Thursday 27 April 2017

Geography: My Journey Reflection Questions

My Journey Reflection Questions


1.) Throughout this project, I was really able to deepen my understanding on the past generations of my family. Although this was a brand new assignment, I had already conducted a project similar to this one in previous years. Throughout my previous assignment, I had a greater focus on the side of my father, as I had an overload of information from my father. For this reason, I was able to gain a new outlook on my mother’s side of the family, because I had focused my attention on her side of the family for this project. I was unaware of how many different cities and countries my mother had to live in.


I really could not imagine having to restart new friendships and lifestyles over and over again. Along with the focus on my father’s side of the family, I also didn’t use any spatial technology in my first variation of this project. For this reason, I was also able to develop my technological mapping skills. Although some of the lines didn’t end up perfect at the start, I was ultimately able to figure out a way to plot my lines in a proper manner. As stated before, I had already gained an understanding on my father’s side of the family, but I was still able to expand on my previous knowledge. I was able to do this because I went into greater detail in this assignment. I was actually able to understand the reasons for movement, and I was also able to actually see how old my father was during the different movements.


2.)There are many reasons why an individual/family would want to settle in Canada. For the purpose of this assignment I will be listing three.


If you are a refugee, you are trying to escape potential wars and personal harm. Canada would provide just that. Many newcomers are looking for a place with very low crime rates. A reliable source in the “OECD Better Life Index” ranked Canada’s crime rate as low as 9.7/10. Along with having a safe country, Canada also has a very strong and stable economy. This means there are many opportunities for individuals looking to sustain themselves. Finally, Canada accepts over 250,000 new permanent residents each year. Due to this, Canada’s government invests millions of dollars every year to help these newcomers settle into their new environments, hence the fact many newcomers settle in Canada.


3.)There are definitely reasons why an individual/family would want to move to Canada, but there are also many obstacles. One of the biggest obstacles would be language. Some newcomers aren’t familiar with our official language (English.) Although this could be very inconvenient, many newcomers often move with another individual who is able to get the gist of what people are saying. If this is the case, the aiding individual could always play a key role in eliminating some of this issue. Many individuals also try and cope with this by trying to learn little bits and pieces of this language over time. Many newcomers will often take up training which could also aid with this issue. Without language it’s also very hard to find work. Although Canada has a very strong and stable economy, many people would also have trouble finding positions in the workforce if they don’t have the proper language/communication skills. Again, they could develop their linguistic skills, as it would benefit them greatly in the long run.


This also plays a key role in sustaining your family. Many of these newcomers could also feel isolated due to the emotions in leaving your friends and family. If Canada is taking in over 250,000 newcomers each year, chances are you would be able to find a group/community of friends to socialize with. Hence, all these reasons are taken into account during the immigration process.

Tuesday 11 April 2017

Geography Day 1!(Debrief of the day)

       Today was our first class of the term. During this class, we conducted a mini workshop in groups of three, which had us find populations of numerous countries. Along with the populations, we were instructed to draw a map of Canada to the best of our ability, and mark down certain cities on our map. Finally, we were instructed to find the population of Canada in 1957,1977, and 1997. I really enjoyed this session because it showed my personal abilities in Geography, and what I may have to work on in the future. I feel like this course will be a very beneficial one in the long run!