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Learning Resources bulletin - September 2008
Dear teachers:
Welcome back and good luck in this coming school
year! This regular bulletin presents free information and teaching materials available
on Statistics Canada's Learning Resources website.
In this issue:
- Feature: Federal elections…by the numbers (elementary-secondary)
- Census at School: Canadian results now available (elementary-secondary)
- Education Matters: Back to school issue
- Encourage critical thinking: 2006 Census Results Teacher's Kit (intermediate-secondary)
- New podcasts! Listen to student interviews about their data analysis projects (secondary)
- Canada Year Book Historical Collection: free posters available! (intermediate-secondary)
- New in E-
- Regional support
Feature: Federal elections...by the numbers
Through the ballot box, Canadians get a chance to directly express their opinion abouthow their country should be governed. See our federal elections feature to learn facts about elections in Canada and how to find population data for your federal electoral district.
Find it at Teachers > Feature.
Census at School: last year's Canadian results now available (intermediate-secondary)
Ask your students to find interesting results from the 2007/2008 survey. For example
- 9.4% of students who participated in the survey were left-handed and 6.6% were ambidextrous, with boys more likely to have either of these traits.
- The importance that students attributed to owning a computer increased steadily as they grew older, from age 8 to 15, while the importance attributed to reducing pollution diminished steadily with age.
Questions to ask: What percentage of secondary students reported last year that they smoked, compared with two years ago? In which province did concern for recycling rank the highest?
Find these results at Census at School > Data and results > Canadian summary results.
To obtain a colourful new Census at School poster for the classroom that focuses on recycling and the environment, contact your regional education representative. (See Regional support.)
Education Matters: Back to school issue
Learn facts about schooling—from trends in enrolment and household spending on education to educational attainment levels among Aboriginal and recent immigrant populations—in the September 2008 'Back to school' issue of 'Education Matters'.
Find it at Teachers > Feature or at Quick links > Education Matters > September 4, 2008.
Encourage critical thinking: 2006 Census Results Teacher's Kit (intermediate- secondary)
Challenge your students to think critically with the innovative lessons from the 2006 Census Results Teacher's Kit. Developed by The Critical Thinking Consortium, a non-profit organisation, the lessons are suited to levels ranging from intermediate to secondary (Grades 7 to 12). Students are given challenging questions and tasks and must use reasoned judgement to locate, interpret and analyze statistical information. The lessons are relevant to social sciences, geography, history, family studies, English, mathematics and technology. Five new lessons are now available:
- Exploring the Effects of Population Change: Learners identify trends in the three types of migration that contribute to population change: international, interprovincial and urban-rural migration.
- Meeting the Needs of an Aging Population: Learners examine population trends and predict how the age of the majority of Canadians will change in 15 years.
- What is a Family? Learners examine the factors that contribute to changing family and household structures and create written or illustrated profiles that describe key trends.
- Immigration: The Changing Face of Canada. Learners examine immigration levels to provinces and territories and determine what pull factors attract immigrants to different areas.
- The First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples of Canada: Learners create population pyramids for Canada's Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations and use statistical evidence to validate statements about the growth of the Aboriginal population.
Find it at Quick links > Census of Canada resources > Lessons: 2006 Census Results Teacher's Kit.
New podcasts! Listen to students interviews about their data analysis projects (secondary)
Listen to lively interviews about projects presented at the 2008 Student Data Analysis Fair at Statistics Canada. You'll hear from two Grade 12 students and a teacher who participated in the Fair, as well as from a previous student participant who is now pursuing a career in statistics.
Find it at Students > Listen up! Podcasts and audio learning.
Canada Year Book Historical Collection: free posters available (intermediate-secondary)
Attention History and Social Studies teachers: the Canada Year Book Historical Collection 1867 to 1967 is a fabulous resource. See the 'Teacher's tool box' for lessons that help interpret original source documents related to historical themes such as changing families, immigration and the World Wars.
Find it at Quick links > Canada Year Book > Historical Collection
You can get free posters that feature vintage photos from the collection (English/French, back to back format, 43 cm x 56 cm, folded to letter size). To order, please contact your regional education representative. (See Regional support.)
New in E-STAT (intermediate-secondary)
We have updated the lesson plans to use the most current 2006 Census data now available on E-STAT . See What's new in E-STAT (September 5).
E-STAT, our interactive research tool for schools, lets you dynamically generate tables, customized graphs and maps from census and socioeconomic data.
To see if your school is registered and allowed access, click on "Educational institutions registered with E-STAT".
If you are assigning homework that requires students to use E-STAT, remember to give them your school's username and password.
For help using our resources in the classroom, contact the Statistics Canada education representative in your region.
To order posters for Census at School or for the Canada Year Book Historical Collection, please provide your complete mailing address and the number and type of posters you would like to receive.
