Course Outline and Evaluation Summary 2022-2023

Course Code: CGC1D

Title of Course: Issues in Canadian Geography 416-395-3210
Department: Social Science x20075

Course Description
This course examines interrelationships within and between Canada’s natural and human systems and how these systems interconnect with
those in other parts of the world. Students will explore environmental, economic, and social geographic issues relating to topics such as
transportation options, energy choices, and urban development. Students will apply the concepts of geographic thinking and the geographic
inquiry process to investigate various geographic issues and to develop possible approaches for making Canada a more sustainable place in
which to live.

Course Evaluation
Course evaluations incorporate one or more of the achievement categories (KICA). A brief description of each category can be found here. The
final grade is calculated using the weighted percentages below.

A variety of tasks where you show your learning

Summative Marked summative tasks which assess your
Term Work: and have marks assigned using the
Evaluation: learning on the entire course
Achievement Categories/Strands
25% Knowledge & Understanding
30% Culminating Task
25% Thinking & Inquiry
70% 25% Application 30% 0% There is no Final Exam
25% Communication

Learning Skills
Learning skills provide Information to help students understand what skills, habits & behaviors are needed to work on to be successful. These are
not connected with any numerical mark. A brief description of each skill can be found here.
Responsibility, Organization, Independent Work, Collaboration, Initiative and Self-Regulation
E – Excellent G – Good S – Satisfactory N – Needs Improvement

Required Materials
Any educational resource required for this course will be provided by the school. It is the student’s responsibility to come to class with these
materials. Students should have materials specified by the subject teacher at the beginning of the year.
The textbook for this course is Making Connections (ed.3). Students will be issued this book at the beginning of the course. The replacement
cost for this textbook is $75.00.

School/Departmental/Classroom Expectations
Attendance: The student is expected to attend class on time. Parents/guardians will be contacted if lates/attendance becomes an
issue/hindrance. If the student knows about an absence in advance, they should contact the teacher.
Plagiarism/Cheating: A mark of 0 will be assigned for any work submitted that does not belong to the student. A mark of 0 will be assigned to a
student who was found to have cheated. Parents/guardians will be informed.
Missed Work: If a student is absent from class, (e.g. illness, sports team) it is their responsibility to find out what they have missed and to catch
up. The student is responsible for completing all of the work that was missed due to an absence. If a student misses an assignment or test
without a legitimate explanation and documentation, marks up to and including the full value of the evaluation may be deducted. Make-up tests
must be arranged to be written.
Late Work: Late work may result in a deduction of marks up to and including the full value of the evaluation.
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Course Assessment Tasks

 Estimated
Unit/Topic/Strand Big Ideas Major Assignments / Evaluations
Duration
Unit 1: Thinking Like May include the following: 25 hours
● think like a Geographer by using the
a Geographer ● Journal What type of Geographer are (approx.)
concepts of geographic thinking (Spatial
(A1,A2)
Significance, Patterns and Trends, you?
Interrelationships and Geographic
● Lab/Quiz
Perspectives);
● understand spatial diversity; ● Issue Analysis Framework Research

● construct and interpret graphs, maps and

globes;
● develop an understanding of geographic
concepts;
● appreciate and respect human and natural
environments;
● formulate questions to identify issues as a
focus for geographic inquiry;
● gather and organize data, evidence and
information as a focus for geographic
inquiry;
● interpret and analyse data, evidence and
information as a focus for geographic
inquiry;
● evaluate information and evidence to draw
conclusions.
Unit 2: Interactions in May include the following: 25 hours
● identify the distinctive characteristics of a
the Physical ● Map: Forces that Shaped Canada (approx.)
space;
Environment
(A1, A2, B1, B2, B3) ● explain the environmental, economic, ● News Report: Natural Disasters
political, and social importance of a place or
● Climate Change Issue Analysis
a region;
Framework Research
● describe how the characteristics of each
space make it unique;
● identify patterns and trends in space and
time;
● extract information from maps using ArcGIS
online and/or other technological tools;
● extract information from a graph, map, or
globe and make inferences from data
shown;
● organize data in a number of different ways
for a specific purpose;
● make connections within/between human
or natural spaces;
● pick out the environmental, economic,
political, and social ideas in an issue;
● answer the questions: what is where? why
there? why care? for a topic;
● develop criteria to evaluate information,
 evidence, and data from different sources
Unit 3: Managing May include the following: 20 hours
● Analyze impacts of resource
Canada’s Resources ● Presentation (approx.)
management, resource policy and
and Industries
consumer choices on resource
(A1, A2, C1, C2, C3) ● Journal / Argumentative Paragraph
sustainability in Canada
● Analyze issues related to the distribution, ● Lab/Quiz
availability, and development of natural ● Natural Resources Issue Analysis
resources in Canada from a geographic
perspective Framework Research
● Focus on industries and economic
Development
● Assess the relative importance of
different industrial sectors to the
Canadian economy and Canada’s place
in the global economy
● Analyse factors that influence the location
of industries in these sectors (connection
to: Spatial Significance; Patterns and
Trends)

Unit 4: Changing May include the following: 20 hours

● This branch of geography is the study of
Populations ● Mind Map (approx.)
changing human populations.
(A1, A2, D1, D2, D3)
● Explore data a demographer needs in ● Presentation
order to understand the patterns and
● Lab/Quiz
trends of a given population.
● Analyse patterns of population settlement ● Population Issue Analysis Framework
and various demographic characteristics Research
of the Canadian population.
● Explore this data to plan for a sustainable
future.
● Explore population issues/challenges that
can be seen on both the global and
national stages and their implications for
Canada
● Explore iimmigration and the diversity of
Canada’s population, and assess some
social, economic, political, and
environmental implications of immigration
and diversity for Canada
● Demographic Patterns and Trends:
analyse patterns of population settlement
and various demographic characteristics
of the Canadian population (FOCUS ON:
Spatial Significance; Patterns and
Trends)

Unit 5: Liveable May include the following: 15 hours

● Analyze issues relating to the
Communities ● Journal (approx.)
sustainability of human systems in
(A1, A2, E1, E2, E3)
Canada
● Lab/Quiz
● Analyze impacts of urban growth in
 Canada
● Characteristics of Land Use in Canada

● Analyze characteristics of land use in

various Canadian communities, and
explain how some factors influence land-
use patterns (FOCUS ON: Spatial
Significance; Patterns and Trends)

Culminating Task(s) Infographic - Review and Reflection of 5 hours

Course (approx.)