Social Studies

In this unit you will explore the time before 1713 in what would eventually become Canada. You will meet many First Nations and Inuit, such as the Mi'kmaq, Innu, Wendat, Haudenosaunee, Algonquin and Cree, and learn how they traded, made alliances and recorded agreements in wampum belts long before Europeans came. Then you will find out why Europeans came, how the fur trade worked as a partnership, and how New France was governed. You will look honestly at the consequences of contact, including terrible epidemics, and at how European wars affected Indigenous nations, from the Great Peace of Montreal (1701) to the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). You will learn how the Métis began to grow into a distinct people, compare perspectives, connect the past to issues in Canada today, and carry out your own inquiry.

Remember from Grade 4: you learned about the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe and the Thule ancestors of Inuit before 1500. All the nations in this unit are living communities today. Every lesson has a hands-on activity to do at home, practice questions and a short quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: A1.1 to A1.3, A2.1 to A2.6 and A3.1 to A3.8 (The Ontario Curriculum, Social Studies, Grades 1 to 6; History and Geography, Grades 7 and 8, 2018, revised 2023; Grade 5, Strand A: Heritage and Identity: Interactions of Indigenous Peoples and Europeans prior to 1713, in What Would Eventually Become Canada). The unit addresses the three overall expectations: the impact of interactions (A1), inquiry into perspectives on interactions (A2), and significant characteristics and interactions (A3).

In this unit you will find out who makes decisions in Canada and how citizens can help solve problems. You will learn the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the jobs (jurisdiction) of the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments; what school boards and band councils do; and the many kinds of First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments working today. You will explore how governments share responsibilities, how they ask the public for ideas, and what the duty to consult and accommodate Indigenous communities means. You will judge whether government actions are effective, learn why people have different perspectives, discover ways citizens take action, write plans of action for a social and an environmental issue, and carry out an inquiry like a social scientist.

This unit builds on Grade 3 (municipal governments and services, the three levels of government, and First Nations communities in Ontario today) and Grade 4 (Canada's provinces, territories and capitals, and sustainable use of resources). The unit is non-partisan: it explains how government works and names no current politicians. Maple Creek, its creek and river, and its data are pretend, made up for practice.

Curriculum expectations covered: B1.1 to B1.3, B2.1 to B2.6, B3.1 to B3.9 (Ontario Social Studies, Grade 5, People and Environments: The Role of Government and Responsible Citizenship, 2018, revised 2023). B1 (Application): assess responses of governments in Canada to some significant issues, and develop plans of action for governments and citizens to address social and environmental issues. B2 (Inquiry): use the social studies inquiry process to investigate Canadian social and/or environmental issues from various perspectives, including the perspective of the level (or levels) of government responsible for addressing the issues. B3 (Understanding Context): demonstrate an understanding of the roles and key responsibilities of citizens and of the different levels of government in Canada.