Canada S Capital As an International Capital City

THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINEYUKON – GRADE 6

Canada’s Capital as an International Capital City:

A Virtual Tour

Lesson Overview

In this lesson, students will explore the idea of International Capital Cities. This lesson will take students on a virtual tour of Canada’s Capital Region to identify what features it currently has and what features it requires to acquire the standing of an International Capital City.

Grade Level

Yukon Grade 6

Time Required

Two 90 minute classes

Curriculum Connection (Province/Territory and course)

Yukon, Social Studies 6 (British Columbia Curriculum)

Additional Resources, Materials and Equipment Required

Sample Venn Diagram (attached)
International Capital City Checklist (attached)
Virtual Tour of Canada’s Capital Activity (attached)
Computer and internet access – either one per student or a computer with a projector.

Websites:

Rideau Canal

Parliament Hill

National War Memorial

Gatineau Park

Canada Day Celebration

(media fact sheet attached)

Christmas Lights

MOSAIKA: Canada through the eyes of its people

(media fact sheet attached)

Winterlude

(media fact sheet attached)

Managing Recreation

Greenbelt – History

Mer Bleue

Managing Farming and Forestry

Managing Natural and Cultural Resources

Main Objective

The main objective of this lesson is for students to gain knowledge about Canada’s capital city and to decide if it meets the criteria of an international capital city.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

implement a plan of action to address a selected local or global problem or issue;
describe the role of Canada in the world;
apply critical thinking skills – including comparing, classifying, inferring, imagining, verifying;
identify relationships, summarize, and draw conclusions – to a range of problems andissues.

The Lesson

Introduction

/ Divide students into pairs. Ask student pairs to brainstorm everything they know about Whitehorse – the capital city of the Yukon Territory. Ask each pair to report back to the class.
As a class, design a master list of the features that make Whitehorse a quality capital city.
Ask students to rate the quality of Whitehorse as a capital city from 1-10 with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best.
Select students at random to explain/defend their rating of Whitehorse as a capital city.

Lesson Development

/ Ask if any students have ever been to Canada’s Capital region. If students have been to the Capital, they can describe their experiences to the class. The students should brainstorm features they know about Canada’s capital region.
Ask students to use this information to complete a Venn Diagram showing how Canada’s capital is similar and different from Whitehorse (Sample Venn Diagram attached). This activity can be completed individually or together as a class.
Explain that the National Capital Commission would like Ottawa to be recognized as an International Capital City.
Using what the students have discovered about the similarities and differences between Canada’s Capital and Whitehorse, create a class list of features that are necessary for a city to be deemed an “International” capital city. (e.g. tourist destinations, transportation, “green” features, museums and cultural events, historical monuments and museums, accommodations, liveability, affordability, international sports, conference centres, etc. There are many choices here.)
Distribute the International City Chart to students. Ask students to record the features discussed in the first column of the chart.
Inform students that they will participate in a virtual tour of Ottawa. Direct them to follow the instructions in the Virtual Tour of Canada’s Capital Activity. This assignment may be carried out using individual computers or by the teacher using a projector to complete the tour as a class.
There are a series of discussion questions after each stop on the tour to help students think about the characteristics that might classify Canada’s capital as an International Capital City.

Conclusion

/ Remind students that the National Capital Commission wants Ottawa to be recognized as an international capital. “The mission of the NCC is to create pride and unity through Canada’s Capital Region.” ~NCC website
Instruct students to write a letter to the National Capital Commission and explainwhat features Ottawa has that make it an ideal International Capital City and what features they believe it still requires.

Lesson Extension

Send letters to the NCC at:
Defining an International Capital City:write a paragraph that explains the definition of what it means to be an international capital city.

Assessment of Student Learning

Student letters to the NCC could be evaluated using the BC Ministry of Education Performance Standards for Writing for Grade 6 found at