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 November 13,
2009. You are visitor number
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
- The Canada Site. The Government of Canada’s primary Internet site and the
Internet access point to find information about Canada, the Government, and its
programs and services.
- Provincial and Territorial Government Web
Sites. This site, sponsored by the
federal government, provides a link to all provincial and territorial sites.
There should be links in each site to the ministries of education.
- Canadian Heritage Site. A federal site
with information about virtually all aspects of Canadian culture including the symbols of
Canada, national music, and links to holidays and anniversaries, protocol and
events, the royal family, and much more. Check-out the A-Z index page. This site
is also cross-linked with Culture Canada, another comprehensive federal
site.
- National Library of Canada. The National Library is one of the nation's
leading centers for research in Canadian Studies and is a showcase for Canadian
literature and music. This site is now linked with the National Archives of
Canada.
- Statistics Canada. Statistical data about Canada and interesting education
resources. Under Education Resources there are over 30 teaching activities and 8
teachers kits. There are also over 370 tables on Canadian statistics and 6
tables of data and maps for every community in Canada on the Profile of Canadian
Communities. The site also links with other statistical sites in Canada and the
federal government.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia
This is the on-line version of The Canadian Encyclopedia sponsored by
the Historica Foundation dedicated to promoting Canadian History education.
- Virtual Museum of Canada This
site is the gateway to museums in Canada. You can explore what a specific
museum has to offer and view current virtual museum displays. It is an
excellent tool to plan for field trips, contact museum official, and check
to see what current displays are available at the museum of your choice.
- Citizen
Voices This is Governor
General Michaëlle Jean’s website that also contain her blog, discussion forums,
and videos with items of national interest. You can add your comments to her
blog. There is also a contact site, and provision for online chats with Her
Excellency in the FAQ site at the bottom of the page.
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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
- ACJNet. Access to Justice Network is an electronic community that brings
together people, information, and educational resources on Canadian justice and
legal issues. It is the only nationwide service dedicated to making law and
justice resources available to all Canadians in either official language.
- Mapleleafweb. This
University of Lethbridge website is a portal to almost everything political
in Canada, from government and laws to the various political parties. It
also deals with current events. The site is designed to be the one stop
website for everything political. It is well worth browsing.
- Privacy Commissioner of
Canada. Information and links to other provincial and international
sites regarding protection of privacy and information laws. Link to the
Ontario Information and Privacy Commission for an extraordinary number of
other privacy links, and then to its resources section under education for
free downloadable upper elementary and secondary resources - they can be
modified for your own jurisdiction.
-
Canadian Constitutional Documents - A Legal History. This is a
comprehensive set of Constitutional documents relating to Canada.
- Try Judging. This site, designed
for the secondary level, deals with the importance of the judicial system in
Canada. It contains student and teacher resources including videos, and
involves students in dealing with the role of judges, concepts such as rule
of law, judicial independence and impartiality. Try Judging was developed
and produced by the Public Education Committee of the Superior Courts Judges
Association
- Civics
Channel Canada Online Textbook. This site is a virtual civics textbook.
It is dedicated to research, teaching and learning concerning citizenship
and society, politics, human rights and the justice system in Canada.
- Edmonton
John Howard Society. This site contains public legal education resources
for teachers on the themes of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, drugs, family
violence, bullying, and gangs. Each theme contains a section on information,
lessons, links and FAQs. There is a downloadable PowerPoint presentation for
the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and downloadable PDF files for classroom
materials in most of the theme sections.
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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.
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HUMAN RIGHTS
- Canadian Human Rights Commission. The Canadian Human Rights Commission was
established in 1978 and has three main objectives: to promote knowledge of human
rights in Canada and to encourage people to follow principles of equality; to
provide effective and timely means for resolving individual complaints; and to
help reduce barriers to equality in employment and access to services. There are
links to provincial and territorial human rights commissions.
- Amnesty International Canada. The website for the Canadian division of this
international human rights organization with links to the international site.
- NIZKOR. This Canadian site is dedicated to fighting Holocaust denial,
neo-Nazism and racism on the Internet. Its webmaster has been the target of hate
mongers.
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. There is large amount of resource
materials in this site. Teachers will find this site of much value if a unit is
being developed or a question arises about this horrible period in history.
- A Teacher's Guide To The
Holocaust. This award winning site is produced by the Florida Center for
Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida.
It is designed for teachers and contains extensive resources including
lesson plans, film clips, photo, music and art files. The navigation index
is very user friendly.
- Anti-Slavery. This is a British organization that has consultative status
with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Its website documents
slavery and slavery-like conditions.
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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
-
AVG
Anti-Virus - This is a fine
anti-virus program developed by Grisoft that can be downloaded free for
Windows and Linux. It is for private, non-commercial, personal, home use
only. This program comes well
recommended. If you do not have an anti-virus program, here is the one for
you.
-
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.
-
Picasa -
This is software to find, edit and share pictures on your PC. It has
advanced editing and powerful effects. You can share your pictures using
e-mail, printing, and CDs, share via Hello™, and post pictures on your
blog. This is a free download from Google.
Your Webmaster uses this program and highly recommends it.
-
FreeTechBooks
- “All
the books listed here are available for free, as they are hosted on websites
that belong to the authors or the publishers. You are most welcome to view,
download and print the books for your own private use at no charge.”
-
Ed Tech Talk Show
- At this site you can comment, discuss and “mull-over all
things related to educational technology.”
-
Lavasoft
- This site deals with spyware. It has a free download of its
excellent anti-spyware program Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal. If you do not
presently have anti-spyware your Webmaster recommends downloading and using
it regularly. Failure to do so can allow others on the Internet to intrude
and compromise the operation of your computer and your privacy.
-
Firefox
- This is a free download web browser created by Mozilla for Windows, Mac,
and Linux. Many believe that it is superior to other web browsers, and it is
available in different languages including French. The website has a
discussion of its features. Firefox is well worth having on your desktop as
your primary browser or for a backup. You will not be disappointed.
-
Foxit
Reader 2.0 for Windows - This is a free PDF reader that takes up only
1.9 megabytes and is an excellent alternative to, or backup for for, Adobe
Acrobat. It does not have as many bells and whistles as Acrobat, but is a
good basic reader and does not tend to become unstable as Acrobat. A preview
Linux edition is also available.
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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.
Return to Contents
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