Day 3: Giant Canada Map

Grade 5 groups work on the “Amazing Race” scavenger hunt

Day 3 was at Margaret Wooding School, a grade 4-6 school with several classes at each grade. Initially, I had distinct activities planned for each grade that matched the curriculum. Grade 4 would focus on Alberta, grade 5 a Canada scavenger hunt and grade 6 would focus on the political features of the map which shows all of the 338 electoral districts in Canada.

For each group we started out with some activities with very basic map features. After the first group, I realized that we also needed to do a focus on the provinces before anything else.

The Not-Quites

With the first grade four class, I tried a modified version of the grade four “Alberta mystery word” activity that I had planned. The activity involved some latitude and longitude which they were not familiar with, so after a brief mini-lesson, I had the teacher be the “recorder” as I led the class through the clues. In this case, there were too many students to fit around the “Alberta” part of the map so attention wandered and although we did a few questions together, we did not have time to solve all the clues to find the mystery word. I did not even try this activity with the grade fours again! It would likely work nicely as an activity with students and individual maps as a way to practice latitude and longitude.

For the first grade five group, I tried the “Amazing Race” game which I had reconfigured after Day 2. I gave each group of two or three students a paper version of a Canadian Scavenger hunt; each group had a different number circled as a starting point in order to keep students spread out. We reviewed basic geography, including N-W-S-E directions and started the quest -but I forgot to do a review of provinces. Thus, it quickly became clear – as students were wandering around the Yukon looking for Ontario – that this was once again still not quite right! I did let the students continue until our time was up, just to see how things would turn out. Some groups got four or five of the questions answered, although not always correctly, but many groups barely found two answers. So back to the drawing board for that one, too.

The Go-To Activities

So, for the remaining five classes, whether grade four or five or six, I did a stretched-out version of basic geographic awareness. I use the physical map feature image cards that I created to lead students on a “show-me” scavenger hunt. I also made an extension pack of these images and definitions that can be used as “matching” cards or a memory game. After the “show-me” scavenger hunt, we distribute the cards and have students review the terms and features by finding their partner. I “time” the students and they compete to beat the time of the other classes. I had students use the plastic chains to show the border of Nunavut which equates to a single MP (Member of Parliament). Students are always amazed at the size of Nunavut. With the remaining five classes, I did touch on the electoral district boundaries on this map – each one equalling approximately 100 000 people – as part of the basic geography chat. This seems to be a safe go-to as a topic.

Realizations

I can’t assume that students in upper elementary school know the provinces of Canada. Of course, this can vary based on current or previous teachers’ passion for Canadian geography.