoba were the Assiniboine,
Cree, Saulteaux, Chipewyan, Ojibwa.
-They followed herds of bison and caribou.
-Early explorers arrived through Hudson Bay in northern
Manitoba.
-Hudson's Bay Company (created in 1670) set up fur trading
posts along the rivers.
-The early settlers were the British and French.
-The first British settlement was Red River.
-Louis Riel (1844-1885) was an influential Métis leader.
-Riel and his people were concerned about the settlers taking over their land.
-Manitoba became Canada's fifth province in 1870.
-Red River Cart trails were the first roads.
-The railway brought thousands of settlers from eastern Canada and from all over
the world.
-Many settlers came from Ukraine and Iceland.
man - 2

26. LAND and WATER
-Manitoba is known as the land of
CLIMATE 100,000 lakes.
-Lake Winnipeg, Lake Winnipegosis and
-In the winter there are Lake Manitoba are three large lakes.
often blizzards with -Lake Winnipeg is the third largest lake in
strong winds and Canada.
extreme cold -The Churchill River, Nelson River and
Hayes River flow into Hudson Bay in
temperatures.
northern Manitoba.
-Polar air masses bring
-The Assiniboine, Souris, Winnipeg, and
very cold air from the
Red Rivers in southern Manitoba drain
Arctic Ocean.
into Lake Winnipeg.
-Winnipeg is the coldest
-Forests of pine, hemlock and birch cover
major city in Canada.
northern Manitoba.
-The prairie region is in the southern part
of the province.
Man - 3

27. RESOURCES and INDUSTRIES
-Manitoba lies in the area of Canada known as the Canadian Shield.
-Minerals and metals are found in the Canadian Shield. (nickel, gold, copper, zinc,
cobalt, gypsum)
-Manitoba is a world leader in the production of nickel.
-The large lakes are home to many species of fresh water fish. (whitefish, pike,
walleye, pickerel, trout, and bass)
-Thirty-seven percent of Manitoba is covered with forest.
-Hydroelectric power is a very important industry.
-Manitoba sells hydroelectric power to other provinces and to the US.
-There are different types of farming in southern Manitoba:
One-third of the farmland is used for growing wheat.
Mills make wheat into flour.
The wheat is sold to other countries.
Farmers also grow canola, sunflowers, oats, rye, flax, buckwheat and field peas.
These crops are made into cereal and oil products.
Dairy farms produce milk, cheese, yogurt and cream.
There are also livestock farms.-Industries include manufacturing (farm equipment, buses, clothing,
furniture), food processing, aerospace and transportation.
MAN 5

28. PLACES and PEOPLE
-The Royal Canadian Mint ( where coins are
made ) is in Winnipeg.
-The Viking at Gimli is a giant statue
honoring the ancestors of the Icelandic
people.
-Churchill in northern Manitoba is quot;the
polar bear capital of the worldquot;. Polar bears
make their dens near the town.
-Wapusk National Park (Wapusk is a Cree
word meaning quot;white bearquot;) located in
Northern Manitoba protects one of the
world's largest known polar bear denning
areas
-Many festivals are held in Manitoba,
including the Ukrainian Festival (Dauphin)
and Icelandic Festival (Gimli).
-Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) and Margaret
Laurence (1926-1987) - novelists
-Nellie McClung (1873-1951) - fought for the
rights of women
-Jackson Beardy (1944-1984) - Cree artist
-Louis Riel (1844–85) - Founding Father of
Manitoba and leader of the Métis rebellions
of 1870 and 1885
-The Guess Who - a Canadian rock band
from Winnipeg
-Fred Penner (1946 - ) - musician, children's
entertainer
MAN - 6

29. NEW
BRUNSWICK
Quick Fact’s
-New Brunswick is one of the four
Atlantic provinces in Canada.
The People
-It is the third smallest province.
-The province is named for the -The population was 729,997
British royal family of Brunswick -Estimated population in 2008 was
747,300.
Lüneburg.
-The largest and oldest city is Saint
-It is called the Loyalist Province.
John.
-New Brunswick is Canada's only -Other major cities are Fredericton (the
officially bilingual province. capital city) and Moncton.
-Many people are of French, British,
-N.B. has a mainland and many
Scottish and Irish origin.
islands.
-Over 32 percent of the population are
-Fredericton is the capital city. Francophones.
-Other groups include native people,
-flower -Purple Violet, tree – BalsamFir,
Germans, Dutch, Scandinavians, Italian
bird –Black-capped Chickadee
And Asians.
-motto - quot;Hope was restored.quot;
BC - 1