What About Canada: 
Discovering Canada Through
the Internet

An Exploration of One of Our Closest Neighbors Using Internet 
Resources

David Smith

Mendocino High School

California State Framework Area: Social Science
Grade Level: 
High School

Length: 30-45 minute class periods

Produced in conjunction with the NASA NREN K-12 Partner School 
Program and the California Telemation Project


A. This project will lead 9th grade students through the Internet in 
search of the most current information available regarding the human 
and physical geography of Canada.   Once they have obtained this 
information, they will be required to manipulate it and 
compare/contrast it with the similar information regarding the USA.  
They will also test their perceptions of Canada and Canadians by 
writing and interpreting a survey posted on the network.  This project 
will last thirty 45 minute periods of class time.  
B.  In spite of the fact that Canada is our largest trading partner, one of 
the largest investors in the USA, our closest ally (with a shared defense 
system), and in spite of the fact that there are over 900,000 Canadians 
living in California, not much is known about this country, and even 
less is taught in our classrooms.  As someone once summed it up, ÒI 
never thought once to even think of Canada.Ó  No matter how we 
ignore it, Canada plays an import part in the economy of our country, 
and even culturally in ways we cannot imagine.  
C. The unit will also be used to introduce 9th graders to the uses of the 
Internet.  There is not much current information available on  Canada 
in the United States.  The Internet offers instructors with the most up 
to date information on Canadian politics, government, cultural issues 
and the weather.  Therefore this unit is particularly focused upon 
searching for social science related information using Mosaic and 
Gopher.  By the end of the unit, student will be able for locate 
information on Canada (and other topics) using the Internet.

II. STUDENT OUTCOMES
Students will:
	-- Construct a matrix of basic facts about the USA and Canada 
	via a Veronica search on Gopher.
	-- Access and analyze information using Mosaic regarding the 
	politics and government of Canada, comparing and contrasting 
	it to that of the USA.
	-- Interpret the weather in Canada using Gopher and JPEG to 
	access the Canadian Meteorological Centre's files and 
	weather maps and draw conclusions about weather 
	and climate in Canada.
	-- Survey leading Canadian news magazines and from the 
	Canadian Issues news group and draw conclusions about current 
	issues facing Canada.
	-- Write a survey inquiring about perceptions by Canadians 
	about themselves and post it on news groups (k12.senior high, 
	k12. socsci) using News Watcher, and then evaluate information 
	gathered.  
	--use Pop Mail to contact high school students in Canada 
	regarding the above issue and inquiring about Canadian 
	perceptions of the USA.

III. ACTIVITIES:

The lesson is arranged in five learning areas, or stations. Students, 
working in triads, will be evenly distributed throughout the classroom. 
The groups will rotate through the stations after two 45 minute class 
periods.  There will be enough room at each station for two computers, 
meaning two groups of three students will be able to work at the same 
time.  Each station will include self-directed instruction sheets 
explaining how to use the telecommunications program, what they are 
looking for and the sort of information they need to retrieve.   Stations 
require students to retrieve and analyze information using a different 
telecommunications program, or if using the same program, finding 
and analyzing different types of information. There will be written 
instructions requiring students to interpret, analyze and evaluate the 
information received.  

Each group member will have a particular role.  These roles will be (1) 
that of the computer operator, who is responsible for navigating the 
team's telecommunications search, (2) that of the student recorder, the 
student responsible for making sure that all information is recorded 
and prepared for the analytical aspect of each station, and (3) that of the 
manager, who is in charge of instructing others about what they ought 
to do and leads the analytical discussion that is required at each station. 
Each time they arrive at a new station, the roles will rotate through the 
group; this allows each student a chance to experience each aspect of 
the lesson. 

Station #1 will require students to use Gopher and Veronica to locate 
the 1993 CIA Fact Book in order to create a informational matrix 
comparing and contrasting geographical aspects of the USA and 
Canada.  This chart, as well as other information and tasks required of 
the students, will be recorded in their geography (spiral bound) 
notebooks. They will also record their successes and frustrations while 
using these telecommunications programs. 

Station #2 will require students to use the program Mosaic in order to 
search for information regarding the politics and government of 
Canada by using the W3 Catalog Search method.  In particular, they 
will be locating the Canadiana home page and investigating the links 
to the politics and government page.  Again, they will compare and 
contrast this system to our federal republic system.

Station #3 will require students to use Gopher and Veronica to find the 
Canadian Meteorological Centre and gain access to weather 
information using JPEG View.  Students will pull down GIF files and 
open them, plotting current weather conditions across Canada on that 
day, and in the process, create a map of Canada's most prominent 
human and physical features.  Sheets at the station will provide 
students with a guide to the weather maps. (These are available on the 
Internet.), and they will use an atlas to fill in other geographical 
features.  Finally, students will compare the current weather to see if it 
compares to the given climate type for that region.

Station #4 will require students to scan and read through current 
Canadian news magazines (MacClean's, Saturday Night) and the 
Canadian Issues List (bit.listserv.canada) to determine current issues of 
concern in Canada.  From this list they will be able to identify whether 
Canadian concerns and American concerns differ and if so to what 
degree.  

Station #5 will require students to create a survey in order to 
investigate whether or not the Culture of Canada differs greatly from 
that of the United States and to what degree.  The students will be 
posting this list on a news group (k12.senior high) and will send the 
survey to another high school class in Canada.

Upon completion of all five stations, students will write an essay 
entitled: ÒWhat About Canada?Ó  This essay should express what the 
students felt they learned about this country and how it differs from 
our own.

IV. ASSESSMENT

An additional ten days ought to be allowed for assessment and the 
afore mentioned essay.  Assessment will be based on the students' 
notebooks kept during their excursion into ÒcyberspaceÓ and the results 
of their research.  Grades will be determined by how well they were 
able to find the required information and extent to which they were 
able to interpret and analyze this information.  The group will also 
create a ÒmuralÓ on a large sheet of butcher paper that will express 
what they learned about Canada.  This mural will then be presented to 
the class, with the group defending (explaining) their work. 

For a final project, each student will be required to create a travel 
brochure for a province or territory in Canada.  Students must use the 
Internet in order to locate information (through Gopher, Mosaic, News 
Watcher, and Pop Mail) for their brochures.  This will give the students 
a final opportunity to demonstrate their skills at locating and utilizing 
information from the Internet.