Big Ideas
Big Ideas
The pursuit of valuable natural resources has played a key role in changing the land, people, and communities of Canada.
Interactions between First Peoples and Europeans lead to conflict and cooperation, which continues to shape Canada’s identity.
Demographic changes in North America created shifts in economic and political power.
British Columbia followed
a unique path in becoming a
part of Canada.
a unique path in becoming a
part of Canada.
Content
Learning Standards
Content
Students are expected to know the following:
early contact, trade, cooperation, and conflict between First Peoples and European peoples
- Sample topics:
- early explorers: Cabot, Frobisher, Hudson, Cartier, Champlain
- voyages of Cook and Vancouver
- provision of muskets to First Peoples by Europeans
- spread of horses to the Prairies
- marriages between First Peoples and Europeans
- colonial wars and alliances between Europeans and First Peoples (e.g., between Maquinna (Nuu-chah-nulth) and the Cook expedition or between French colonists and the First Peoples living around the Great Lakes)
- Key questions:
- What motivated explorers and settlers to come to Canada?
- How did the geography of Canada affect European exploration?
the fur trade in pre-Confederation Canada and British Columbia
- Sample topics:
- fur trading companies (e.g., the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company)
- Beaver Wars
- explorers: Simon Fraser, Alexander Mackenzie, David Thompson
- Russian and Spanish trade on the coast
- establishment of trading posts (e.g., Victoria, Fort Langley, and other forts; Metis communities)
- Key question:
- Why were trading posts established in particular locations?
demographic changes in pre-Confederation British Columbia in both First Peoples and non-First Peoples communities
- Sample topics:
- disease
- European and American settlement and migration
- increases in raids causing decreases in population
- relocation/resettlement of First Peoples
economic and political factors that influenced the colonization of British Columbia and its entry into Confederation
- Sample topics:
- Canadian Pacific Railway
- fur trade
- American settlement
- Oregon boundary dispute
- gold rush population boom and bust
- colonial debt
- Canadian Confederation
- expansion and purchase of Rupert’s Land
the impact of colonization on First Peoples societies in British Columbia and Canada
- Sample topics:
- disease and demographics
- trade
- more complex political systems
- loss of territory
- impact on language and culture
- key events and issues regarding First Peoples rights and interactions with early governments in Canada (e.g., the Indian Act, potlatch ban, reserve system, residential schools, treaties)
the history of the local community and of local First Peoples communities
- Sample topic:
- local archives and museums
physiographic features and natural resources of Canada
Curricular Competency
Learning Standards
Curricular Competency
Students are expected to be able to do the following:
Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions
- Key skills:
- Compare information and viewpoints about a selected problem or issue
- Identify patterns in information, and use those patterns to draw inferences
- Summarize information and opinions about a selected problem or issue
- Use grids, scales, and legends on maps and timelines to interpret or represent specific information
- Translate information from maps to other forms of communication and vice versa (e.g., write a paragraph describing what you see in a map, create a map based on an image or oral description)
- Give reasons for using more than one source of information (e.g., differing points of view, currency of information, level of detail, reliability)
- Apply a variety of strategies for information gathering (e.g., headings, indices, Internet searches)
- Apply strategies for note taking and organizing information gathered from a variety of information sources
- Distinguish between primary and secondary sources
- Construct a simple bibliography
- Organize information to plan a presentation
- Prepare a presentation using selected communication forms (e.g., debate, diorama, multimedia presentation, dance) to support the purpose of the presentation
- Apply established criteria for a presentation (e.g., historical accuracy and context)
- Identify problems or issues that are local, national, and/or global in focus (e.g., natural disasters, endangered species, poverty, disease)
- Clarify a selected problem or issue (e.g., provide details; state reasons, implications)
- Create a plan of action to address a chosen problem or issue
- Key questions:
- What events are most significant in the story of BC’s development?
- Should James Douglas be remembered as the father of BC?
- What was the most significant reason for BC’s entry into Confederation?
Ask questions, corroborate inferences, and draw conclusions about the content and origins of different sources (evidence)
- Sample activities:
- Use primary sources to make inferences about contemporary attitudes toward First Peoples during the gold rush years
- Compare and contrast European and First Peoples accounts of the same event
Sequence objects, images, or events, and determine continuities and changes between different time periods or places (continuity and change)
- Sample activity:
- Create a timeline of key events in BC’s history
- Key questions:
- How have the economic centres of BC changed over time?
- Why is Barkerville no longer a significant economic centre?
- What resources are important to people in present-day BC compared to the past? Explain what has changed over time.
Differentiate between intended and unintended consequences of events, decisions, or developments, and speculate about alternative outcomes (cause and consequence)
- Sample activities:
- Hold a debate about whether BC should have joined the United States or Canada, or become an independent country
- Track the positive and negative effects of key events in BC’s development on First Peoples
- Key questions:
- Was joining Canada the best decision for BC?
- Why did Vancouver become BC’s largest city?
Construct narratives that capture the attitudes, values, and worldviews commonly held by people at different times or places (perspective)
- Sample activity:
- Compare the “discovery” and “exploration” of North America from European and First Peoples perspectives
- Key question:
- Who benefited most from the early west coast fur trade: First Peoples or Europeans?
Make ethical judgments about events, decisions, or actions that consider the conditions of a particular time and place (ethical judgment)
- Sample activities:
- Evaluate the fairness of BC’s treaty process
- Describe the importance of protecting minority rights in a democracy
- Identify key events and issues in First Peoples rights and interactions with early governments in Canada (e.g., the Indian Act, the establishment of the residential school system, potlatch ban, reserve system, treaties)