Special Places: Eco-lessons from the National Parks in Atlantic Canada

Grade 10

Cumulative Effects Assessment – What If?

Students will learn about Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Impact Statements and Cumulative Environmental Effects as they relate to the national parks in Atlantic Canada through the preparation and presentation of a community open house information session.

Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:

• describe and discuss various environmental impacts in light of resource management activities;
• recognize potential conflicts between resource use and the environment;
• analyze the cumulative impacts on an ecosystem and explain anticipated changes over time;
• assess human impacts on a specific environment;
• defend a certain point of view in a simulated public meeting;
• communicate questions, ideas and intentions and receive, interpret, understand, support and respond to the ideas of others.

Protect Me, Protect Me Not?

Students will consider why there are national parks. They will reflect on their usefulness to Canadians and why they are critical to the survival of our planet. Students will be asked to investigate issues that affect the sustainability of national park ecosystems and how the concept of sustainability has brought about a change in national park management.

Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:

• debate issues around the protection, preservation and conservation of ecosystems in protected areas;
• explain a variety of perspectives regarding the pros and cons of setting aside land and resources as national parks.

A Sustainability Case Study

Students will be asked to investigate issues that affect the sustainability of national park ecosystems and how the concept of sustainability has brought about a change in national park management.

Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:

• identify the issues affecting the sustainability of an ecosystem;
• understand how the concept of sustainability has influenced our perception of how a national park should be managed;
• communicate and convey questions, ideas and intentions and receive, understand and respond to the ideas of others with respect to environmental management.

What’s the Future for Fish?

Students will learn about Atlantic salmon in the national parks in Atlantic Canada. They will work together in teams to create a Futures Wheel on the park of their choice. Using Atlantic salmon as the key species for inquiry, students will research the park, collect information, and then work the wheel outwards to predict what the outcomes of change will be and determine how the park will have to react to address the issues they uncover.

Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:

• analyze the many interactions between the Atlantic salmon fisheries in Eastern Canada, as they relate to economics, recreation, ecosystem management, etc.;
• interpret management decisions in each selected park, and make proposals for how to better ensure the long-term survival of the salmon;
• explain various ways in which natural populations are kept in equilibrium and relate this equilibrium to the resource limits of an ecosystem.