Ecozones

What is an Ecozone?

It is a way of understanding the natural and human world. Geographers have divided up Canada into 20 major ecozones that share common characteristics. Ecozones take into consideration the following: • landform features • water features • vegetation • climate • human activities

Canada has a mosaic of distinctive ecosystems, many of which are unique in the world. There are 20 major ecosystems -- ecozones -- in Canada: 15 terrestrial ecozones and 5 marine ecozones.

We are going to be spending some time investigating our country using ecozones as our guide…
Ecozone Project

Your Task: • In groups, you will research one of Canada's ecozones. • You will prepare a display board illustrating your research. • Your group will prepare a 10-15 minute presentation on your ecozone.

There are 4 main areas of research for each ecozone:

1) Climate:
You need to… • Show the location of your ecozone on a map of Canada • Give a detailed description of your ecozone's climate • Select two locations in your ecozone and develop climate graphs for each

2) Plants and Animals:
You need to… • Give a detailed description of the natural vegetation of your ecozone, including the names of the various plant species • Give a detailed description of the animals of your ecozone, including the names of the various animal species -- also, include a food web

3) Soil and Landforms:
You need to… • Give a detailed description of the different soil types • Describe the dominant landform formations and explain the history of their formation

4) Resource Development:
You need to… • Describe ways resource development has changed the natural environment • Determine the impacts these modifications have had on the ecozone and if they are sustainable • Recommend ways in which resources could be better managed to ensure they are sustainable

While this is a 'group project,' you will have individual accountability. You will be assigned marks on the basis of your work. To achieve this, you need to identify your work on your display board by writing your name under the section(s) you wrote.

Divide up the work as evenly as possible. If there are four of you, each student should do one section. If there are three of you, then one student will have to do two sections -- indicate this on the board. Those who do two sections will not necessarily get a higher grade! And you should not 'share' a section of this project since evaluating you individually will be impossible.

~~ Please see the evaluation sheet for guidance ~~
Evaluation for Ecozone Assignment Name: __________________________

Evaluation Criteria
Mark Received
Climate – Knowledge and Understanding/Thinking

• The