How our geography shaped our economy

Table of Contents

Page #18: Columbia ice field and Glacier skywalk

The answer to the driving question

The geography of the west has shaped us by allowing us to have a thriving economy with multiple industries that have helped us settle and develop.

What Is Geography?

Geography is represented in 5 different themes; location, region, movement, place and human environment interaction.
Location; location shows a lot, their is relative and exact location one being the general area and the other would be the exact point. For example a relative location of a camel is the Calgary zoo while the exact location would be the coordinates of that camel. Then we have the regions like political, functional and vernacular. Political regions are places defines by the government like Alberta and B.C., functional regions are defined by its function like a mountain for its skiing and snowboarding and vernacular regions places named by the people. Another theme is movement a very useful one, like cars, and trains, thing that not only move people and goods but also moves ideas and cultures. Things like the CPR a train built across Canada that made the deal that brought B.C. To join confederation are very good representations of this as it was and still is a symbol of the countries unification from coast to coast. Then we have place; a representation to the area and what is in it. For example a forest contains trees that allow us to have a good logging industry that can make large amounts of wood products that can make money. Finally we have human environment interaction; things like how we modify the terrain to build things and make things accessible for us, or how we make tunnels to fit trains that move not only goods but people and ideas that can help society as a who that can help us make a profit to keep us going.

This Comic life shows the 5 themes of geography but for more context an explanation below

Place; this is a photo of the buffalo jump, it is 10 meters tall and made of sedimentary rock, at one point in time thousands of years ago it stood 20 meters tall but over time shrank after use to kill buffalo and was last used about 120 years ago during the mass killing of the buffalo.

Movement; The photo representing movement is of a train going over the CPR's last spike that nailed in a way to cross the country, a railroad built through some of Canada's most dangerous terrain.

Location; this photo's relative location is near the lake at the end of the larch valley trail.

Region; this drawing is of the plains in Alberta on the left and B.C.'s Cordillera region n the right

Human environment interaction; This is a photo of me by moraine lake on the rock pile that has been modified to have a path up to it for better access to the view behind me

The Last Spike

I think this is highly important as is is what brought B.C. to Canada and allowed for Canada's economy to expand. It also shows the completion of a major task that included building through Rogers Pass a place full of snow-slides danger due to the amount of them in the winter that took out the tracks, buried the tracks in snow and eventually required a tunnel to be built along with sheds that cover the tracks protecting the trains from the slides. While also showing Canada's unity as we have a way to cross the country in minutes. This also was the first stop of the trip

The last spike is a very important moment in Canadian history, it represented the completion of the railway uniting Canada from coast to coast. It is a major representation of Movement in the 5 themes of geography. The train that goes from coast to coast not only represents the movement of goods but also the movement of people and ideas.

This highly represents the political history of Canada as the preposition of the railway is what brought B.C. to join Canada instead of Oregon. This railway allowed people to travel through some of the most treacherous terrain in Canada and for coal mined in the rockies to be transported across Canada allowing for a significant boost in economy.