How Has Our Landscape Fueled Our Economy?

How did the geography of the west shape who I am?

I think the geography of the west shaped who we are, as it was the main reason why settlers actually came here. If it weren’t for the rich resources and monetary opportunities, people wouldn’t have had any interest in western Canada. It was the constant discovery of riches, such as the gold rush, and the ideas of tourism, that brought people here to stay.

Photo: Cave and Basin National Historic Site

	This is a great example of the cultural aspects of place. Humans came to this area, and it became something they used to thrive, all the way to present day. Having a tourist attraction in a location, really changes the dynamic of the place. It turns a small town, mostly inhabited by people trying to make money, into a place inhabited by all sorts of people who visit from all over the place, in order to experience its natural beauty.

	One thing unique about the Banff Hot Springs, is the life that learned to adapt to its habitat. One species, is a special type of snail, measuring only around 3mm in length and width. The Banff Hot Springs is the only known location in which they live, and its very important that we preserve them. This kinda sparked the interest in the laws around the protection of national parks, and our impact on the environment. 

	The Golden skybridge is a great example of how people took natural beauty, and used it to make money. Golden has always been a popular tourist destination while visiting the Rockies, and the Golden Skybridge adds to that experience. It’s the highest suspension bridge in Canada!

Location is the physical point in which something is in. Absolute location is the exact place. Examples of this are addresses for houses, and coordinates. Relative location is a place that is relative to another place. Such as, “the classroom is down the hall from the library”.

Place refers to the physical and cultural aspects of a place. The physical aspect are the natural things you can see. The cultural aspects are the things built by humans, or altered by humans.

2-			Table of contents 3- 			<a href="bookcreator://page/9HxxrnKjTJS5MQsHNKoqBQ">Comic about the geographical themes</a> 6-			<a href="bookcreator://page/OWfdOcrnSYafCvT6Jv1-Fg">Evidence in the west</a> 7- 			<a href="bookcreator://page/Z3TYfR1uQGuySf3fXs6g-A">The Last Spike</a> 10-			<a href="bookcreator://page/62aNMW17Q2i5RwKN8oY1Ow">Golden Skybridge</a> 13-			<a href="bookcreator://page/37kekQ22Q9-VW9lSQJr_Yg">Cave and Basin National Historic Site</a> 16-			<a href="bookcreator://page/fHfoHGawQH-s48wiHCxHjA">Lake Minnewanka</a> 19-			<a href="bookcreator://page/JuHA_39oSh2r8ZJzfdwRXg">Sundre Museum and Pioneer Village</a> 22-			<a href="bookcreator://page/KewbfEyTRSusL-_OGuz8lw">The Badlands</a> 24-			<a href="bookcreator://page/s-_r_ggBSE2-5D11mhHZOg">Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site</a> 27-			<a href="bookcreator://page/m7odwaanT9qNdPFIMYq6_Q">Pipe Mountain Coaster</a> 28-			<a href="bookcreator://page/MGFVjvavRLKPeWoE1eFciw">The rest of the trip</a> 29- 			<a href="bookcreator://page/AKgV_qJWTl2sFEt_kWgr_A">Royal Tyrrell Museum</a> 30-			<a href="bookcreator://page/s_H2WiHZSYawWGAW4uJiYw">Collage</a> 31-			<a href="bookcreator://page/0246vL2aT3qCdh61xOtg3g">Answering the driving question</a> 32- 			<a href="bookcreator://page/wwfGWrgZR12z6HmlRwGrXg">About the Author</a>

The fun stuff! This is a collage I made of all my favourite moments during the trip.

Photo: Sundre Museum and Pioneer Village

	The Pioneer village is a create representation of life in the past. It’s basically a collection of old buildings, all in one spot. It shows how important logging, and agriculture was for people in that area. Without those means of making money, people wouldn’t have bothered to live there, and those parts of the plains would probably be completely barren. The Pioneer village really shows the cultural aspects of that places history.

Reflection: Takakkaw Falls or Pipe Mountain Coaster 	The Pipe Mountain Coaster shows human-environment interaction. The company that runs the mountain and resort depends on the mountain in order to make money off of the Pipe Coaster. 	The Pipe Mountain Coaster helped shape the West, as it started to solidify the idea of modern tourist attractions. Loads of people each year spend money doing activities such as this one, and its a constant source of money for the west. 	The Pipe Mountain Coaster was really fun, because I enjoy being in the mountains. Zipping through the trees, and over rocks reminds me of all the skiing I do in the winter, and all the hiking I do in the summer.

Regions are the large or small area that a things reside in. They are split into three categories: Formal, functional, and vernacular. Formal regions are decided by the government. Canada, and Vancouver are formal regions. Function regions are areas like harbours, that are named to mark them as an official place. Vernacular regions are places that don’t have an official name, but people collectively decided its called something. Deep Cove for example, is not a real place, but the people who live there call it that.

Reflection: Cave and Basin National Historic Site

My photo of the Cave and Basin shows place, as there are multiple physical aspects of the environment in view. You can see the snails, the water, and original rock forms in the photo. The photos also show the cultural aspects of place, as it shows the a fountain that humans built using the natural resource. The photos show relative location, as the snails live inside the hot-springs, and nowhere else in the world. The movement of water is also shown flowing in the fountain. 	The Banff Hot-springs shaped the west, as it was the major influenced in the creation national parks, and brought tourism to the Rockies. These things really changed what B.C would be known for in the future. Like nowadays, when you think of B.C, you think of its beautiful landscape in its national parks, and all the natural places to see. Its one of the wests best selling points. 	The Banff Hotsprings reminded me of Harrison Hotsprings, a place I go to with my family and friends usually once a year. It made me think of all the fun I have there.

Hello! This is the section where I prove to you how our geography shaped our economy. Each location is crucial to our history, and I will explain why in both my info page, and reflection. Each reflection is split into three parts. The first part will explain which themes of geography I think the photo represents. The second part will talk about about how I think the event or place helped shape the west. The third part will talk about how I relate to the location or event. Skip to page 31 for my full answer to the driving question.

Reflection: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site

My photo shows human environment interaction, as the Indigenous peoples depended on, and adapted there lifestyle to be able to hunt the buffalo in the way they did. It also shows both the cultural, and physical aspects of place, as the cliff, and the surrounding area area very unique to that place. As well as the fact that you can see a museum, designed to showcase the culture, and significance of the area. Some things that the photo doesn’t show, is how the peoples of the plain travelled from there homes every year to perform the buffalo jump. The movement of that idea, was also widespread across many different tribes.

	I think the buffalo jump shapes the West, because of how much the Indigenous peoples relied on it. They used the buffalo for everything, and couldn’t live without it. The Europeans used this to there advantage, and hunted the buffalo to near extinction, controlling the population of Indigenous people. They were forced to sign treaties, allowing the colonizers to take over that land, as they would starve if they didn’t. Its sad, and it also shapes how that land is used today. It forced the First Nations peoples to join the European economy, in a way that favoured the Europeans. This allowed them to expand there economy and take full access over the land, and natural resources.

Human-environment interaction is about how humans depend, modify, and adapt to the environment around us. Its about our impact, and the things humans do while in a certain area.

Movement refers to the movement of people, goods, and the spreading of ideas. It can refer to people traveling, the shipment of goods, or even information spreading from person to person.

In my photo of Lake Minnewanka, you can see place, location, movement, human environment interaction, and region. For place, the lake has many physical aspects, such as the lake itself, many mountains, and lots of forest. It also has cultural aspects, from the boat and dock created by the tour company. Location is shown, as its the exact location of the underwater town built by the original dam. Movement is shown in the movement of boats on the water, as well as the movement of information shared from tour guides. Human environment interaction is shown, as the boat tour company relies on the lake to make money. Lastly, region is shown as its a well known place with its own formal name. 	I think Lake Minnewanka shaped the West, as it pathed the way for modern tourism, and the research done there helped us understand First Nations culture and there history better. The research done there taught us a lot about wildlife, and helped us understand the natural cycles of forest fires, and the impact of pine beetles. Lake Minnewanka is also a great example of how people have exploited opportunities to make money off of our land, and culture, and how we still do today. 	Earlier in the year, me and my family went on a road trip to the Rockies. I remember learning about the effect of the pine beetle, and how forest fires are part of our natural cycle. Revisiting this knowledge on the boat tour, reminded me of the time I spend with my family, and driving by the vast burnt forests on my trip.

	The Last Spike marked an important event in the history of Canada. It opened up opportunity for people to travel across Canada. Not only was this crucial for the movement of people and imported goods, and the newspaper, which quickly became widely depended on for information, but it also lead the way for tourism, and for people to visit and travel Canada. With the CPR built, lots of new settlers quickly moved into the West, with the promise of free land, by the government.

	A lot of large challenges had to be overcome to make the railway happen. A lot of adaptation, and modification had to be done to the environment to make a railway possible. An example of this, is the Spiral Tunnels outside of Lake Louise. “The Big Hill”, was just to steep of a decent for trains. So to fix this, they dug into the mountains, and constructed looping tunnels that slowed the decent down, enough to make it possible.

Reflection: Sundre Museum and Pioneer Village 	In my eyes, the Pioneer village shows place and human environment interaction. The place, comes from all the old buildings that were used hundreds of years ago. They were build by humans, which is kinda obvious. Human environment interaction comes from the land they used to farm, and the trees they cut down in the logging industry. They depended on that land in order to make money and settle there.

The Pioneer village shaped the West, as it shows how if it weren’t for the logging and farming, there wouldn’t have been any reason to come to Alberta. Without those job opportunities, Alberta may not be populated at all today. Its the basis of why settlers came to that part of the west, and eventually found oil and allowed Alberta to have such a huge economy. 	Pioneer village really reminded me of how I used to go to Britannia Beach Mine as a kid. Walking around all the old buildings gave me memories of having birthday parties there.

The photo of the train, represents Human-environment-interaction, place, location, and movement. It shows the machine people used in order to transport people and goods across Canada. It also shows place, as the last spike is unique to that area, and was built by humans. It even shows location, as the location of the peg is very specific and ties together the huge project that was the CPR. Finally, it shows human-environment-interaction, as the CPR was a huge task that required people to alter the environment in order to achieve there goal.

	I think The Last Spike shaped the West, as it marked a fundamental change in the lifestyle of people in Canada. it marked the completion of what once was just a dream, that people thought was out of reach. It connected the two coasts, and joined the west with the rest of the confederation. It allowed movement, communication, tourism, and settlements to become a thing. It created the start of commerce in between the provinces.

	After having been to the location of The Last Spike, I know a lot about its importance. Before seeing it in person, I never really thought of it as part of my culture, and that it was far away from me. Now, I realize that its not actually that far from where I live, and that its a big part of my cultural identity.

Reflection: The Badlands 	The badlands shows the physical aspects of place and human environment interaction. The physical aspects of the badlands landscape is very noticeable and unique. Its a big contrast to the vast barren plains. For human interaction, you can see how we constantly do research in that area, and are always discovering new things. Humans have gotten better at leaving as little trace as possible while still accomplishing there research.

	The Badlands shaped the West, because it was gave Alberta the economic identity of having fossil-rich land. In recent times, Alberta has been known to constantly be doing research on fossils, and making money off of its research.

	When I was in grade 5, I went to Nevada, and Arizona. When I was walking around the Badlands I couldn’t help but think of the Grand Canyon. The desert wasteland type terrain is really cool to me.

	Lake Minnewanka’s history goes very far back. Originally, it was a lush location for the Stoney Nakoda peoples to hunt the big horned sheep. They passed on stories about the lake, one of which is about a half-fish half-man sea monster, that hunted children who got to close to the lake. Skipping forward a few thousand years, Mr Banff, who at the time owned more than 80% of all the tourist attractions in Banff, had an Idea. He wrote in the news that he was going to “kill the sea monster”. He disappeared for a week and during that time, he went to a taxidermist, and bought half a fish, and half a monkey. He then sowed them together, and came back, telling all of Banff that he had actually done it. The people believed him for a long time, and he charged people to see his “monster”.

Eventually, his relatives found the receipts, and the public realized it was all a trick.

This will be your cover. It should include a graphic(s), your name, and a title relating to the answer to the driving question.

My photo here gets right into the action! The photo show how having tourist attraction somewhere, really helps make people interested in learning about, and travelling to places. Human-environment-interaction is mostly what I see here, as a lot of what the place is, is about how they transformed and modified the natural beauty. The bridge also has cultural aspects of place, as its a man-made creation that humans continue to use.

	The Golden Skybridge shaped the West, as its a prime example of how having a tourist attraction somewhere, changes the dynamic or the place. It allowed a new group of people to take interest in the place, and it gave more opportunities for money to be made, hence, growing the town. This shapes the West, as back then, the only people here were people working, or looking to make money off of natural resources. But thats now changed drastically.

	I grew up doing a lot of the activities available at the Golden skybridge. I live near a suspension bridge, and I constantly do ropes courses/climbing with my Scout group, and on my own. I felt at home doing the activities, and had a lot of fun doing the things I enjoy.

Photo: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site  

	Thousands of years ago, the indigenous peoples of the plains relied heavily on the buffalo hunt. They did so, by literally driving herds of buffalo off of a cliff. Head-Smashed-In is the name of one of these jumps. This is an a great example of people using the physical traits if the environment in ways that benefited them, without destroying resources for the future. For thousands of years, the peoples of the plains hunted the buffalo, making sure to use every single part of it. There was no waste. Even the brains was used to soften the thick buffalo hid so that it was nice and soft for babies to wear.

	This all came to a sad end, once the buffalo were hunted to near extinction by the Europeans. With no more food, the Indigenous peoples were forced to sign unfair treaties and lose there land.

The Royal Tyrrel Museum is home to thousands of fossils. Its the main attraction while visiting Drumheller. Located on the edge of the badlands, the museum is the home for all the research done on fossils. It also displays just about every fossilized creature to have lived here in any era. The museum was a lot of fun, heres some photos I took there:

Hello! My name is Daniel. I am in PLP 9. I like to build things, and play video games. My favourite subjects are math and science, and I really like history. I like to play card games like Magic: The Gathering, and I like drawing. You can check out my blog at: <a href="https://www.blog44.ca/danielb/">https://www.blog44.ca/danielb/</a>

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