Page 201 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Canadian and World Studies

B. SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: RELATIONSHIPS AND DISPARITIES
OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:
B1. Natural Resource Disparities: analyse relationships between quality of life and access to natural resources in various countries and regions (FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Interrelationships)
B2. Population Disparities: analyse relationships between demographic and political factors and quality of life in various countries and regions (FOCUS ON: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective)
B3. Classifying Regions of the World: explain how various characteristics are used to classify the world into regions or other groupings (FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Patterns and Trends)
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
B1. Natural Resource Disparities
FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Interrelationships
By the end of this course, students will:
B1.1 analyse relationships between the distribution and availability of natural resources in a country or region and its quality of life, as reflected by various indicators (e.g., life expectancy, infant mortality, per capita income, average years of schooling)
Sample questions: “Are some natural resources more valuable than others? Can you identify some high-value resources and explain why they are valuable, and to whom? In what ways can their availability affect national economies, personal incomes, and quality of life?” “How does access to a clean source of fresh water correlate with the rate of infant mortality?” “Do the indicators show a substantial difference in quality of life between countries that simply export their natural resources and countries that process those resources?”
Using spatial skills: To identify relationships between a specific resource and an indicator, students can plot the two variables on a scatter- graph and then determine whether there is
a line of best fit that indicates a correlation between them.
B1.2 assess relationships between disparities in the distribution or quality of resources (e.g., availability of land or water, soil quality, energy availability, diversity of resource base) and social
or political conflicts (e.g., conflicts between pastoralists and farmers over land rights and usage, conflicts between or within countries over water rights, food shortages caused by civil wars and insurgencies)
Sample questions: “How has the scarcity of a natural resource contributed to conflicts?” “Why are some people predicting that there will be an increase in international conflict over water supplies? Where would such conflicts be most likely to occur?”
B1.3 analyse ethical issues relating to the control and development of natural resources and the distribution of economic benefits from resource exploitation
Sample questions: “What kinds of obligations do governments usually impose on companies in return for the right to develop a body of resources? Who benefits from such relationships? Should those obligations be stricter?” “Should restrictions be placed on the privatization of water?” “What is a cartel? How does it control the price of a resource? What is the World Trade Organization doing to limit the power of cartels?”
Using spatial skills: Students can investigate relationships between resource wealth and economic power by constructing an annotated map that shows the countries with the ten highest GDPs in the world and the countries with the ten lowest. They can then identify which countries have significant resource wealth and which are deficient in key resources
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: RELATIONSHIPS AND DISPARITIES
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World Issues: A Geographic Analysis
CGW4U