1. Home
  2. Grade 8
  3. History and Geography

Grade 8

History and Geography

How to Use These Resources

TVO Learn is designed to meet each student where they are on their learning journey. Learning Activities are comprehensive and require guided instruction from an adult, while Resources for Learning, Apply the Learning prompts and Vocabulary lists work well to reinforce specific skills or to enable independent exploration of a subject. Use these helpful tips to get the most from TVO Learn.

Curriculum Overview

Through the history curriculum, students build on their understanding of Canadian history, exploring the experiences and challenges of people who lived in Canada in the beginning of the twentieth century and will compare them to the people who live in present-day Canada. By examining the impact of the Indian Act, the residential school system, the Numbered Treaties, and systemic racism on Indigenous individuals and communities they will come to know the inequalities which exist in society today and that many of the rights and freedoms we have are the result of actions taken by people to change their lives.

In the geography curriculum, students continue to learn about the Earth’s physical features and processes in order to explore the relationship between the Earth and human settlement patterns. They will focus on where people live and why they live there and on the impact of human settlement and land use on the environment. In addition, students will study factors which affect economic development and quality of life on a global scale and will examine responses to global inequalities.

The history and geography curriculum is divided into two strands:

  • History
    Creating Canada, 1850–1890
    Canada, 1890–1914: A Changing Society
  • Geography
    Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability
    Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Quality of Life

Interested in learning more? View Curriculum PDF
For French resources, please visit idello.org

On this page:

Learning Activities

Learning Activities provide opportunity for deeper exploration of a subject. Organized by grade and topic (or strand), students should be guided through each Learning Activity by an adult. Before clicking on a topic to prepare for or begin this guided instruction, be sure to read these helpful tips about how to get the most out of TVO Learn.

Learning Activities provide opportunity for deeper exploration of a subject. Organized by grade and topic (or strand), students should be guided through each Learning Activity by an adult. Before clicking on a topic to prepare for or begin this guided instruction, be sure to read these helpful tips about how to get the most out of TVO Learn.

Learning Activities
Almost there!

To access this learning activity, please visit this page in a desktop or tablet browser.

History - Canada, 1890–1914: A Changing Society

Learning Activity 1
Canada in 1890 – A Changing Society
Learning Activity 2
Times are Changing – Life in Canada Between 1890 and 1914
Learning Activity 3
Home Sweet Home? Immigration in the 19th Century
Learning Activity 4
Politics in Canada
Learning Activity 5
Indigenous Sovereignty, Rights, & Resistance
Learning Activity 6
The Residential School System
Learning Activity 7
Social Progress
Learning Activity 8
Women in Canadian History

Geography - Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability

Learning Activity 1
Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability
Learning Activity 2
Population Density
Learning Activity 3
Trends in Human Settlement
Learning Activity 4
Human Settlement Factors
Learning Activity 5
Global Settlement Patterns
Learning Activity 6
Land Use
Learning Activity 7
Environmental Impacts
Learning Activity 8
Sustainability

Geography - Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Quality of Life

Learning Activity 1
Introduction to Global Inequalities
Learning Activity 2
Quality of Life
Learning Activity 3
Policies and Programs
Learning Activity 4
Graphing
Learning Activity 5
Interrelationships
Learning Activity 6
Economic Systems & Sectors
Learning Activity 7
Economic Development Factors
Learning Activity 8
Distribution of Wealth

Resources for Learning

Chosen by TVO educators, these resources support the curriculum outlined above. Review the below list of options along with the activities. Then, read, watch, listen or play to build understanding and knowledge.

Please be aware by accessing the resources below you will be leaving TVO Learn and entering other TVO domains that are subject to different privacy policies and terms of use.

Complete the suggested activities using these resources and other TVO resources.

Apply the Learning

Choose from the following to consolidate learning across all curriculum strands.

  • In small groups, research and find political speeches in Canada from 1850-1890 to compare and contrast them with the political speech selections made in the article.
  • Make a slide show that compares and contrasts the rights of Canadian citizens with the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Indian Act.
  • Design a mind-map of the main ideas of the injustice of residential schools.
  • In the form of a short story, describe what your life would be like without electricity.
  • List 5 areas where First Nations face inequalities. For each area suggest some strategies to address these inequalities.
  • Write a reflection on what Canada could do to better target sustainability goals.
  • Design a bookmark for at least three resources that summarizes the main ideas on the impacts on the environment.
  • Create your own definitions for 20 of the words in the vocabulary list.

Vocabulary

Review this list of vocabulary associated with the curriculum. Practice spelling, research definitions, and find these vocabulary words when engaging with the TVO resources or completing learning activities.

Students should understand and be able to apply these words in context.

Act of Union

Band

Band council

community

Dominion of Canada

First Nations

Indigenous peoples

Indian Act

Inuit

Métis

National Policy

residential school system

the Crown

Treaties

democracy

demographic

equity

freedom

human impact

issue-based

land-use

perspective

population density

power and authority

relationships

rights and responsibilities

stewardship

thematic maps

Looking for a Different Subject?

Choose from the options below to explore a different grade 8 subject.