Outcome 2.1 THE LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE OF CANADA

Canada is often associated with cold weather and snow, but in reality, its climate is as diverse as its landscape.

Generally, Canadians enjoy four very distinct seasons, particularly in the more populated regions along the US border.

Daytime summer temperatures can rise to 35°C and higher, while lows of -25°C are not uncommon in winter.

More moderate temperatures are the norm in spring and fall. 

WHAT’S THE WEATHER LIKE EH?

NoWe actually have quite a comparable climate to the

United States. Our weather in Nova Scotia is actually comparable to

Boston, only with a little more rain.Parts of Canada can be really cold but those parts are

often northern and less populatedMost of Canada’s population is located around the

USA border. (see diagram 1 on next slide)

BUT DON’T ALL CANADIANS LIVE IN IGLOOS?

As the diagram showed us, most of our population is entirely located near the USA border

To put it in perspective; 1% of the population of the entire country lives within the black area of the map.

This goes to show just how empty our country really is.

To further make this evident we have 50% of our population located within JUST the red areas on this map. (see diagram 2)

WAIT…WHAT?

To put this all in perspective as of 2013 we had 35.16 million people in our country.

That’s almost half of Great Britain (64.1 million) which is 38 times smaller than Canada.

If you think that’s crazy think about this: there are more people in the state of California (38.8 million) than ALL of Canada

Canada is 21.5 times bigger than California.

CANADA BY COMPARISON

Maybe this says i t best…

Simply put; we tend to live in the warmer areas of our country.

Some places where people in Canada live are colder at times but for the most part, they are the warmer ones. (see chart 1 on slide 10)

Summers can be hot and dry on the prairies, humid in central Canada, and milder on the coasts.

Spring is generally pleasant across the country.

Autumns are often crisp and cool, but brightened by rich orange and red leaves on trees.

HOW DOES OUR POPULATION REFLECT OUR CLIMATE?

Winters are generally cold with periods of snow.Alberta undergoes a little something diff erent at times.There is the occasional "Chinook“ in Alberta. A Chinook is a warm dry wind from the Rocky

Mountains that gusts through and melts the snow. Winters are mild and wet on the west coast, in cities

such as Vancouver and Victoria.Commonly Vancouver and Victoria will go most of the

winter without snow but will see plenty of rain.Vancouver and Victoria will commonly see spring a few

months before the rest of the country due to the amount of rain.

WHAT ABOUT WINTER?

Temperature by major city

   Average Daily Temperature (Celcius)

City J F M A M J J A S O N D

Vancouver 3.0 4.7 6.3 8.812.

115.2 17.2 17.4 14.3

10.0

6.0 3.5

Calgary -9.6 -6.3 -2.5 4.1 9.7 14.0 16.4 15.7 10.6 5.7 -3.0 -8.3

Edmonton -14.2 -10.8 -5.4 3.710.

314.2 16.0 15.0 9.9 4.6 -5.7 -12.2

Saskatoon -17.5 -13.9 -7.0 3.911.

516.2 18.6 17.4 11.2 4.8 -6.0 -14.7

Regina -16.5 -12.9 -6.0 4.111.

416.4 19.1 18.1 11.6 5.1 -5.1 -13.6

Winnipeg -18.3 -15.1 -7.0 3.811.

616.9 19.8 18.3 12.4 5.7 -4.7 -14.6

Toronto -4.5 -3.8 1.0 7.513.

818.9 22.1 21.1 16.9

10.7

4.9 -1.5

Ottawa -10.7 -9.2 -2.6 5.913.

018.1 20.8 19.4 14.7 8.3 1.5 -7.2

Québec City -12.4 -11.0 -4.6 3.310.

816.3 19.1 17.6 12.5 6.5 -0.5 -9.1

Halifax -5.8 -6.0 -1.7 3.6 9.4 14.7 18.3 18.1 13.8 8.5 3.2 -3.0Charlottetown

-7.2 -7.5 -3.0 2.7 9.2 14.8 18.8 18.4 14.0 8.6 3.1 -3.6

St. John's -4.0 -4.6 -2.0 1.8 6.4 11.3 15.8 15.6 11.8 7.3 3.3 -1.4

Fredericton -9.6 -8.5 -2.5 4.010.

816.2 19.3 18.3 13.0 7.3 1.2 -6.6

Landscape as we see it

GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF

CANADA

A collective name of various mountains in Western Canada.

They help form part of the American Cordillera which runs from Alaska to the tip of South America.

Mount Robson is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies.

It’s a towering 3954 m tall. That’s the height of TEN

empire state buildings.The Rockies were actually the

biggest diffi culty in building the Canadian Pacifi c Railway.

THE CANADIAN ROCKIES

There are fi ve great lakes in total.Huron, Erie, Superior, Michigan and Ontario.Lakes total shoreline is more than double the Atlantic

coastline of the United States.Lake Superior is roughly the same surface area as the size

of the state of Maine.The lakes are known to have some crazy weather

conditions

GREAT LAKES OF CANADA

A region in Western Canada which involves Saskatchewan and parts of Alberta and Manitoba.

Large flat area of land which is very fertile.

Essential to the farming industry in Canada.

You can literally see over 50 km in the distance with just your eyes.

CANADIAN PRAIRIES

Not overly populated and not many trees over large parts of it. Winds can be very high as there`s nothing to obstruct them.

In winter, whiteout conditions can happen very quickly. Thunderstorms and extreme weather can be visibly seen

moving across the sky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BryhtWv3HU

CANADIAN PRAIRIES

You are to recreate the following map on your blank Canadian map #1 for your notes and Include the three geographic regions discussed in this Powerpoint

Rubric on slide 17

ASSIGNMENT #1

Outcome/score

1 2 3 4

2.1 - Demonstrate an understanding of the basic features of Canada's landscape and climate

Student does not show any population mapping or features of Canada’s Landscape.

Student shows some of Canada’s geographic features and shows basic population placement.

Student shows Canada’s geographic features and the population placement.

Student shows Canada’s geographic features with detail and uses precision in placing the density of population.

RUBRIC FOR ASSIGNMENT