How has the Geography of the West shaped who we are?

1. The themes of geography you can see in this image are movement and human-environment interaction. You can see movement from the train (model), because the train is moving people and items. You can see human-environment interaction from the bridge (model), because the bridge is an adaption to the environment that humans made. It is there to made travelling faster, so the train doesn’t have to take a longer route and can go directly over the canyon.

2. The Golden Skybridge was only made in 2021 so it is super new! It is the highest suspension bridge in Canada, being 426 feet high and 492 long. It is very popular and contributes to the economy of Golden. Because it is so new lots of people will travel to Golden largely due to the many attractions at Golden Skybridge.

3. Going to Golden Skybridge was a pretty scary but fun, new experience for me! I am not scared of heights, but crossing that suspension bridge definitely freaked me out a bit! I think Golden Skybridge does that to a lot of people,  it it can remind them that fears are able to be overcome!

Hey, my name is Alex, and I am the creator of this book! I am in 9th grade, and am in a really cool program at my school called PLP (they take us on these really cool trips!). I love nature, and spending time by the water. I also really love art, even though I’m not that great at it. It is a very fun way that I can express myself freely. In my free time if I’m not painting or spending time on the ocean, I am probably with my dog. She is my favourite thing in the whole world. Her name is Bailey, and I got her on Valentine’s Day (she will forever be the best valentines gift).

1. The main theme of geography that I can see in this image is human-environment interaction. You can see the human-environment from the bridge. The bridge is a way for humans to quickly and safety travel over the canyon. The bridge was used as an adaptation.

<a href="bookcreator://page/L9GKbi6oTeeTxPZWm3WaOw">1. 5 Themes Of Geography</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/S1RHns57TtiXe_u9jd7F6Q">6. Columbia Icefield</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/YXww8goITTiOUWTZXbp8Cg">10. Silent Video</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/m1pqUEJ-Sq-CyEhp7ykf_A">2. The Last Spike</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/O1mMikaMSUC6PTao_QNGXw">7. Lake Louise</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/b9JhvqpPROOPuAfQowRA0w">11. TikTok</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/FQ95hVgvTLK2uCpPwgaCpg">3. Rogers Pass</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/jLqY2MNxRb-9_Uc6sBta6A">8. Golden Skybridge</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/aZVhVpl_TX2TBa-FXvhJfQ">12. Investigative Video</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/VHZHskWYQL2fDt19efys6Q">4. Cave and Basin</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/yrGwbLx5Qx-sXBItBHqJag">5. Lake Minawanka</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/zm3tkixuQXmxxEV_-VQtOw">9. Revelstoke Railway Museum</a>

<a href="bookcreator://page/4GdqfdrqRTKzFGuEnDRb4w">13. About the Author!</a>

1. In this photo you can see place and movement. This photo shows place because of the landforms (mountains) and the flora (trees). There are mountains everywhere, surrounding the whole lake. And on these mountains are thousands of trees and other plants that you just can’t see. This photo shows movement because there is a boat. It’s kind of harder to see but the structure that is blocking the view is parts of the boat. Boats move people and resources from place to place.

2. Columbia Icefield is historically significant because they shaped the geography of the mountains thousands of years ago. Glaciers used to cover that whole mountain rage, and over time as they melted and moved it shaped the land around it. Now, it is a glacier that feeds water into the Arctic, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. It is also a very popular tourist attraction that educates the public on climate change specifically that has to do with this glacier.

3. I connect to this photo because of my personal beliefs. I care a lot about climate change, and protecting beautiful places like this. Going to Columbia Icefield was so cool because I got to learn a lot more about climate change and about glaciers. I try and educate myself on my own time but getting to see what I want to protect in person is such an interesting and eye-opening experience.

2. Revelstoke is historically significant because it used to be one of the largest communities in the interior of the province. This was mostly due to its importance as a railway center. There was the Canadian Pacific Railway and steamboat traffic from the south.

3. Travelling through Revelstoke was not a new experience for me, but I still liked going there. It’s a very pretty town and I liked being able to see mountains all around me. It was my first to going this museum though, and I thought it was really cool. I learned a lot more about trains, and I liked being able to go in one. 

1. In this photo the theme of geography you can see most clearly is place. You can see place mostly because of the flora. There are lots of plants scattered around this photo. It’s very hard to tell but there is fauna; very little snails that can only live in these hot springs! Speaking of hot, the climate there is very warm, because of the hot springs.

2. This photo shows the historical significance of Roger’s Pass. Roger’s Pass is historically significant because it had a big role in the development of the CPR. Roger’s pass was challenging place for the railway due to all the mountains. There were lots of loops, so the steepness would not be a problem for the trains. After the success of the CPR, Roger’s pass became a bit of a tourist attraction. People really loved the mountains and the nature that was pretty quite new to them.

3. My own interpretation of this photo has more to do with the relationship of humans and the environment. I think it shows that even though it might not be good for the earth, humans and the earth can connect together to help each other. Even if it’s in small ways. It’s not shown in the photo, but avalanche control is something that would have been used in the future of the CPR, and something like that can actually be very beneficial. It can create a softer environment for some of the plants and animals. I also believe that the train going through the mountains, verses around the mountains is better because in the end it will take less space and use less resources.

2. This photo represents the historical significance of the CPR. The CPR is historically significant because it was one of the biggest “bonding” components of Canada, specifically British Columbia joining. The CPR was responsible for many lives that were lost, specially Chinese workers that were treated terribly. The CPR did bad things, but also some better things, like being able to connect so many people, having the ability to travel very far very fast, and even making the 24 hour clock. brought Canada together, brought people together, settlers, government, new ideas)

3. I connect to this photo because it represents travel through Canada, specifically through BC and Alberta, which I did with my family. The train brought lots of people together, and my trip with my family definitely connected us more. The CPR has a big journey with some unexpected twists, just like my trip. Pit stops, breaks, revisions, etc. The end result was impactful, and the journey was memorable.

For this project I got to make a thesis, and support it with a video of my Alberta trip! My thesis is “ Stereotypes of Western Canada Become Untrue When Tourism is Introduced”. For this video I did interviews, and online research to see if my thesis could be supported. I was very happy with the results! All the interviews I did really supported my thesis by say thing things like: “I do not think this is a natural environment”, “people from outside Canada could still see it as a natural environment”, when I first think of western Canada I think of nature”. I also researched to see what touristy websites had to say and lots of them used words like “natural” “part of nature” “connected to the earth”, when you can see they are really not after a bit more of research. I put all of this information into my video along with lots of images and videos. I was still trying to tell a story in this video, with I think I did.

1. The themes of geography you can see in this photo are place, and human-environment interaction. You can see place from the mountains in the background. The whole glacier area is filled with them. You can see human-environment interaction from the Ice Explorer (the red truck). The ice explorer is used to travel on top of the glacier in a way that doesn’t harm it. We adapted to the glacier by making something we could use to travel over it, then we adapted that to make it safe for the glacier.

1. In this photo you can see 1 main theme of geography: place. You can see place in lots of physical characteristics. The physical characteristics you see are landforms, flora, and resources. The landforms are the mountains, little rivers, and big lake. The flora is are the trees surrounding the water. The resources are a little harder to see, but they are in the little rivers leading to the lake. All the glaciers water picks up minerals as it comes down the mountain.

For this project, me and my friend Lila got to make a video that showed our trips story! We did a TikTok trend that shows every location that we went too! This was a really fun video to make because I got to do it with a friend, and now I have a video I can watch that will remind me of all the memories of this trip. I feel like this video shows where we went really well, because each shot shows lots of landscape and pretty views. 

2. People used to hunt and camp along the original shores of Lake Minnewanka. In 1886 a log hotel was built along the original shores of Lake Minnewanka. By 1912, a summer village called Minnewanka Landing was established. It is all under water now, the lake was first dammed in 1895, then 1912, and then the last time in 1941.

3. Lake Minnewanka was a beautiful stop on our trip. I loved the boat tour, and learned a lot on it. Not just about the history, but also about geography around it. We talked a lot about how one side of the lake has a different more unique ecosystem compared to the other side, due to a “controlled” forest fire. The side that had the fire has newer, and more growth which makes the ecosystem stronger.

2. Cave and Basin is historically significant because it was originally going to be used as a spot for the CPR, but turned into the first national park. Three railway workers went to cave a basin to find the best way to build through that area, but then discovered the hot springs. They stopped working as railway builders and started “marketing” the hot springs. The government found out about this and turned them into the first national park, partly due to the endangered species of snails that lives in the hotspots springs.

3. I thought Cave and Basin was really cool because we got to explore around the actual caves and hot springs. I think experiences like this explain why Banff is such a tourist attraction. This experience is very unique, giving most people a new view and new knowledge. All of the exhibits were done very well and gave many perspectives on the history of Cave and Basin. Going to the hot springs that we swam in after seeing Cave and Basin was a really cool way to “experience” what it might have been like when people were swimming in hot springs a long time ago.

2. Lake Louise is historically significant for many reasons. I learned about how it was used as a construction camp for the build of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The railway was planned to go through Bow Valley. In 1892 Lake Louise was added to Banff national park, and then after some time Lake Louise was donated to Heritage Park Historical Village. Now Lake Louise is a very popular spot because it is so beautiful and there are lots of great hikes to do there.

3. I loved going to Lake Louise. It is such a beautiful place that reminds me why I love nature. When we went there we got to do a super cool hike to two different tea huts. Going up so high in the mountains is so cool, and I got such a good view of the lake. The hike also made me more aware of my mental capabilities, because I kept going strong! I found that the actual hike wasn’t to bad, but my brain made it a lot worse.

1. In this image you can see many themes of geography. There are two really prominent themes that I can spot right away though, which are movement and place. Movement: in this image you can see the train, which is a way to transport (or move) goods, people, and even ideas. Place: in this image you can see landforms and climate. The landforms you see are the mountains in the background, which can be quite unique compared to other areas around the world. You can see climate with the clouds in the sky, they show the colder, wetter weather.

1. The themes of geography that show in this photo are movement, place, and human environment interaction. Movement is shown from the train. Trains move people, ideas, resources, etc. This train in particular (CPR), moved history in a way. It moved “modern” advances very fast (relatively speaking). You can see place in this picture from the landforms that are shown: the mountains! You can also see a river, and some trees. You can see human-environment interaction from the train. The train is going through a mountain, and the train tracks are in the ground. Humans made an adaptation to the environment to make it more accessible for them.

For this project I got to make a silent film that told a story. I got to make this video with two of my friends, Neko and Syd! We filmed it in this really cool ghost town called Three Valley gap. In the video you can see the story we are telling: a wealthy women comes to town and gets followed by two thieves. The thieves are trying to steal a very fancy necklace she just bought, but end up getting hit but a train! The same train that she takes to leave the town. I had a lot of fun making this video. Coming up with a story and then acting it out was so interesting and a new experience for me. Editing the video was also cool, since we had to add different effects. I think the video turned out really well and I really enjoyed this project.

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