Slide deck for teachers - Mapping Electoral Districts

Slide	Title	Text
1	Mapping Electoral Districts
2	Minds on	Imagine: You are at a family party to celebrate a grandparent’s birthday.
3	Minds on	There are seven people at the party: One grandparent Two adults Three teenagers One 3-year-old How would you divide the cake so that everyone gets their fair share? Teacher’s note: You can prompt students with additional questions. Examples: “Should everyone get the same-sized piece?" and "Should the cake be divided based on age, size or other factors?”
4	Inquiry question	What makes an electoral district fair?
5	Activity	Did you know? Canada is divided into hundreds of electoral districts. In each district, voters elect one member of Parliament to represent everyone who lives there. To reflect changes in the Canadian population, the number of electoral districts is adjusted every 10 years.
6	Activity	When deciding on new boundaries, we consider: The size of the population Geographic features Social factors, such as culture and language
7	Activity	Getting ready Your group will need: One Main Map Two reference maps Language Communities Shared History One handout: Instructions for students Dry erase markers
8	Activity	Your task: Draw the electoral boundaries for an imaginary country.
9	Activity	Start by naming your country.
10	Activity	Use the reference maps to create eight electoral districts on the Main Map. Use dry-erase markers only. One district is already created.
11	Activity	Guidelines: Aim for a similar number of people in each district Use the reference maps to guide your decisions You can create more than eight districts, but you must explain why Teacher’s notes: Allow 20 to 30 minutes for the activity. Remind students to consider geographic features, population, language and shared history.
12	Consolidation	Share your thinking: Post your group’s map. Explain your thinking. Teacher’s notes: We suggest a gallery walk where you display each of the Main Maps in the classroom and divide each group into two subgroups. One subgroup stays with their map to explain their decision making in drawing their boundaries, and the other visits the maps of the other groups. Halfway through, have the subgroups switch.
13	Consolidation	Discussion: What similarities and differences do you see? What changes would you make to your map?
14	Consolidation	Interview with an Elections Canada geographer
15	Consolidation	Return to the inquiry question: What makes an electoral district fair?
16	Consolidation	Reflection: I think that the most important factor in making electoral districts fair is... This factor is important because… It is important to make electoral districts fair because… One question I have now is… Teacher’s note: You can use the provided exit card handout, on which these questions are printed.