Miniature Canada Project: Walkthrough Lesson
Begin this lesson by asking the students to try to imagine
what the world would look like if there were only 100 people
in it. Ask the students to make some predications. For example,
how many women would there be? How many people would be
Asian? How many people would be able to read? Write the
predictions on board and then show the three minute video
called Miniature Earth. This movie looks at world
statisitcs.Discuss the stats with the students.
After viewing the movie, tell the students that you would
like them to try to imagine what Canada would look like
if we shrunk it down to 100 people. Ask the class to make
some predictions.
After making predictions, explain to the class that is
would be hard for us to try to go out to see if our predictions
are true. We can't get the data that we need on our own
because Canada is very big. Most Canadians never get the
chance to visit every Province and Territory. (Do a pole
of the class to see how many students have travelled around
Canada.)
Tell the students that since Canada is so large, it is
hard for us to get "the big picture" about who
we are as Canadians. For example, do people in Nunavut care
about the same things as people in Alberta? What sports
are favourites right across Canada?
Explain to the students that we can't travel around the
country 24/7 trying to figure out what Canadians are up
to. Luckily, we have Statistics Canada to do that for us.
Statistics Canada is an organization that is devoted to
gathering data. By examining their data, we develop our
own ideas about what it means to be Canadian.
At this point in the lesson, your students will need to
have access to computers. Ask them to go onto the Statistics
Canada website and browse around until there decide on a
topic. When they choose their topic, it is time to gather
and record their findings. They should create percentages
from the stats. The students will probably take 1-2 hours
to collect data from the site.
Next, it is time for the students to create a visual representation
of their statistical information. Most students will choose
to make a powerpoint presentation, but tell the students
that they are free to use whatever softwhere they choose.
At this point in the project, some teachers have the students
complete the rest of the work outside of classtime.
When the students have completed their projects, have them
place their work on youtube or teachertube. The last step
is that they need to send me a link so that I can put their
work in our "Miniature Canada Movie Gallery."
My address is as follows: shawna@mapleleafpro.net
Miniature Canda is Civic Education
In Educating for Citizenship in Canada: New Meanings
in a Changing World, Mark Evans and Ian Hundrey state
that "educating for citizenship continues to be a contral
goal of public education in Canada. The goal of Miniature
Canada is to develop civic literacy skills in students.
Teachers are excited about Miniature Canada because this
project helps them to meet their civic related curicullum
goals. In addition, students learn to interpret statistics
and work with percentages.
Students are excited about Miniature Canada because the
project allows them to pursue areas in which they have a
genuine interest. They also get to be creative when they
present their findings by creating their Miniature Canada
show.
Miniature Canada is a project that incorporates all six
of the recommended teaching strategies outlined in
Civic Education Across Countries: Twenty-four National Case
Studies from the IEA Civic Education Project (1999).
The aim of the Civic Education Across Countries project
was to examine what students are expected to learn so that
they can come to an understanding about their nation and
the concept of citizenship.
After completing their study, the project researchers came
to some definitive conclusions about how students should
be taught citizenship. The conclusions of the project suggest
that civic education is most effectively taught when the
teacher incorpates the following areas:.
- cross disciplinary
- participatory
- interactive
- related to life
- conducted in a non-authoritarian environment
- cognizant of the challenges of societal diversity
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