"Teaching about Geography Thinking" The Critical Thinking Consortium offers many resources for teachers that look to have students deepen their thoughts and examination of curriculum. Although The Critical Thinking Consortium requires educators to sign up and pay for their resources, it is a non-profit organization that supports educational services. The "Teaching about Geography Thinking" is a valuable source for teachers to have as it asks students to look beyond the content of geography and toward the value within geographical knowledge. The resource gives an introduction to geographical thinking, emphasizing the importance of engagement, understanding, literacy beyond the classroom, and efficacy. It is a realistic resource, as it acknowledges the difficulties and challenges of geography in the classroom The chapter of "Alternative conceptions of thinking in geography" is a great resource for BC teachers as it addresses themes of skills and concepts that are being introduced in with the new BC curriculum, while applying the standard ideas of geography. The resource then provides the "geographical thinking model", which includes the topics of Assessing grographical importance; Evidence and Interpretation; Recognizing patterns and trends; Interactions and Associations; Sense of place; and Making geographical value judgements. These topics aim to make geographical benchmarks recognizable for BC secondary teachers and students. With contributors from across Canada, "Teaching about Geographical Thinking" give a balanced perspective on Canadian geography.
The Canadian Anthology of Social Studies This is teacher resource that covers all topics within social studies. However, it is useful for covering Canadian geography as it looks to make geography more engaging then just places and rocks. The text offers academic essays which look at teaching foundations, "ends and means", and resources for putting ideas and concepts into the classroom. Chapter 5, "Getting involved in the landscape: Making geography come alive", was the most helpful of the geography-related chapters. It offers teachers a hostory of how Canadian geography has been taught, a pedagogy for what should be covered in Canadian geography curriculum, and a rationale for teaching geography. The rational, similar to the "10 Reasons to Study Geography", emphasizes 1. the intrinsic value of geography (the human interest of 'why?'); 2. the value for personal decision making (trip planning using maps, temperature, etc.); and 3. the value for social decision making (geographical knowledge and how it influences the local, national, and global.
Canadian National Standards for Geography The Royal Canadian Geographical Society has produced a document called the "Canadian National Standards for Geography: A Standards-Based Guide to K-12 Geography". Although not specific to the geography of Canada, the resource contains national standards of geographical learning that outline the essential elements of geography for students throughout their elementary and secondary education. The standards are divided into "the world in spatial terms" (location), places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and uses of geography. Using these standards for students from primary elementary years to senior secondary years could create consistency for students and shape their building blocks of geographical education. The second link for this resource is the standards organized into a wall chart for teachers. This helps teachers organize their thoughts and see what needs to be examined in a well laid-out manner.
The Regional Geography of Canada With many additions available, this textbook can advance the knowledge of students following their knowledge of the physiographic regions. It identifies the six geographical regions in Canada; Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Western Canada, British Columbia, and the Territorial North. The text provides students and teachers with the basic physical, historical, cultural, social and economic features of reach region, while incorporating a global context of how they features are influenced in a global context.
Horizons: Canada's Emerging Identity Horizons is the textbook that is being used in BC secondary schools today. The first chapter of the text covers Canada’s geography, beginning with the five themes of Geography. The resource covers many aspects of Canadians geography: the physical regions, the climate of Canada, the natural regions, the effect of human activities, and the cultural landscape. The text has the benefit of organizing its information not just in paragraphs, but also organizational charts, as seen with the Natural Regions of Canada and Climates of Canada. This is a positive feature for the different types of learners. There are also activities included in the text, asking students “big idea” questions. The resource is only a surface-introduction into the terms and concepts of Canadian geography, but it provides a basis of knowledge that students or teachers could dig deeper into.