Discover Amazing Places Around the World!

You live in a community, but there are many other amazing places in the world to discover. When you learn about other places, you begin to understand how people live, what they eat, and what they celebrate. This is called global awareness.

You already know about your own community from topics like Features of Our Community and People and Places. Now you will zoom out and explore places much farther away, like Canada and its many regions.

Canada is a very large country directly north of the United States. It has many different regions, each with its own landscape, weather, and people.

A forest is full of trees. A prairie is flat land covered with lots of grass, like in Saskatchewan. A coast is land next to the ocean, like in British Columbia. The Arctic is Canada's cold northern region. Much of Canada is covered by a boreal forest, which is a large forest of evergreen trees like spruce and pine.

Canada also has the five Great Lakes Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario which sit along the border between Canada and the United States. Lake Superior is the largest of all five.

Atlantic Canada is made up of four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Atlantic Ocean borders this region to the east.

Prince Edward Island is famous for growing potatoes. Nova Scotia's capital city is Halifax, and it is home to the famous Peggy's Cove lighthouse. The Bay of Fundy, between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, has the highest ocean tides in the world. The Cabot Trail is a beautiful scenic road through Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, meaning both English and French are spoken there. Many people there speak French because of the Acadian community. Newfoundland and Labrador was the last province to join Canada, in 1949.

Fishing is a very important industry in Atlantic Canada. In autumn, the forests turn beautiful shades of red and orange. The Confederation Bridge is a long bridge connecting Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick.

Canada is home to three main Indigenous groups: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. Each group has its own history, language, and traditions. The Mi'kmaq Nation is an Indigenous people who have lived in Atlantic Canada for thousands of years.

A powwow is a celebration of Indigenous culture through music, dance, and community. Learning about Indigenous peoples helps you respect and appreciate their rich history.

Many people in the province of Quebec speak French as their first language. They are called French Canadians. French was brought to Canada by early settlers from France hundreds of years ago.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, celebrated on June 24th, is an important cultural holiday for French Canadians. A famous French Canadian food is poutine, which is French fries topped with gravy and cheese curds.

Canada's capital city is Ottawa. The Canadian flag has two red stripes on the sides and a white center with a red maple leaf. The maple leaf comes from the maple tree, which produces maple syrup a sweet food made from tree sap. The beaver is also a national symbol of Canada.

Canada's national anthem is called O Canada. Canada has a colder climate than most of the United States because it is farther north. An immigrant is a person who moves from another country to live in Canada.

Forest: A forest is a large area full of trees. You can find forests in many parts of Canada.

Prairie: A prairie is flat land covered with lots of grass. Saskatchewan is a province with prairies.

Coast: A coast is land that sits right next to the ocean. British Columbia has a coast on the Pacific Ocean.

Arctic: The Arctic is Canada's cold northern region. Very few people live there because it is so cold.

Boreal Forest: A boreal forest is a large forest of evergreen trees like spruce and pine that covers much of northern Canada.

Indigenous: Indigenous peoples are the first people who lived in a place. In Canada, the three main Indigenous groups are First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.

First Nations: First Nations are one of the three main Indigenous groups in Canada, with their own history, language, and traditions.

Métis: The Métis are one of Canada's three main Indigenous groups with a unique mixed heritage and culture.

Inuit: The Inuit are Indigenous people who traditionally live in Canada's cold northern Arctic regions.

Powwow: A powwow is a celebration of Indigenous culture through music, dance, and community gatherings.

Immigrant: An immigrant is a person who permanently moves from one country to another to live there.

Great Lakes: The Great Lakes are five large freshwater lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario located along the Canada and United States border.

Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is a sweet food made by collecting sap from maple trees and boiling it down. Canada produces most of the world's maple syrup.

Poutine: Poutine is a famous French Canadian food made of French fries topped with gravy and cheese curds.

Bilingual: Bilingual means speaking two languages. New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, using both English and French.

Global Awareness: Global awareness means learning about and understanding people and places around the world.

You can look at a map of Canada and find the four provinces of Atlantic Canada. Try pointing to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

You can also connect what you learn here to World Maps and Locations and Climate and Geography Impact to understand how geography shapes the way people live.

Think about how Customs and Celebrations like powwows and Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day show the unique culture of different groups of people.

You have already learned about Diversity Within Communities and Basic Mapping Concepts, which help you understand how different people live in different places.

You also explored Different Points of View, which helps you respect how people in other places see the world differently than you do.

After this topic, you will be ready to learn about Understanding Maps and Using Geography Tools to find and explore places on your own.

Learning about other places connects to many exciting topics. You can explore Where People Live to understand why people choose to live in certain places like coasts, forests, or cities.

You will also discover how communities are connected in Links Between Communities and how people cooperate in Working Together.

Explore World Contributions to learn what different places and cultures have given to the world. You can also learn about Languages Around the World, like French in Quebec, and World Religions and Values to understand what people believe and care about.

All of these topics help you build a bigger picture of our world and the amazing people who live in it.