The categories, defined by clear criteria, represent four broad areas of knowledge and skills within which the subject expectations for any given grade are organized. The four categories should be considered as interrelated, reflecting the wholeness and interconnectedness of learning.

The categories of knowledge and skills are described as follows:
Knowledge and Understanding.
Subject-specific content acquired in each grade (knowledge), and the comprehension of its meaning and significance (understanding).
Thinking.
The use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes, as follows:
– planning skills (e.g., focusing research, gathering information, organizing an inquiry)
– processing skills (e.g., analysing, evaluating, synthesizing)
– critical/creative thinking processes (e.g., inquiry, problem solving, decision making, research)
Communication.
The conveying of meaning through various forms, as follows:
– oral (e.g., story, role play, song, debate)
– written (e.g., report, letter, diary)
– visual (e.g., model, map, chart, movement, video, computer graphics)
Application.
The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts.

Official Ontario Elementary School Curriculum - Page 10

In all grades, consideration should be given to including guest speakers, as well as visits to local museums, archaeological digs, geographic features (e.g., land formations, rivers), art galleries, and festivals. Students develop a better understanding of various aspects of social studies, history, and geography when they can see and experience realistic depictions, actual historical artefacts, and examples of the geographic features they are studying. Such experiences also give them a better appreciation of the unique features and people in the community in which they live.

Official Ontario Elementary School Curriculum - Page 14

Overview
Students investigate and describe the communities of early settlers and First Nation peoples
in Upper Canada around 1800. They research interactions between new settlers and existing
communities of First Nation peoples and French settlers and identify factors that helped to
shape the development of the various communities. Students also compare communities of
the past with those of the present.

Overall Expectations
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• describe the communities of early settlers and First Nation peoples in Upper Canada around 1800;
• use a variety of resources and tools to gather, process, and communicate information about interactions between new settlers and existing communities, including First Nation peoples, and the impact of factors such as heritage, natural resources, and climate on the development of early settler communities;
• compare aspects of life in early settler communities and present-day communities.

Specific Expectations

Knowledge and Understanding
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• identify factors that helped shape the development of early settlements (e.g., lakes and rivers for trade and transportation; origins of early settlers; climate; natural resources);
• explain how the early settlers valued, used, and looked after natural resources (e.g.,water, forests, land);
• describe what early settlers learned from First Nation peoples that helped them adapt to their new environment (e.g., knowledge about medicine, food, farming, transportation);
• describe the major components of an early settlement (e.g., grist mill, church, school, general store, blacksmith’s shop);

Inquiry/Research and Communication Skills
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• ask questions to gain information and explore alternatives (e.g., concerning relationships between community and environment);
• use primary and secondary sources to locate key information about early settler communities (e.g., primary sources: diaries or journals, local museums, early settlers’ houses, forts, villages; secondary sources: maps, illustrations, print materials, videos, CD-ROMs);
• collect information and draw conclusions about human and environmental interactions during the early settlement period (e.g., settlers storing food for long winters, using plants for medicinal purposes, using waterways for transportation);
• make and read a wide variety of graphs, charts, diagrams, maps, and models to understand and share their findings about early settlements in Upper Canada (e.g., a research organizer showing trades and tools; illustrations of period clothing; maps of settlements, including First Nation communities);
• use media works, oral presentations, written notes and descriptions, and drawings to communicate research findings (e.g., a model of an early settler home, a diorama of a First Nation settlement, a poster encouraging immigration to Upper Canada);
• use appropriate vocabulary (e.g., pioneer, settlers, grist mill, settlement, general store, blacksmith, First Nation peoples ) to describe their inquiries and observations.

Application
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• compare and contrast aspects of daily life for early settler and/or First Nation children in Upper Canada and children in present-day Ontario (e.g., food, education, work and play);
• compare and contrast aspects of life in early settler and/or First Nation communities in Upper Canada and in their own community today (e.g., services, jobs, schools, stores, use and management of natural resources);
• compare and contrast tools and technologies used by early settlers and/or First Nation peoples with present-day tools and technologies (e.g., quill/word processor; sickle/combine harvester; methods of processing lumber, grain, and other products);

Official Ontario Elementary School Curriculum - Page 25

Overview
Students describe similarities and differences between urban and rural communities. They investigate geographic and environmental factors that influence the development of different communities. They also examine how communities interact with each other and the environment to meet human needs.

Overall Expectations
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• identify and compare distinguishing features of urban and rural communities;
• use a variety of resources and tools to gather, process, and communicate geographic information about urban and rural communities;
• explain how communities interact with each other and the environment to meet human needs.

Specific Expectations

Knowledge and Understanding
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• identify geographic and environmental factors that explain the location of various urban and rural communities, with examples from Ontario (e.g., Sudbury/mining, Ottawa/government, Hamilton/industry, Bradford/farming);
• compare land use (e.g., housing, recreation, stores, industry) and access to natural resources (e.g.,water, trees) in urban and rural communities;
• compare transportation in urban and rural communities;
• compare population density and diversity in urban and rural communities;
• compare buildings and structures in urban and rural communities.

Inquiry/Research and Communication Skills
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• ask questions to gain information about urban and rural communities (e.g., How do changes in the environment affect life in a community? Why is mining the major industry in Sudbury? How does population growth affect life in an urban or rural setting?);
• use primary and secondary sources to locate key information about urban and rural communities (e.g., primary sources: surveys, interviews, fieldwork; secondary sources: charts, graphs, maps, models, CD-ROMs);
• sort and classify information about communities to identify issues and solve problems;
• construct and read graphs, charts, diagrams, maps, and models to clarify and display information about urban and rural communities (e.g., to provide a profile of a community and its environment);
• use media works, oral presentations, written notes and descriptions, drawings, tables, charts, maps, and graphs to communicate information about urban and rural communities (e.g., comparisons of various community features);
• use appropriate vocabulary (e.g., urban, rural, residential, industrial, commercial, natural resources, multicultural, environment, population) to communicate the results of inquiries and observations about urban and rural communities.

Map, Globe, and Graphic Skills
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• make and use maps of urban and rural communities containing the necessary map elements of title, scale, symbols and legend, and cardinal directions;
• consult map legends when looking for selected features (e.g., H – hospital);
• recognize a range of features that may be represented by different colours on maps (e.g., pink to represent residential areas, brown to represent relief features);
• use familiar units of scale (e.g., centimetre, metre, kilometre) to measure distance on maps of urban and rural communities.

Application
By the end of Grade 3, students will:

• describe ways in which they and their families use the natural environment (e.g., playing in the park, growing food, drawing on nature for water and energy);
• compare the characteristics of their community to those of a different community (e.g., with respect to population density, services, recreation, modes of travel to isolated northern and First Nation communities);
• describe ways in which people interact with other communities (e.g., urban dwellers may travel to rural areas for recreational purposes; rural dwellers may make use of urban services such as hospitals).

Official Ontario Elementary School Curriculum - Page 39