While on the Journey...
While on the journey , you may want to think about the challenges that the railway workers faced in order to build the railroad in each of the six regions .
Watch the following music video by Canadian musician - Gordon Lightfoot - that describes some history of building the Canadian railway across Canada.
The Six Regions Of Canada
The six physical regions of Canada are: The Atlantic, The Great Canadian Shield, The Arctic, The Plains, The Cordillera and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Region. These six regions are very different from each other.
Watch a Prezi Presentation for a brief overview of the 6 regions...
Discover some of the Natural Wonders found in each of the Canadian Regions here.
The Cordillera Region
The Cordillera is located on the west coast of Canada and includes British Columbia, the Yukon, southwest Alberta and part of North West Territories. The climate of the Cordillera’s coast is mild, wet and rarely has snow that stays. The interior of the Cordillera is usually colder and dryer with larger amounts of snow.
View a video of this breathtaking region.
Resources:
The Cordillera
The natural resources of the Cordillera are forestry, agriculture , mining of iron, lead, zinc, silver, copper, and nickel, and fisheries - the west coast is famous for salmon.
Visit the Galileo website for more cool facts and issues related to the Cordillera.
The Plains
The Plains region is in between the Cordillera and the Great Canadian Shield . It is found in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Take a train ride through the Canadian Plains with this informative video.
Resources:
The Plains
Three Main Resources :
1. Farming crops such as wheat, barley, oats, flax, canola , mustard, potatoes, corn and sugar beets are grown in the plains. Farmers also raise cattle, pigs, and poultry.
2. The mining of fuel products like oil, natural gas, coal, potash , copper, zinc, gold, and uranium is crucial.
3. Forest areas found in the Plains are harvested for the lumber industry .
Visit the Galileo Website for more interesting information on the Plains.
The Arctic Region is located in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Northern Quebec and the most extreme tip of Labrador and Newfoundland.
This is the only region where there is permafrost, (the ground is frozen all year).
Ice caps or glaciers , tundra , pingos, (huge mounds of solid ice ), treeline, northern lights, (aurora borealis), and the polar ice pack, (permanently frozen sea ice), are just a few of the unique features found in this landscape .
Watch this fascinating story of survival in the Arctic, based on a true story. Or play the Polar Crunch game to learn more about Arctic, but try to not get eaten by a polar bear!
The oil and gas industry is located on land and in the water in the Arctic. Huge off shore drilling rigs may be found off our coastal regions.
Hunting, trapping and fishing are also crucial to the people who live in the Arctic Region.
Visit the Galileo Website to learn about important issues related to the Arctic Region. If you love watching the Northern Lights, click on this video. You may also like watching this time-lapse version.
The Great Canadian Shield is the largest of Canada's 6 physical regions and includes the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.
It mainly is rock that was once mountains millions of years ago. Through the process of erosion , water, ice, glaciers from the Ice Age , and wind wore down this rock so that it became flatter and carved water sources such as rivers and lakes.
Resources: The Great Canadian Shield
Watch a video that speaks to the many resources of the Canadian Shield.
Resources include:
1) Furs - from fur bearing animals, (hunting and trapping is still a large industry ).
2) Minerals - the Shield is solid rock that holds copper, gold, nickel , zinc and lead.
3) Hydro Electricity - there are many rivers in this area, and a great deal of electricity is generated for Canadians as well as for our neighbors the United States.
4) Forestry - from fir, pine and spruce trees. Some of them are turned into pulp and paper for newspapers.
Great Lakes/
St. Lawrence Lowlands
This is the smallest region in Canada. It consists of Southern Ontario where the Great Lakes surrounds it. Along the banks of the St Lawrence river, on both sides, this region extends through the province of Quebec.
This region has much flat land surrounded by few hills. Once, it was covered in pine forest, birch, hemlock , and maple trees but most of this land has been cleared for the use of farmland.
Watch a video related to the dangers of "deforestation" and other environmental issues related to this area.
Resources include:
1. Rich fertile level land for agriculture . It also is the second largest farming area in all of Canada and crops include tobacco, peaches, cherries, grapes , apples, hay, vegetables, such as carrots, corn, onions, beets, peas and beans.
2. St Lawrence lowland has lots of ranching which supply butter, cheese, and meat for the region.
3. Fresh water is used for cities, factories, ships to transport items and most of all human and animal survival.
Click on this link to the Galileo Website to learn more about issues related to fresh water in this region.
The Atlantic Region includes the 4 Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) as well as, the majority of the area known as the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, often referred to as the " Thumb of Quebec."
Take a video tour of this beautiful region.
Resources in this region include:
1. Minerals such as iron, zinc , and gold.
2. The trees of this region are important to the tourism /recreation industry (hiking , camping) etc., as well as, they are used to produce pulp and paper.
3. Oil has been discovered under the ocean floor.
4. Rich fertile soil for growing is found in some parts of this region.
Discover how the fishing industry has been affected by overfishing in this region.
It's Time to Wave Goodbye...
Hopefully you have had an enjoyable journey! Before you go, you may want to explore some games and activities:
Review the Canadian Provinces: Game 1; Game 2; Game 3; Game 4
Get familiar with Canadian cities and towns with this website describing Canadian Roadside Attractions!
Follow this excellent Link for many more games and activities on the animals, landforms, and provinces of Canada.