Systems Thinking Canada’s Ecozones

The Ecozone Jigsaw  UNIT 1 REVIEW: A region is an area with certain characteristics that distinguish it from other areas.  Ecozones are multi-factor regions based on a combination of natural and human characteristics.

 Canada has 20 ecozones, 15 are terrestrial and 5 are marine (ocean) regions.  Ecozones are like pieces of a puzzle that fit together to form Canada.

In the Zone  “Eco” means home in Greek so the ecozone is the natural environment that is the habitat or home of distinct communities of plants and animals.  These characteristics are generally similar throughout the whole ecozone.

The characteristics of an Ecozone: 1Landforms (geology) 2Climate 3Soil 4Water 5Natural Vegetation 6Wildlife 7Humans

Word Power  Open your textbook to pg 106 and we will look at the Word Power box together.

Ecozones are useful  Geographers gather and organize a lot of data.  They layer bits of information about the individual elements of a region, one on top of the other, and then connect all the information together (systems thinking).  In the 1990s the idea of ecozones became widely accepted.

People Affect Ecozones  People are a part of nature and can affect it in significant ways.  Many parts of the environment are experiencing stress because humans ccause serious, and sometimes irreversible, damage.  What are some examples?

 How can we learn more about how to act wisely with respect to our natural habitat and the resources it provides?  We need to understand how the Earth's natural systems work and interact with one another.

Drawing the Line  How do we decide where to draw the boundaries of each ecozone?  Data is collected and combined with aerial photos and satellite images.  You can then see gradual changes in the combination of climate, natural vegetation and wildlife from one place to another.  Boundaries are actually marking a TRANSITON ZONE - where the characteristics of one ecozone gradually blend into those of the next.

Exploring Canada’s Distinct Ecozones  For your unit project, you will explore/research the ecozone that your summative community is located in.  We will practice this by exploring the ecozone that we live in, the Mixedwood Plains.

MixedWood Plains  Turn to page 138.  As we read we will fill in our research organizer for the Mixedwood Plains.

Case Study: The holes in the Niagara Escarpment  How are people affecting our ecozone?  Sarah Harmer’s Escarpment Blues: If they blow a hole in my backyard Everyone is gonna run away The creeks won’t flow to the Great Lake below Will the water in the wells still be ok? We’ll need to build some new apartments And I know we’re gonna have to fix the roads But if we blow a hole in the escarpment The wild ones won’t have anywhere to go

If they blow a hole in the backbone The one that runs cross the muscles of the land We might get a load of stone for the road But I don’t know how much longer we can stand We’ll keep driving on the Blind Line If we don’t know where we want to go Even knowledge that’s sound can get watered down Truth can get sucked out the car window

We’re two-thirds water What do we really need? But sun, showers, soil and seed We’re two-thirds water The aquifers provide Deep down in the rock There’s a pearl inside If they blow a hole in the backbone The one that runs across the muscles of the land We might get a load of stone for the road But I don’t know how much longer we can stand We’re two-thirds water What do we really need? But sun, showers, soil and seed We’re two-thirds water The aquifers provide Deep down in the rock There’s a pearl inside If they blow a hole in the backbone The one that runs across the muscles of the land We might get a load of stone for the road But I don’t know how much longer we can stand