B2. Inquiry: Natural Environments and Ways of Life
Specific Expectations
B2.1
formulate questions to guide investigations into some aspects of the interrelationship between the natural environment of selected communities, including at least one contemporary First Nation, Métis, or Inuit community, and the ways in which people live (e.g., questions about how climate relates to clothing, agriculture, housing, recreation)
- How and why might your choice in clothes change if you lived closer to the equator? Would some of your hobbies/sports change? Why or why not?
- Why do countries such as Norway, Switzerland, and Canada win so many medals in skiing competitions while other countries such as Australia and Mexico do not?
- We heard from a Métis artist that she uses sweetgrass found in marshes to make baskets. What could someone living in a drier climate use to make baskets?
- Why do you suppose some First Nations and Métis communities plant and harvest crops like beans, corn, and squash and not crops such as bananas and pineapple?
- Why do some Inuit women wear an amauti to carry their babies?
B2.2
gather and organize information and data about some communities’ locations, climate, and physical features, and the ways of life of people in these communities, including at least one contemporary First Nation, Métis, or Inuit community (e.g., use atlases, globes, print, digital or interactive maps, and/or satellite images to determine location; find photographs in magazines or on the Internet that provide information on people’s food, shelter, and/or clothing; invite an individual with community connections and expertise, such as an Elder, Knowledge Keeper, Métis Captain of the Hunt, or Traditional Teacher, to discuss relationships between the location of their community and what is harvested/hunted in the region)
B2.3
analyse and construct simple maps to determine and illustrate patterns in the interrelationship between the location of some communities and human activities in those communities (e.g., use a print, digital, or interactive map to determine the proximity of communities to the equator and then infer whether their climates are likely to be hot, temperate, or cold; use different colours on a map to illustrate climatic changes as one moves north and south from the equator; include photographs of shelter, clothing, or recreational activities on a map to show how people’s adaptations are related to the general location of their community on the globe)
- What colours would you use to show different temperatures? What do you notice about the pattern created by the colours?
- Where would you place this picture on our world map? Why?
- How might you use a map to show and compare how people living in different places interact with the land and environment?
- “I put pictures of skiers and skaters in Canada and northern Europe. I put pictures of people surfing near the equator.”
- “I coloured the places near the equator red because it is warm there a lot. Places that are cold are purple. There is purple near the top and bottom of the world map.”
- “I put pictures of some of the food we harvest and hunt near where I live. I put pictures of some of the food people harvest and hunt in Central America.”
- “Inuksuit are used as markers in the Arctic landscape to show the way, to mark good places for fishing and hunting, or to mark places where food is stored. I’ve marked some areas on a map where they are known to exist.”
- “I posted pictures of lobsticks on my map. First Nations peoples used these as landmarks in and around the Great Lakes. Lobsticks were also used by Métis as landmarks for where they should stop and rest on their canoe routes. Lobsticks have been found in northwestern Ontario along the shores of the upper Great Lakes and west of Ontario, too.”
B2.4
interpret and analyse information relevant to their investigations, using a variety of tools (e.g., plot data on a chart, bar graph, or pictograph to help them determine which countries have similar climates; determine the climatic region in which people live by examining photos of their clothing, natural resources, foods, or homes)
- Let’s look at your collection of photographs. Which part of the world might these represent? Why? Does anything not belong?
- Why did you put a snowflake beside all of these countries on your chart?
- In what ways can you show the range of climates in different places on your chart?
- “I put the sun beside these countries because they are near the equator and are warm.”
B2.5
evaluate evidence and draw conclusions about some aspects of the interrelationship between communities’ natural environment and the ways of life of people in those communities, including at least one contemporary First Nation, Métis, or Inuit community
- What similarities have you found in the housing of people who live in cold regions?
- In what ways are sports and recreation different in countries with hot and cold climates?
- What traditional foods have various First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities eaten throughout history, and how do these foods relate to the geographic locations of their traditional territories? Why have these traditional food sources changed over time?
- What do Inuit communities and houses look like now, compared to the way Inuit used to live?
- “In Canada and Russia, there’s a lot of hockey and skating in the winter because it’s cold and there is ice and snow. It doesn’t get cold in Hawaii, so people swim and surf.”
- “In southern Ontario, we don’t have very many moose, but in northern Ontario there are lots. Métis harvesters wouldn’t have much luck moose hunting in southern Ontario.”
B2.6
communicate the results of their inquiries, using appropriate vocabulary (e.g., globe, sphere, hemisphere, continent, country, equator, North Pole, South Pole, model, distance, culture) and formats (e.g., a book of captioned photos from a field study; song lyrics, a rap, or poem on the way of life in various communities around the world; a poster showing clothing of people who live in cold climates and in hot climates; a role play to illustrate variations in recreational activities)