THE CANADIAN SOCIAL STUDIES SUPER SITE

This is a limited annotated list of quality websites for Canadian social studies educators, and those interested in Canada, carefully examined for their quality and use. This is also the companion website for the Webmaster's textbook. Suggestions for additional sites can be sent to the Webmaster, Dr. Joe Kirman at joe.kirman @ ualberta.ca . Please note the suggested site’s URL and mention why you think it should be on this list. Not all suggestions can be accepted, but your interest is appreciated. Updated or checked January 29, 2010. You are visitor number

What's New:

Peel’s Prairie Postcards. - This is an image archive at the University of Alberta of over 15,000 postcards dating back to the turn of the 19th century dealing with the Canadian prairies. This site has a search engine, including a browse feature, to find pictures you may wish to use for teaching. Additional archival materials in the Peel’s Prairie Provinces collection will also be found on this page. This site can be found in History and Historical Pictures.

Edwards v. A.G. of Canada - This is the Privy Council judgment in the “Persons Case”  in which Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie L. McClung, Louise C. McKinney, Emily F. Murphy, and Irene Parlby appealed the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that women were not eligible to sit in the Canadian Senate since they were not persons according to the British North American Act of 1867. You can find it both in History and Historical Pictures, and Human Rights.

 

CONTENTS

DISCLAIMER ENVIRONMENT HUMAN RIGHTS
CAUTIONARY NOTE FIRST NATIONS/NATIVE CANADIANS PEN PALS
CANADA - GENERAL INFORMATION GEOGRAPHY, MAP SKILLS AND SPACE AGE MAPS PLANNING AND TEACHING – GENERAL RESOURCE INFORMATION
CANADIAN BIOGRAPHIES ONLINE GLOBAL/INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES GOVERNMENT, LAW, POLITICS SPACE THE NEW FRONTIER
CURRENT EVENTS HISTORY AND HISTORICAL PICTURES  CANADIAN SOCIAL STUDIES
THE NATIONAL JOURNAL

DISCLAIMER

Please be aware that there is no guarantee about the accuracy or truth of materials in any website. The authorship, timeliness, and veracity of a website need to be carefully ascertained and, if necessary, information verified in other sources. Student projects, in particular, should not rely only on Internet material. Internet sites as resources should be used by students only after they have learned how to rate the sites with guidelines established in class, with the exception of those authorized by the teacher.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE

Alert children to immediately sign-off any website they encounter with material dealing with hate, harming others or themselves, smut, asking that the encounter remain a "secret," requesting any personal information, or to identify themselves or their location. They should report the incident to their parent/guardian or teacher. A good site that deals with Internet sex predators is weron2u.ca  The site is designed for upper elementary, junior and senior high school students. Teachers should browse the site and recommend it to their students.

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CANADA - GENERAL INFORMATION 

  

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CANADIAN BIOGRAPHIES ONLINE

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CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

Human Cloning

  • Humancloning.org - Humancloning.org bills itself as "the official site in support of human cloning technology." The sponsor of the site has obtained U.S. government non-profit tax-exempt status and is incorporated in the state of Georgia. It is worth looking at to see why they support cloning. The Webmaster reminds you that this is a one-sided view of this highly controversial topic and that the site does not provide names of those associated with its sponsoring organization.
  • http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/genetics_reproduction/rgtech.html - This is a CBC website giving background information about Canada’s Bill C-13 banning human cloning, womb rental contracts, and the sale of human sperm and eggs. The bill received royal assent March 26, 2004.

The Valour and the Horror

This is both an example of, and information for, a case study of a controversial issue:

In 1992, the National Film Board, the CBC and Gala Films produced The Valour and the Horror, the most controversial film series ever made in Canada. The segment "Death by Moonlight" was the subject of a multi-million dollar defamation law suit by the aging veterans of RCAF Bomber Command. The case was never heard by a jury since the courts ruled that the veterans did not have legal standing to sue. The Valour and the Horror was severely criticized by Canadian historians such as Jack Granatstein (see his comments in Who Killed Canadian History?, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., 1998 pp 14-15, 116-120. ) and Desmond Morton. An entire issue of Canadian Social Studies (Winter, 1994, Volume 28, Number 2) was devoted to this matter. The CBC will not show the series again since it does not meet the CBC's standards for accuracy. Bomber Command veterans and supporters of the series have set-up websites to present their sides of the story.  

  • The Valour and the Horror Archive. This is a Canadian War Amps site with media information and their submission to the  Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) about the The Valour and the Horror.
  • The Valour & The Horror. The producer's side of the issue is presented at this website.

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CURRENT EVENTS
  • Worldpress.org - This site examines the concerns that occupy the world's newspapers and magazines, "translating, reprinting, analyzing, and contextualizing the best of the international press from more than 20 languages." It is a powerful tool to examine current issues from different viewpoints many not usually found in the mainstream press.
  • The Internet Public Library - On line newspapers from Canada and around the world. Go to the media where events are happening and see what they have to say. Compare this with what you see and hear in your local media.
  • The Jerusalem Post Middle East Websites - This site has many relevant Middle Eastern URLs to allow you to follow the on-going tensions in that region. It can be supplemented with The Internet Public Library and Worldpress.org.

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ENVIRONMENT
  • Canadian Wildlife Service. This federal site provides information regarding laws, current environmental concerns, a children’s page with games, and publications among other items. The links section connects all provincial environmental websites and a short list of other useful environmental websites.

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FIRST NATIONS/NATIVE CANADIANS
  • Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. An extensive link with government and other sites related to Canada’s First Nations.
  • Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. This Canadian site lists aboriginal media sites, but it has a formidable section of First Nations and related links including educational, legal, cultural and international ones. Well worth a visit.
  • Native American Indian Resources. A comprehensive web site (both Canadian and U.S. tribal groups) with over 300 pages dealing with everything from culture to geographic information systems as they relate to First Nations people. It is designed for Indian teachers. A number of pages are difficult to read because of contrast problems.
  • CBC Aboriginal. This Canadian Broadcasting Company site reflects aboriginal life in Canada and includes weekly news stories, arts and culture, personality profiles, programming, regional content, archival information as well as background and history to current topics, and more.

  • Aboriginal Canada Portal. URL links to national aboriginal organizations, claims and treaties, language, heritage, culture and much more – very extensive

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GEOGRAPHY, MAP SKILLS AND SPACE AGE MAPS
  • The National Atlas of Canada Online. "Learn about Canada's geography through texts and maps; access data sets; use our interactive mapping tool; meet our partners; try our quiz and consult our teaching resources section."
  • Mapping Canada. This is a map tool site sponsored by Canadian Geographic magazine. Its most notable features are a click and change set of historical maps of Canada from 1700 to 1999 and a Canadian map maker that works with a down-loadable geographical information system tool.
  • The Canadian Council for Geographic Education. The CCGE was established in 1993 as a joint initiative of the The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the National Geographic Society of Washington, D.C. This site is notable for its list of geography links. The CCGE periodically sends members excellent geography teaching materials, and the Webmaster encourages Canadian teachers to join this organization.
  • Canada Satellite Images and Maps. - Tour Canada from space with geology.com's satellite, map, or hybrid views of Canada. You can zoom down to near street level for almost all of Canada. Very impressive and excellent GIS for the classroom. (Note, you can drag the screen to other locations in the world!
  • Blank Maps of Canada - This site contains sets of blank maps of Canada which you can use with your classes and for projects. It is a sub-site of the Teaching and Learning About Canada site which can be accessed in the Canada – General Information section above or through this site. Please note that the Teaching and Learning About Canada site home page usually loads very slowly.
  • Google Maps - This is a powerful and user friendly high resolution GIS of the world. You can zoom--in on a location and view it as a map, satellite image, or combined hybrid. Zoom to see your own home, find the location of an address with the search engine, and find the route to and from two locations.
  • Google Earth 5 (Beta) - This is the free download page for Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps it requires installation on your computer. This page will also give you information on how to operate the program. The program has many higher resolution satellite images and more features than Google Maps. These features include viewing the images from different angles and different direction. Some images have 3D renditions of buildings. This newer version of Google Earth provides undersea views. It also contains a feature called Historical Imagery that allows you to scroll back over previous historical satellite images of an area to see its development or degradation.
  • Geography Games - A set of three classroom geography games for the elementary and middle years written by the Webmaster.

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GLOBAL/INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
  • United Nations. The home page of the United Nations, dealing with peace and security, international law, economic and social development, human rights, humanitarian affairs, and the facilities and operation of the organization.
  • The WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources. This site contains an extensive quality list of portals, indexes, web directories and other resources for international affairs.

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GOVERNMENT, LAW, POLITICS

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HISTORY AND HISTORICAL PICTURES
  • Canadian History on the Web. An interesting collection of websites relating to Canadian history. Well worth browsing.
  • The National Archives of Canada. "The National Archives of Canada preserves Canada's archival heritage, and makes it available to Canadians through a wide variety of means - publications, exhibitions, special events, as well as reference and researcher services." This site is now linked with the National Library of Canada.
  • Canadian Archival Resources on the Internet. This site, developed by the University of Saskatchewan, provides links with archival resources across Canada.
  • The Canadian Museum of Civilization. An extensive and impressive collection  of Canadiana. Here you will find a variety of information about Canada including history, archeology, culture, First Nations and more. There are sections for educators, kids, and scholars. This site has the updated "Oracle," originally a print item, developed for social studies in Canadian schools during the 70s and 80s. Go to the site map for a quick over-view of what is available.
  • Images Canada.  This site has search access to over 65,000 images of Canadian events, people, places and things on websites of participating Canadian cultural institutions.
  • CBC Archives. Examine sound and video clips of interest to modern Canadian history. Listen to Nelly L. McClung discussing the "Persons Case." See Leonard Cohen being interviewed by a young Adrienne Clarkson, and hear him read his poetry, and much more. There is a teacher's section with information for grades 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12.
  • Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History. A unique Canadian history site to learn about history as a cold case file. You have actual Canadian criminal cases from the past and the historical resources associated with them. Examine the resources and decide whether justice has been done. Learn about the nuances of looking at the past – or just enjoy yourself.
  • Memory Project. This Dominion Institute site is a valuable living history resource to connect veterans and students online and in classrooms across the country. Speakers are provided and there is also an online database with oral histories and artifacts of Canadian veterans. This is an excellent resource for Remembrance Day and units dealing with Canadian combat and peace keeping.
  • Black History Portal. An excellent annotated guide to the history of the black community in Canada.
  • History Wire.  An Historica sponsored blog discussion site for those interested in history. You can join the discussions and give your opinions on the subjects discussed.

  • Edwards v. A.G. of Canada. This is the Privy Council judgment in the “Persons Case”  in which Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie L. McClung, Louise C. McKinney, Emily F. Murphy, and Irene Parlby appealed the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that women were not eligible to sit in the Canadian Senate since they were not persons according to the British North American Act of 1867.

  • Peel’s Prairie Postcards. This is an image archive at the University of Alberta of over 15,000 postcards dating back to the turn of the 19th century dealing with the Canadian prairies. This site has a search engine, including a browse feature, to find pictures you may wish to use for teaching. Additional archival materials in the Peel’s Prairie Provinces collection will also be found on this page.

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HUMAN RIGHTS

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PEN PALS
  • e-Pals. A pen pal network with over a million students and teachers in more than 20,000 registered classrooms in over 100 countries.

Both pen pals and e-mail pals can also be obtained by contacting ministries of education, educational associations -- in particular social studies specialist groups, consuls and embassies. E-mail addresses can often be obtained where there is an Internet URL. The URL can be obtained by using Internet search engines.

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PLANNING AND TEACHING - GENERAL RESOURCE INFORMATION
  • 2Learn -Telus Learning Connection. This is an interactive site that is divided into research skills and strategies, teacher tools, professional growth and mentorship, curricular resources, and a telecollaborative project centre. Teachers can involve their classes with online projects, find tutorials for presentation instruction and instructional resources, among other items. This site has a powerful function for teacher inservice instruction.
  • Learning Resources & Ministries of Education. All provincial and territorial learning resources and ministries of education are at this site. Grants for teachers are also noted. This site is operated by Curriculum Services Canada, a non-profit charitable education organization. .
  • The Social Studies Council of the Alberta Teachers Association. Extensive world-wide links for planning and ideas.
  • Educational Resources in Social Studies. This website was prepared by Open Learning Network’s Community Learning Network of British Columbia. It is a very comprehensive site that is Canadian oriented. There are excellent links to materials for planning and projects.
  • National Council for the Social Studies.  NCSS Online. This is the site for the world’s largest social studies organization with more world-wide links and information for teachers and students.
  • Teaching Values  This is the Webmaster’s theory and procedures for teaching values using love, kindness, and respect for human dignity for the elementary and secondary levels. It was originally published in the McGill Journal of Education.
  • Weblens. Almost 5,000 Internet research resources. It is the companion site to Pam Blackstone's technology column in the Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper and is one of the most powerful search sites on the Internet.
  • NFB. This is the National Film Board of Canada home page. Check it for visuals that you can use in class. It states: “Watch hundreds of films, anytime, anywhere, for free. Documentaries, animations and other alternative dramas on the web, or on you personalized home page, or on your iPhone. Also, watch trailers, upcoming online releases and playlists.”

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TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

 

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SPACE THE NEW FRONTIER
  • Canadian Space Agency. This site is contains information about Canada’s role in the space program. This is general information, current event items, material for educators, and a "Kidspace" with interesting items. The site also cross-links with other space agencies.
  • NASA - Home Site. This is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's main site. Here the social studies teacher can keep up with space exploration current events and find lots of resources about space programs.
  • NASA Earth Observatory Images. This is an excellent geographic aid for current events. It is a free NASA listserv that e-mails you weekly current interest images ranging from satellite images of the earth to outer space images. The site also contains an archive of satellite images of the earth among other items. You can unsubscribe when you wish. Click into the site and you will find an icon to subscribe to this service. Highly recommended.
  • Stellarium - A free downloadable powerful planetarium astronomy program that shows the night sky anywhere in the world. The display moves with a timer to show the changing night sky or can be locked for a specific time. Great for teaching about space probes in current events and astronomy in general. Once the program is opened press the “h” key for command information including exiting. Click on the configuration box on the lower left task bar and click on location. On the map click on the location you want (latitude and longitude specifics will help). The lower right task bar controls the time. Thirty minutes of playing with this program and its task bars will make you an expert. This program is very impressive.
  • Google Earth 5 (Beta) - This is the free download page for Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps it requires installation on your computer. This page will also give you information on how to operate the program. The program has many higher resolution satellite images and more features than Google Maps. These features include viewing the images from different angles and different direction. Some images have 3D renditions of buildings. This newer version of Google Earth provides undersea views. It also contains a feature called Historical Imagery that allows you to scroll back over previous historical satellite images of an area to see its development or degradation.

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