CGC1W – CANADIAN GEOGRAPHY – GRADE 9

Part of: Canadian and World Studies

This course builds on learning in Grades 7 and 8 in geography. Students will explore relationships within and between Canada’s natural and human systems and how they interconnect with other parts of the world. Students will also examine environmental and economic issues, and their impact related to topics such as natural resources and industries, careers, land use and responsible development, and sustainability. In addition, students will understand the connections that diverse communities and individuals have with the physical environment and each other throughout Canada, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit perspectives. Students will apply geographic thinking, use the geographic inquiry process, and use geospatial technologies throughout their investigations.

The Grade 9 course Exploring Canadian Geography (CGC1W) is organized into the following five strands:

• A. Geographic Inquiry and Skill Development: This strand highlights the geographic inquiry process and the geospatial technology skills that students need in order to think critically about geographic issues relating to interactions within and between the natural environment and human communities in Canada.
• B. Physical Geography and Physical Processes in Canada: This strand develops students’ understanding of how physical processes, phenomena, and events have formed and continue to shape Canada’s landscape.
• C. Managing Canada’s Resources and Industries: In this strand, students will analyze issues related to resources and industries in Canada, and assess the impacts of resource policy, resource management, and consumer choices on resource sustainability.
• D. Changing Populations: In this strand, students will analyze trends in Canada’s population and assess the implications of these trends in local, national, and global contexts.
• E. Liveable Communities: This strand focuses on the need for students to recognize how the infrastructure of a community can affect its liveability and its environmental, economic, and social sustainability.