Une Journée Dans Les Parcs Nationaux Canadiens

Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for A Day in the National Parks Page 1

Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for

A Day in the National Parks

By Catherine Dufour

École La Courviloise, Commission scolaire des Premières Seigneuries, QC

Curriculum Connections

Lesson Objectives

A Day in the National Parks is a 6-minute impressionistic documentary, without words, made in 1978. In this lesson, students pair up, choose a park to study and present their findings to the class. The activity can be integrated into Social Sciences, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Visual Arts courses for students in junior high schools (Cycle 1 in Quebec).

Canadian Social Studies Themes in A Day in the National Parks

Theme/Aspect/
Key Concept / Link to A Day in the National Parks
Application and Points of Discussion
Citizenship /

Why does Canada have national parks?
What are the responsibilities of visitors to our national parks?

Multiple Perspectives /

How do you see Aboriginal people’s ancestral rights in relation to national park lands?
Should First Nations people have the right to fish and hunt on these lands?
People are not allowed to live in national parks. Does this law represent a prejudice against any Canadians?

Identity /

Why should our national parks be a source of pride for all Canadians?
How can we better publicize the beauty of our national parks?

Power, Authority and Governance /

Do the laws that govern Canada’s national parks have purely beneficial effects?
Should those laws be made more or less restrictive?

People and Places /

Who benefits from the national parks being protected areas? Do you think that young Canadians take full advantage of them?
What would attract you to a national park?

Connections to the Broader World /

How can we promote our national parks outside the country?
How can we communicate the ecological vision of the parks?

Time, Continuity and Change /

How might the development of national parks be linked to inevitable environmental degradation?
What measures would allow Canadians to preserve their national parks and to continue to maintain them?

Economy and Resources /

If a geological survey discovered important oil reserves in one of the national parks, what course of action should follow? Should the park be opened for drilling or remain protected? Or should some of the profits from drilling go to creating new parks?
Better publicizing the national parks could lead to more visitors. What impact would increased tourism have on the parks?

Outcomes and Expectations–Assessment Strategies

This project touches on all four of the cross-curricular competencies outlined in the Quebec education program: communication, personal and social, methodological, and intellectual.

To evaluate communication competence, you can ask students for peer feedback on the presentations. Students can also put together a qualitative evaluation form to mark the presentations’ strengths and weaknesses.

Students will have to interact throughout the project. One way to evaluate the personal and social competency is to suggest self-evaluation after each session, with the help of a chart that notes the competency’s various components. Your role as teacher would be to facilitate communication between team members.

To evaluate intellectual competency, judge the work handed in or presented in terms of the factual content, links made between different subjects and students’ reflections. The project should show creative thinking.

You can also look at students’ methodology, evaluating how information is used and referenced in footnotes and bibliography. Meeting deadlines is another element in evaluation.

Materials and Resources

The Parks Canada Web site at <

Activities for A Day in the National Parks

Introduction

ACTIVITY 1: Pre-viewing

Ask students to consider the following questions before they watch the film.

What do Canada’s national parks mean to you?
Have you ever been to a national park? If so, which one?
What are some of the activities for visitors to national parks?
Can you name some of the plants and animals found in national parks?

ACTIVITY 2: Developing Comprehension and Skills Activity

Following the discussion in Activity 1 and after students have viewed the film, introduce the cross-disciplinary project below. It requires communication and collaboration among teachers of different subjects. Not all of the disciplines listed below have to be involved, but a greater number of subjects will lead to a fuller, richer activity.

Subject / Aspect of Activity Linked to Subject
Social Studies /

Locating a Canadian national park.
Identifying geographic aspects of the national park (area, topography, climate, etc.).
Producing a map of the national park.

Language Arts /

Oral report on the national park, using visual aids (computer-assisted presentation, posters, photos, video, etc.).
Preparation of handouts to accompany the oral report.

Mathematics /

Planning a budget for a one-week stay at a national park. Students estimate costs of transport, visitor fees, meals and on-site activities.

Science /

Portraits of the flora, fauna and natural resources found in the park.
Reflection on the importance of the role of national parks in protecting the environment (the parks’ original raison d’être.)

Visual Arts /

Using interesting visuals in the multimedia project.

Provide clear deadlines so that students know how much time they have for each part of the project.