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Complete

Chapter One

The System of Things

Part One

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

Update June 8th, 2026:

Canada has a new Governor General! Today, former Supreme Court justice and human rights advocate Louise Arbour was installed as Canada’s 31st Governor General, succeeding Mary Simon. As the King’s representative in Canada, the Governor General plays an important role in our democracy, helping uphold Canada’s constitutional system and bringing Canadians together. Arbour brings decades of experience in law, justice, and international human rights to the position.

Why Nature?

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

Find out!

Read Story Instead

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

Go!

Questions & Activities

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

Go!

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?
More on Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell

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.

Begin the trickery

Know the Terms

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

Start

Jeopardy!

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

What is...

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!

Pin it!

Discuss

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

Converse

Part Three

HOW DOES THIS CLASS RELATE TO REAL-WORLD ISSUES?

Inquiry Media

Does nature need half?

Go!

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.

Go!

Further Exploration

Latest News

Canada’s New Governor General – Louise Arbour

News
Canada has a new Governor General! Today, former Supreme Court justice and human rights advocate Louise Arbour was installed as Canada’s 31st Governor General,...
Read more

Canadian Environment Week – Day 7

Curieux de nature
This week we celebrate Canadian Environment Week. It's the perfect time to get outside, explore, and discover the incredible nature all around us. Through Nature Labs...
Read more

Canadian Environment Week – Day 6

Curieux de nature
This week we celebrate Canadian Environment Week. It's the perfect time to get outside, explore, and discover the incredible nature all around us. Through Nature Labs...
Read more
Load more

Resources From the Curated Library

How the Conservatives’ brief love affair with environmentalism came to an ugly end

Bias: Centre Right Sub-Category: Advocacy Source: Vancouver Sun File Type: Essay/Analysis Overview: Tory/enviro split: how it happened Web Link: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Part+Conservatives+brief+love+affair+with+environmentalism+came+ugly/6728822/story.html

The importance of political compromise

Democratic Principles

Bias: Centre Source: CIVIX File Type: Resource Overview: Canadian rights and freedoms Web Link: http://civix.ca/resources/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Handout-1.2.pdf
More From the Curated Library

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...
Read more

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...
Read more

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...
Read more
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Unit completion

Chapters

Chapter One

The System of Things

You are here!

Chapter Five

Here’s How

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Chapter Nine

Own Your Hypocrisy

Go

Chapter Two

The Context of It All

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Chapter Six

Your Turn

Go

Chapter Ten

Keep Going

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Chapter Three

We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

Go

Chapter Seven

Dig Deeper

Go

Chapter Eleven

One Last Thing

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Chapter Four

Hard Stuff is Hard

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Chapter Eight

Be Better

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Chapter Twelve

The End (of the Beginning)

Go