Canada Rail Passenger Service:
All Aboard for the Future!
For motivation, the lesson starts with a matching challenge that highlights famous passenger trains. The lesson next focuses on rail as a viable form of transportation in terms of its small carbon footprint. In the culminating activity, students complete a brochure that promotes a passenger service on a selected three-hundred kilometre stretch of rail shown on CANADA'S STEEL ROADS poster-map. They will name the train; indicate the route on a map; describe points of geographic and historical interest that can be viewed through the window; and create a trip-related activity for children.
Grade 10
Two classes
Atlantic Provinces Curriculum for Social
Studies: Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET): Prince Edward Island
Geography
10: Canada Studies
·
Famous Trains Matching Challenge
(attached)
·
Brochure Assignment: A 300 Kilometre Passenger Rail Trip (attached)
· CANADA'S STEEL ROADS poster-map
· Computers, display equipment and internet access
Websites:
Andy Hayes. Famous Trains: The World’s Named Passenger Trains http://www.sharingtravelexperiences.com/named-passenger-trains/
(Source for answers to the Famous Trains Matching Challenge)
Canadian Atlas Online Tracking rail theme
www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas
Outline map of
Canada (one can be found at: The Atlas of Canada) http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/outlinecanada/canada01/map.pdf
Railway
Association of Canada (RAC) – Rail Facts
http://www.railcan.ca/education/facts
Rail
and the Environment
http://www.railcan.ca/environment/rail_environment
Moving the Economy
http://www.railcan.ca/economy/moving_economy
Moving People
http://www.railcan.ca/economy/moving_people
Rail by Provinces
http://www.railcan.ca/economy/provinces
The Environment
http://www.railcan.ca/environment/thinking_green
Main Objective
The main
objective has two parts: the short-term outcome, to engage students in exploring
passenger rail service in Canada and its small carbon footprint; and the
long-term outcome, to interest students in utilizing passenger rail services.
By the
end of the lesson, students will be able to:
·
understand that the Canadian passenger rail service leaves a small
carbon footprint;
·
gather geographical information from maps and other sources;
·
synthesize information;
·
convey information in an interesting way.
The Lesson
|
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|
|
Teacher Activity |
Student Activity |
Introduction
|
Instruct
students to complete the Famous Trains
Matching Challenge (attached). Review
the answers and ask:”What do you know
about Canada’s trains?”. |
Complete
the challenge and share responses. |
Lesson Development
|
Divide
students into five groups. Assign each
of the groups one of the websites below by the Railway Association of
Canada: ·
Rail Facts ·
Rail and the Environment ·
Moving the Economy ·
Moving People ·
The Environment Ask
groups to find two or three quotations that clearly present Canadian
passenger rail service as a viable form of transportation in terms of its
small carbon footprint. Instruct the groups to record the the quotations. Ask
students to present their quotations and explain what they have concluded. Introduce CANADA'S STEEL ROADS poster-map. Indicate a sample 300 kilometre stretch of track on the map. Ask students to choose the 300 kilometre section of rail in Canada which they would be most interested in travelling. Ask them to explain their choice. Introduce the Canadian Atlas Online Tracking rail theme and the section called Tourism under the broader title People. Its presentation of “the various destinations/trips one can access with passenger trains,” may help undecided students. Distribute
the Brochure Assignment: A 300 Kilometre Passenger Rail Trip. Review the instructions and
assign it to groups or individuals. Request
that students include a map of their section of track in the brochure. |
Select
two or three quotations. Record the title and the quotations. Present
findings. Choose
the stretch of track that is the most interesting and explain the selection. Review
the instructions to the Brochure
Assignment: A 300 Kilometre Passenger
Rail Trip. Create
a brochure that includes a map. |
Conclusion
|
Invite
presentations and display the brochures. |
Present/display
brochures. |
·
A plaque on the Charlottetown Railway Station states, “The building ceased operation as a station
with the closure of the railway in 1989.”
Would it be viable to reintroduce this service?
·
Discuss the feasibility of a train tunnel under the Northumberland
Strait.
The
brochures should be assessed in accordance with the criteria provided in the
attached Brochure Assignment: A 300
Kilometre Rail Trip.
·
Map, globe, and atlas use (e.g. observing and analyzing relationships)
Essential
Element #2: Places and Regions
·
Political and historical characteristics of regions
Essential
Element #5: Environment and Society
·
Environmental issues (e.g. global warming, loss of biodiversity,
deforestation, ozone depletion, air pollution, water pollution, acid
precipitation, disposal of solid waste)
Geographic
Skill #2: Acquiring Geographic Information
·
Systematically locate and gather geographic information from a variety
of primary and secondary sources.
Geographic
Skill #3: Organizing Geographic Information
·
Make inferences and draw conclusions from maps and other geographic
representations.
·
Use a variety of media to develop and organize integrated summaries of
geographic information.
Famous Trains Matching Challenge
Can you
match each of these famous world trains with its corresponding geographic description?
Geographic Descriptions:
1. Also called the Harry Potter Railway, it connects from Fort William, near Glasgow, to Mallaig in the Highlands of Scotland. ______________________
2. Traverses from St. Moritz to Zermatt in Switzerland. ______________________
3.
From Thailand, through
Malaysia, and into Singapore. ______________________
4.
Its flagship line travels from Pretoria to Cape Town. ______________________
5. As one of the longest named passenger trains (in terms of route), it carries you almost 3 thousand miles across the entire continent of Australia, from Perth to Sydney. ______________________
6. Depart Montreal in the evening and wake the next morning with the most incredible view of the Maritimes from your dome car. ______________________
7.
Connects
Uganda to Kenya, offering views of lions. ______________________
8. Follows the trail of explorers Lewis and Clark from Chicago to Seattle/Portland on the west coast of the USA. ______________________
9.
VIA Rail’s
flagship service from Vancouver to Toronto. ______________________
10. Starting in Saint Petersburg or Moscow, the train traverses across Asia and terminates in the Pacific port town of Vladivostok with alternative trains that go all the way to Beijing, China and Pyongyang, North Korea. ______________________
Trains:
The Eastern and Orient Express The Ocean The Canadian
The Lunatic Express The Glacier
Express The Indian Pacific
The Blue Train The
Lunatic Express The Empire
Builder
The Jacobite
Bonus: Can you name the world’s fastest
trains and in what countries they are found?
____________________________
What train goes from Britain
to France under the English Channel?
___________________________
Brochure Assignment:
A 300 Kilometre Passenger Rail Trip
Overview:
Choose a 300 km stretch of track from the thousands of “rail passenger kilometres” represented on CANADA'S STEEL ROADS poster-map. Prepare a four-page promotional brochure intended to attract people to take this train trip.
Directions:
(1) On page one, the cover page,
write an interesting and attractive title and caption for your train trip. On your blank map, clearly show the beginning
and end of the journey. Identify
interesting geographic and/or historical features/landmarks that can be seen on
the trip. Use original art to reflect a
highlight of the trip.
(2) On pages two and three, the
centre of your brochure, expand upon your cover page. Offer a brief but vivid narration (of about
200 to 250 words) of some of the interesting geographic or historical features
that can be viewed through the window.
Will passengers see panoramic mountain scenery, blue-green rushing
rivers, and prairie grasses stretching to the horizon? Will they see certain human-made
structures—grain elevators, abandoned rail stations, perhaps—that reveal
something about the past or present human geography or history of the
landscape? Support your words with
either original art or downloaded photography and art. If you choose the latter, remember to
acknowledge the source of these visuals.
(3) On page four, the concluding page, present an
original geographic activity for children between the ages of seven to twelve
making the trip. This activity is
intended to enhance their trip and to pass the time. You may, for example, prepare a word puzzle
related to points of geographic interest on the trip.
(4) Somewhere in your brochure,
remark upon the small carbon footprint of rail travel (attractive information
to some potential rail passengers). If
you wish, refer to the information collected from the Railway Association of
Canada brochures.
Criteria for evaluation:
(a) Quality of the map (Does it
clearly show the route?) and of the other visuals (Do they interest people in
taking the trip?) (Value: 40%)
(b) Quality of written expression
(Does it interest people in taking the trip?):
(Value: 40%)
(c) Quality of the activity for
children (Is it likely to engage them and enhance their trip?) (Value:
20%)