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Chapter One

The System of Things

Part One

Why does politics matter? You can't escape politics, so you might as well learn more.

Why Nature?

We use nature as a metaphor to help explain your class lesson. Why?

Read Story Instead

Prefer reading instead? Here's the text version of your lesson.

Questions & Activities

Reflect on your lesson with short activities, or by exploring referenced articles, featured podcasts, term definitions, and more!

Featured Hot Take

Are the big, complex systems in our society important? Can they evolve? Absolutely! Just ask Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, Canada’s first – and so far only – female prime minister.

We’re featuring this podcast across all five Nature Labs subjects. You might not like every course you take in school, but they are all related. By listening to this podcast, hopefully you’ll better understand why.

Reflection

  • Do you agree that our democracy is fragile? And, if it is, how can we contribute to its health?
  • Should more of us consider running for office, or is it fair to say that politics – and party politics specifically – isn’t for everyone?
  • Is voting during an election all that's required to be a good citizen, or is more required of us?
  • Are too many of us ceding important decisions to a small group of political power brokers?
  • How can we each help advance good policy?
  • If you could propose one new policy, what would it be and how would you build support for your idea?

Part Two

THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES WILL HELP YOU BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTS YOU NEED TO LEARN IN THIS CLASS. YOUR TEACHER WILL SELECT WHICH ACTIVITIES YOU NEED TO COMPLETE BELOW.

Truth vs Lie

What do you know? Try to trick your classmates in a friendly game of two truths and a lie.

Know the Terms

What terms and concepts will you discover in this unit? Learn and practice, and practice again!

Jeopardy!

The classic game, with a twist. Apply what you have learned so far and compete to win!

Pinteresting!

Create a Pinterest board where you can post ideas and questions that come up during the course. It's like note-taking, but fun!

Discuss

Have a conversation with your classmates to help each other better understand what you'll be learning in this class. * Recommended

Part Three

HOW DOES THIS CLASS RELATE TO REAL-WORLD ISSUES?

Inquiry Media

Does nature need half?

Canada at a Crossroads

NEW: Inquiry Media Series

This five-part story will be featured across each of the first five chapters of Nature Labs and will ask students to explore the question of how Canada can protect our economy and sovereignty while still addressing the other challenges of our time, including biodiversity, the climate, and reconciliation. (Chapter Two coming Nov. 1st)

Further Exploration

Latest News

Honouring the Life of Jane Goodall

https://youtu.be/SOYXokr9CPA

New Lesson Alert: ‘Canada at a Crossroads’

This five-part story will be featured across each of the first five chapters of Nature Labs and will ask students to explore, through the...

Podcasts for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

We must be willing to listen and learn from all peoples and all life. Indeed, listening, and acting, is what the National Day for...

Resources From the Curated Library

Inside the deep rift between ‘new’ and traditional conservation

Sub-Category: Advocacy Source: The Globe and Mail File Type: Essay/Analysis Overview: Different strategies cause rift amongst...

From Clayoquot Sound to Trans Mountain, the power of protest endures

From Clayoquot Sound to Trans Mountain, the power of...

Getting to know Canada’s nonprofit sector: Why we need better data

Getting to know Canada's nonprofit sector: Why we need...

Additional Resources

What is Systems Change

Systems change is a process that seeks to reconstruct or evolve an entire system, impacting everyone and everything connected to it. Systems change often...

What is Design Thinking

Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology that focuses on needs and experiences to generate creative solutions. It is a human-centred approach to innovation that...

Terms

It's important to build a base of knowledge for this class. First, let's start with a few questions: Why does politics matter? What concepts/ideas/people come...
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Unit completion

Chapters

Chapter One

The System of Things

Chapter Five

Here’s How

Chapter Nine

Own Your Hypocrisy

Chapter Two

The Context of It All

Chapter Six

Your Turn

Chapter Ten

Keep Going

Chapter Three

We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

Chapter Seven

Dig Deeper

Chapter Eleven

One Last Thing

Chapter Four

Hard Stuff is Hard

Chapter Eight

Be Better

Chapter Twelve

The End (of the Beginning)