Canada in 1815

The first unit in my Socials 10 course (after review) is called "Canada in 1815". 

The key questions for the unit are:

1)   What was Canada like in 1815? Who was here and what were they thinking and doing?

2)   What were the problems with government?

My lessons go like this: 

1) Economy in 1815

2) Government in 1815

3) Immigration in 1815

4) Big Ideas in 1815

5) First Nations Relations: 1815-1840

6) Rebellions of 1837-1838

7) Government in 1840

Of course, "Canada in 1815" wasn't quite the same Canada as today. We are just talking about Upper and Lower Canada, or the very southern portions of Ontario and Quebec. 

Gapminder

"Gapminder" is a fascinating website that visually represents all types of historical data. In particular, if you load gapminder world, it will display the graph above of life expectancy and GDP over time. (It also tracks population with the size of dot). I selected "Canada" from the list and it created a graph of how Canada has changed over time. Notice that in the early 1800's (when Socials 10 'starts') the life expectancy in Canada was less than 40!

I use this website to introduce what life might have been like in the early 19th century, but of course the students just want to know which country is the biggest dot and which country is the richest, etc... I figure that can't hurt, and I know some students go home and check out the graph when they get home.