Québec

Our curriculum map for the Québec Education Program is here! If you are a Québec educator, read on to explore our rationale for teaching our youth. The list covers elementary grades 3-6 (cycles two and three) and secondary grades 1-5 (cycles one and two).

Our goal in educating our youth is to provide them with an experiential, tools-based approach to science & technology through the lens of conservation and monitoring.

  • By focusing on conservation, we can target the science and social sciences curriculums in the elementary and secondary grades.
  • When students work with our data platform, we can also target the mathematics curriculum through data sets, graphs, and analysis of data.

By connecting social, science, and math together in one testing journey, our students (your students) will be able to see water monitoring and conservation in a holistic way. Systemic sustainability education can only be done right when cross-curricular competencies are fostered and developed with intentional programming, and that has been our goal here.

Planning on taking your students out for a water testing excursion?

Here’s how you can target different strands of the science curriculum in the elementary and secondary grades.

In the elementary and secondary grades, the science and technology program is based on fundamental learnings and organized around the following three competencies:

  • To propose explanations for or solutions to scientific or technological problems
  • To make the most of scientific and technological tools, objects and procedures
  • To communicate in the languages used in science and technology

These three competencies guide teachers and students through scientific analysis and serve as a way of carrying out experiments, fieldwork, observations, data analysis, and more. These competencies are often reflected in multiple subjects across the elementary curriculum with alterations to structure and wording. The importance of the competencies is the help develop a method for student engagement with real-world problems in math, science, social studies, and more.

Elementary (Cycles Two and Three)

Below are specific links to the curriculum for elementary grades 3-6, which have been drawn from the Science and Technology program (2006) and from the Progression of Learning document (2009).

Material World

Matter

Properties and characteristics of matter in different states:

  • Other physical properties (e.g. elasticity, hardness, permeability and impermeability, solubility) ➌
  • Describes various other physical properties of an object, a substance or a material (e.g. elasticity, hardness, solubility) ➌
  • Recognizes the materials of which an object is made ➌

Energy 

Forms of energy:

  • Sources of energy (e.g. moving water, chemical reaction in a battery, sunlight) ➌

Transmission of energy:

  • Electrical conductivity (e.g. conductors and insulators)  ➌

Techniques and Instrumentation

Use of simple measuring instruments (e.g. rulers, dropper, balance, thermometer)   ➋ ➌

Earth and Space

Matter

Properties and characteristics of matter on Earth:

  • Soil, water and air  ➋
  • Compares the properties of different types of soil (e.g. composition, capacity to retain water, capacity to retain heat) ➋ ➌
  • Describes the various ways in which the quality of water, soil or air affects living things ➋ ➌

Energy 

Transmission of energy:

  • Thermal and electrical conductivity (e.g. conductors and insulators) ➌
  • Describes methods for transmitting thermal energy (e.g. radiation, convection, conduction) ➌

Techniques and Instrumentation

Use of simple measuring instruments (e.g. rulers, dropper, balance, thermometer)   ➋ ➌

Appropriate Language

Terminology related to an understanding of the material world ➋ ➌

Living Things

Matter

Characteristics of living things:

  • Explains the basic needs of the metabolism of living things (e.g.nutrition, respiration)  ➋
  • Describes activities connected to the metabolism of living things (transformation of energy, growth, maintenance of systems and body temperature)   ➌
  • Distinguishes among the different types of embryonic development (viviparous for the majority of mammals, oviparous or ovoviviparous for the rest)   ➋

Energy 

Sources of energy for living things: 

  • Explains the nutritional needs common to all animals (water, sugars, lipids, proteins, vitamins, minerals) ➋
  • Photosynthesis in plants (e.g. need for water and carbon dioxide) ➌
  • Explains how water, light, mineral salts and carbon dioxide are essential to plants ➌

Systems and Interaction

Interaction between living organisms and their environment:

  • Living things and their habitats ➋ 
  • Identifies habitats and the animal and plant populations found in them ➋
  • Describes how animals meet their basic needs within their habitat ➋

Interaction between humans and their environment:

  • Describes the impact of human activity on the environment (e.g. use of resources, pollution, waste management, land use, urbanization, agriculture) ➋ ➌

Techniques and Instrumentation

Use of simple measuring instruments (e.g. rulers, dropper, balance, thermometer)   ➋ ➌

  • Appropriately uses simple measuring instruments (e.g. rulers, dropper, graduated cylinder, balance, thermometer, wind vane, barometer, anemometer, hygrometer) ➋ ➌

Appropriate Language

Terminology related to an understanding of living things  ➋ ➌

  • Appropriately uses terminology related to an understanding of living things ➊ ➋ ➌
  • Distinguishes between the meaning of a term used in a scientific or technological context and its meaning in everyday language (e.g. habitat, metamorphosis) ➊ ➋ ➌

Strategies

The Water Rangers Education Testkit is intended to help foster student’s engagement in the scientific method by taking part in live, hands-on tests using real scientific instruments. As such, the testkit helps to connect with all the exploration, information and communication strategies listed under Cycles Two and Three. 

Secondary (Cycles One and Two)

Below are specific links to the curriculum for secondary grades 1-5 (General education path), which have been drawn from:

Material World

Properties:

  • Volume ➊
  • Temperature ➊
  • States of matter ➊
  • Acidity/alkalinity ➊
  • Solubility ➋
  • Concentration (ppm) ➋
  • pH scale ➋
  • Electrical conductivity ➋
  • Ions ➋

Changes:

  • Physical change ➊
  • Chemical change ➊
  • Mixtures ➊
  • Solutions ➊
  • Dissolution ➋
  • Dilution ➋
  • Salts ➋
  • Decomposition and synthesis ➋
  • Acid-base neutralization reaction ➋
  • Photosynthesis and respiration ➋

Cultural references:

  • Water pollution
  • Drinking water
  • Wastewater treatment
  • Acid rain

Earth and Space

General characteristics of the Earth:

  • Hydrosphere ➊
  • Atmosphere ➊
  • Types of rocks (basic minerals) ➊
  • Types of soil ➊
  • Water (distribution) ➊
  • Relief ➊
  • Marine biomes ➋

Geological and geophysical phenomena:

  • Water cycle ➊
  • Renewable and nonrenewable energy resources ➊
  • Oceanic circulation ➋
  • Salinity ➋
  • Catchment area ➋
  • Contamination ➋
  • Eutrophication ➋
  • Glacier and ice floe ➋

Cultural references:

  • Water as a resource (e.g. St. Lawrence, lakes and rivers in Québec, Great Lakes)
  • Climate change
  • Exploitation of Québec’s energy resources
  • Saguenay Flood

Living World

Diversity of life forms:

  • Habitat ➊
  • Ecological niche ➊
  • Species ➊
  • Population ➊
  • Physical and behavioural adaptation ➊

Survival of species:

  • Reproductive mechanisms in plants ➊
  • Reproductive mechanisms in animals ➊
  • Contaminants ➋
  • Toxicity level ➋

Life-sustaining processes:

  • Characteristics of living things ➊
  • Photosynthesis and respiration ➊
  • Inputs and outputs (energy, nutrients, waste) ➊
  • Material and energy flow ➋
  • Chemical recycling ➋

Cultural references:

  • Wildlife and plant life in Québec
  • Aquariums
  • Protected areas
  • Hunting and fishing seasons

The technological world

Technological systems:

  • Energy transformations ➊

Forces and motion:

  • Effects of a force ➊

Biotechnology

  • Wastewater treatment ➋
  • Biodegradation of pollutants ➋

Cultural references:

  • Energy production systems (dam, thermal power plant, wind power plant)
  • Waterworks
  • Bridges

Strategies

The Water Rangers Education Testkit is intended to help foster student’s engagement in the scientific method by taking part in live, hands-on tests using real scientific instruments. As such, the testkit helps to connect with all the exploration, instrumentation and communication strategies listed under Secondary Cycles One and Two. 

Are you taking a look at our data platform?

With a vast network of accessible data, our platform can give your students real-world applications for core mathematics concepts.

In the elementary and secondary grades, the mathematics program is based on fundamental learnings and organized around the following three competencies:

  • To solve a situational problem related to mathematics
  • To reason using mathematical concepts and processes
  • To communicate by using mathematical language

These interrelated competencies work together to help students develop mathematical mastery. By tackling mathematical problems, students explore the main branches of mathematics covered in the curriculum. In elementary grades: arithmetic, geometry, probability, statistics and measurement; in secondary grades: arithmetic and algebra, statistics and probability, and geometry. Students’ understanding of mathematics can be enhanced by making connections to other disciplines: science and technology are obvious allies, but history and geography can also be relevant.

When exploring the Water Rangers data platform at app.waterrangers.ca, there are many opportunities to collect, analyze and interpret data sets that can span over 20 years. With such robust data sets collected by scientists, citizens, and organizations, students can observe changes in data points over time, like water temperature at the macro level. Using autogenerated graphs based on location makes this even easier. Even on smaller scales, change can be observed, analyzed, and interpreted using multiple types of graphs and infographics. Seasonal changes are apparent as peaks and valleys are evenly distributed in the graphs. With all of the data present in Canada, connections between different locations within a region or a watershed can be made, with similar data presented across the Saint Lawrence river watershed, or the Abitibi-Jamésie watershed, to name some examples.

A series of five mathematics activities for elementary and secondary grades using water quality data collected at Sharbot Lake, Ontario can be found in our Lessons and Resources page! It includes a Teacher Guide, a Student Handout and a Slideshow.

Being able to interpret, communicate and represent scientific data effectively is an important part of science communication, and citizen science plays a role in helping us understand and act upon the data to make positive change. So, by using the Water Rangers app, students can learn mathematics while becoming water stewards!

Click on the button below to learn how to create an account on app.waterrangers.ca, browse existing observations, and upload your own.

How to use our data platform

Elementary (Cycles Two and Three)

Below are specific links to the curriculum for elementary grades 3-6, which have been drawn from the Mathematics program (2006) and from the Progression of Learning document (2009).

Measurement

Lengths: estimating and measuring

  • Conventional units (m, dm, cm, mm) ➋

Capacities: estimating and measuring

  • Conventional units (L, mL), relationships between the units of measure ➌
  • Unconventional units ➌

Time: estimating and measuring

  • Conventional units, duration (day, hour, minute, second, daily cycle, weekly cycle, yearly cycle) ➊ ➋
  • Relationships between the units of measure ➌

Temperatures: estimating and measuring

  • Conventional units (°C) ➌

Statistics

  • Collecting, describing and organizing data using tables ➊➋➌
  • Interpreting data using a bar graph, a pictograph and a data table ➊
  • Displaying data using a bar graph, a pictograph and a data table ➊
  • Interpreting data using a broken-line graph ➋
  • Displaying data using a broken-line graph ➋
  • Interpreting data using a circle graph ➌
  • Arithmetic mean (meaning, calculation) ➌

Probabilities

  • Predicting the likelihood of an event (certainty, possibility or impossibility) ➊➋➌
  • Probability that a simple event will occur (more likely, just as likely, less likely) ➋ ➌

Secondary (Cycles One and Two)

Below are specific links to the curriculum for secondary grades 1-5, which have been drawn from the Mathematics program for Cycle One and Cycle Two (2006), and from the Progression of Learning document (2016).

Arithmetic

  • Estimating the order of magnitude ➊
  • Comparing ➊
  • Using a variety of representations (e.g. numerical, graphic) ➊
  • Proportion, equality of ratios and rates ➊
  • Recognizing a proportional situation by referring to the context, a table of values or a graph ➊

Statistics

  • Table: characteristics, frequencies ➊
  • Reading graphs: bar graphs, broken-line graphs, circle graphs ➊
  • Constructing tables ➊
  • Constructing graphs: bar graphs, broken-line graphs, circle graphs ➊
  • Highlighting some of the information that can be derived from a table or a graph (e.g. minimum value, maximum value, range, mean) ➊
  • Graphs: histogram, scatter plots and box-and-whisker plots ➋
  • Measures of central tendency: mode, median, weighted mean ➋
  • Linear correlation, regression line ➋
  • Representing the regression line using a rule or a graph ➋
  • Interpolating or extrapolating using the regression line ➋
  • Anticipating (predicting, forecasting) and interpreting statistical or probability results and trends ➋

Probabilities

  • Certain, probable and impossible events ➊
  • Enumerating possibilities using different types of representations: tree diagram, network, table, etc. ➊

Are you connecting the land with the people who live here?

This is how our waterways can be a part of your social sciences conversations with students.

The primary goal of the social sciences curriculum is to hep every student “construct his/her social awareness in order to act as a responsible, informed citizen.” To this end, students should learn:

– “To perceive the organization of a society in its territory
– To interpret change in a society and its territory
– To be open to the diversity of societies and their territories.”

Interactions between humans and the environment are a key concept of the Social Sciences curriculum. Water Rangers’ goal is to help students connect water and water health with our own lived experiences on an individual level as well as a societal one. Water has been an integral part of our history: our use of water today is a reflection of our past and dictates our future. We believe that informed citizens will make connections between water health and how our society treats water today. Acting to protect waterways shapes our present and future society.

Elementary (Cycles Two and Three)

Below are specific links to the curriculum for elementary grades 3-6, which have been drawn from the Social Sciences program (2006) and from the Progression of Learning document (2009).

Understanding the organization of a society in its territory

  • Correct location of the society and its territory ➋
    • St. Lawrence Valley and Great Lakes ➋
  • Indication of changes made to the territory by the society ➋
  • Indication of adaptations to the territory by the society ➋
    • Transportation routes: waterways, canals, St. Lawrence seaway ➋➌
    • Means of transportation: canoe, boat ➋
    • Economic activities: fishing, lumber ➋
  • Establishment of the geographic and historical contexts of the society ➌
  • Making of connections between assets and limitations of the territory and the organization of the society ➌
    • Relief: plain, river valley ➋
    • Bodies of water: river, lake, falls, rapids, confluence ➋
  • Definition of the influence of people or events on the organization of the society and its territory ➌

Interpreting change in a society and its territory

  • Recognition of changes in the geographic and historical contexts of the society ➋➌
    • Trade in wood ➌
    • Canal building ➌
    • Construction of hydroelectric power stations ➌
  • Indication of some causes and effects of changes ➋
  • Definition of the influence of certain people and their interests on some changes ➌
  • Identification of the way in which these changes are evident today ➌

Being open to the diversity of societies and their territories

  • Indication of similarities and differences in the geographic and historical contexts of societies and their territories ➌
  • Establishment of causes and effects of differences ➌

Researching and working with information in geography and history

Learning about a problem

  • Defining the problem ➋➌
  • Considering research strategies that will lead to a solution ➋➌

Asking questions

  • Spontaneously framing questions ➋➌
  • Selecting useful questions ➋➌
  • Organizing questions in categories ➋➌

Planning research

  • Choosing or creating data-gathering tools ➋➌

Gathering and processing information

  • Collecting data ➋➌
  • Sorting data into categories ➋➌
  • Comparing data ➋➌

Organizing information

  • Identifying the essential elements of information ➋➌
  • Arranging data in tables, lists, graphs or text ➋➌

Techniques specific to geography

  • Reading maps ➋➌
  • Interpreting climate charts ➋➌

Techniques specific to history

  • Using chronological reference points (month, season, year, decade, century, millennium) ➋➌
  • Calculating duration ➋➌
  • Reading a time line (meaning, scale) ➋➌

Secondary (Cycles One and Two)

At the elementary level, history and geography are combined into a single subject. At the secondary level, they are split into separate subjects. Because Water Rangers activities are mainly relevant to geography, we draw connections to the Geography program (2006) and Progression of Learning document (2010).

Urban territory: Montréal and Québec

  • The St. Lawrence River
  • Waste management
  • Environment

Regional territory: British Columbia, Alberta, The American and Canadian Great Lakes region

  • Ensuring sustainable energy development
  • Global warming
  • The St. Lawrence Seaway
  • The Great Lakes
  • The St. Lawrence River
  • Fiords

Agricultural territory: The Agricultural Territory of Québec, The Canadian Prairies,

  • Current farming practices and the global environment
  • Finding a balance between agriculture and the environment
  • Managing water in agricultural territory

Native territory: Nunavut, Cree Territory, Naskapi Territory

  • Sharing a territory and developing it in harmony with a particuliar way of life
  • Hudson Bay
  • The Arctic
  • Baffin Island
  • James Bay
  • The Broadback, Nottaway and Rupert rivers
  • The Rivière Caniapiscau

Protected territory: A natural park in Québec or Canada

  • Seeking a balance between use and protection
  • Fauna
  • Flora