CGC 1D: Issues in Canadian Geography Exam Review

Unit 1: Becoming a Geographer

An issue is complex, long-standing, has a big impact, and has more than one right answer.
The 4 Geographical Thinking Concepts are:
- Spatial Significance
- Interrelationships
- Patterns and Trends
- Geographic Perspectives
The 4 types of Geographic Perspectives are:
- Economic
- Political
- Environmental
- Social
The 3 questions Geographers strive to answer are:
- What is there?
- Why is it there?
- Why should we care?
The difference between a pattern and a trend is that patterns occur over space and trends occur over time.
The 4 types of interrelationships are:
- Human-Human (H-H)
- Human-Nature (H-N)
- Nature-Nature (N-N)
- Human-Nature (H-N)

Unit 2: Physical Geography

The majority of Canadian tourist destinations are physical landscapes because of Canada's vast and diverse natural geography.
The forces that build up the land are:
- Deposition
- Glaciation
- Geologic Processes
- Wind
- Rivers
The forces that wear down the land are:
- Glaciation
- Tectonic forces
- Weathering and Erosion
Tectonic plates are the earth's process that created the entire earth's surface from forces deep in the earth.
The 3 types of plate movements are:
- Divergent
- Convergent
- Transform
The 3 types of rocks are:
- Igneous
- Sedimentary
- Metamorphic
Processes that can change rocks into another type of rock are:
- Heat and pressure
- Weather and erosion
- Melting
Elements that cause weathering and erosion on the Earth's surface are:
- Wind
- Rain
- Flowing water
- Chemicals
- Glaciers
Canada's landform regions and their characteristics are:
- Western Cordillera (high and younger mountains)
- Interior Plains (flat area very good for farming)
- St. Lawrence Lowlands (area with very fertile soil)
- Canadian Shield (made of mostly igneous and takes up most of Canada)
- Appalachian Mountains (very old and round mountains)
- Arctic Lowlands (cold area mostly made of permafrost)
A profile of Canada's landscapes (from West coast to East coast) is:
- West is higher with a steeper climb, the plains make it drop and it slowly rises for the Appalachian then drops for the Atlantic.

Unit 3: Climate and Natural Hazards

The difference between weather and climate is that weather happens over a short period of time and climate happens over time.
The 6 factors that affect climate are:
- Latitude (the closer you are to the poles, the colder)
- Elevation (the higher, the less air, which means it gets colder)
- Wind and Ocean Currents (show the currents that bring in warm/cool wind or air)
- Closeness to water (water takes longer to turn cold and warm, so it is warmer in the winter and colder in the summer)
- Wind and Air masses (water can't pass through clouds, so the clouds downpour onto the side of the mountain every time)
The 2 main types of climate are:
- Continental
- Maritime
Information plotted on climate graphs is:
- Amount of precipitation
- Climate in that area
How to interpret climate graphs:
- Average Annual Temperature, Total Precipitation, Temperature Range, Season of Maximum Precipitation
The main causes of flooding in Canada are:
- Snow melting
- Ice Jams
- Heavy rain fall or Storms
Urbanization's impact on flooding:
- Causes rivers to flow faster
- Causes overwhelming water levels within the sewage
The 5 natural hazards that occur in Canada are:
- Tornadoes
- Flooding
- Landslides
- Earthquakes
- Wildfires and Winter Storms/Extreme Cold

Unit 4: Human Geography

Demography is the study of human statistics like death, birth, income, and population.
Rates used to study demography are:
- Birth rates
- Death rates
- Population rates
- Emigration/Immigration rates
How to calculate each rate:
- Population growth: Natural increase = Births per year - Deaths per year
- Doubling time: 70/growth population Rate
Challenges of a quick doubling time and a long doubling time (declining population) are:
- Quick doubling time: need to build and locate housing and the struggle for resources
- Long doubling time: struggle to keep the country running properly
Canada's current population is 38.9 million people.
Canada's population distribution is:
- Most sparsely populated areas are beyond the Windsor corridor, with an exception for populated cities like Vancouver
- More densely populated areas are along the Pacific coast and the Western Cordillera
Tool used to visualize population data is:
- Population pyramids
Information displayed on the graphs:
- Trends
Pyramid shapes tell us about the population:
- A "bump" in the pyramid means the population spiked during that age group, like a baby boom
- A dent in the pyramid means the opposite, meaning that that certain age group has faced a higher than usual mortality rate, like a war or famine
Dependency load is the ratio of groups of populations, for example, the working population (16-64), the children, and the elderly.
A low/high dependency load affects society:
- Low dependency load: struggle to find workers
- High dependency load: challenges for making more space for housing and will be seen for chances of growth economically
How has Canada's population pyramid changed over time?
- In the future, a struggle to find workers are likely to happen since the baby boomers will retire
- The pyramid has changed by forming an inverted pyramid with coming time
The Demographic Transition Model:
- Stage 1: A country starts with a high birth rate and equally high death rate, therefore the population remains stable
- Stage 2: A drop in death rate occurs, usually because of better healthcare and nutrition, while the birth rate remains high
- Stage 3: A drop in birth rate occurs
- Stage 4: The birth rate declines to the point where it is close to the death rate, this causes the population to level off