The activities in this section are applicable for individuals aged 11-15.
Please note that some of the activities in this section may require adult supervision and assistance.
Table of Contents
- Candy Chromatography
- HAZMAT Team to the Rescue: Simple Machines Challenge
- Swirling Milk
- Colour Drops
- Environment Week Quiz
- Important Decisions Don't Just Happen
- Apple Ocean
- Answer Key: Environment Week Quiz
- Answer Key: Important Decisions Don't Just Happen
Candy Chromatography
National Research Council Canada
Ever wondered why candies are different colours? Many candies contain coloured dyes. To see the colours used in Smarties® or M&Ms® candies, you can dissolve the dyes out of the candies using a technique called chromatography.
Materials:
- M&M® or Smarties® candies (1 of each colour)
- coffee filter paper
- cotton swabs
- water
Procedure:
- Place the coffee filter paper upside down on a table top.
- Place a candy in the centre of the paper
- Dip a cotton swab into the water and hold it above the candy allowing a little water to drip onto the candy.
- Repeat this fairly slowly until the candy is quite wet and the circle of water on the blotting paper is about 5 cm across.
- In a little while you should be able to see rings of different colours around the candy.
How does it work?
The colour in the sugar coating of the candy shell dissolves in the water. The water is drawn out through the paper by capillary action and moves in a growing circle. The different inks which make up the colour move at different speeds and so they are separated. This process is called chromatography. (The word "chromatography" is derived from two Greek words: "chroma" meaning colour and "graphein" to write.)
Using this process you can see some candies have just one dye while others are made up of more than one dye. Note that once the colour and sugar has been removed from the shell all the candies are the same colour underneath.
Try the experiment again with a different type of candies, magic markers, or other coloured substances such as food colouring and Kool-Aid.
Note: Activity adapted from multiple sources by NRC scientist Dr. Mike Day.
HAZMAT Team to the Rescue: Simple Machines Challenge
National Research Council Canada
What Does HAZMAT Mean?
A hazardous material (or HAZMAT) is any solid, liquid or gas that can harm people, animals, plants, objects or the environment. In Canada, these types of materials are more commonly called Dangerous Goods. Hazardous materials or dangerous goods may be explosive, corrosive, toxic, radioactive, flammable or biohazardous.
Handling Hazardous Materials Needs a Soft Touch
In order to minimize the risks associated with hazardous materials, they must be safely used, stored, transported and disposed. Organizations which regularly deal with hazardous materials often have "HAZMAT teams," which are groups of people specifically trained to deal with accidents, spills and transportation of hazardous materials. These teams often train at specially designed locations and are required to wear special clothing and equipment such as gloves, suits, goggles, visors, etc.
Lifting Up and Moving Out
As you can imagine, moving hazardous materials from place to place is a delicate job. Today, lifting and moving large, heavy containers of hazardous materials is usually done with cranes or forklifts, but in the past, these machines would not have been available. Before the invention of complex machines, people used what are known as "simple machines." Simple machines help to make our work easier by enabling us to use less mechanical effort to move objects.
Six types of simple machines are the wedge, inclined plane, screw, lever, pulley and wheel & axle. In this challenge, students will apply their knowledge of rollers, wheels & axles, levers, inclined planes and pulleys in lifting and moving objects.
Before performing this challenge, students should be familiar with:
- The function of various types of simple machines
- Designing and building
- Working collaboratively
Investigation
Learning Objectives:
Students will:
- Make a written plan, requiring the use of one or more simple machines, to lift and move heavy load
- Apply understanding of simple machines by lifting and moving a heavy load
- Select and use materials to accomplish a given task
- Communicate about how simple machines were used to move the load
- Work collaboratively and effectively in a small group to solve a practical problem
Teaching Strategies:
- Creating and carrying out a plan
- Applying understanding of simple machines
- Working collaboratively in small groups
- Communicating results
In this challenge students will work in groups of four. Substitute your own parameters for the words in parentheses and then print the challenge, materials, observations and conclusions below for the students.
The HAZMAT Simple Machines Challenge
Your HAZMAT team has been contacted to move a large plastic open tub (e.g., 20 L Rubbermaid® tote, etc.) filled with highly corrosive liquid (water) that was found dumped in a sensitive natural area (classroom, gym, etc.). Your team must move the tub from where it was found to your containment truck (e.g., taped off area several metres away from where tub starts). The tub is too heavy to be lifted manually by your team, so you will need to use your knowledge of simple machines to carefully lift and move the tub of water without spilling it.
As any spilled liquid could contaminate the environment, the tub may not be dragged along the ground. Your group will have access to the materials which were in your containment truck as well as any other simple machines that their site supervisor (the teacher) will allow your group to use. Each HAZMAT team will also be required to wear protective safety devices (work gloves, goggles, lab coats, etc.) during the HAZMAT Challenge.
HAZMAT teams must have highly qualified members, each having a primary responsibility but all working together to achieve the best possible results. Each team will include:
- Designer: responsible for creating the design, obtaining the authorization to proceed from the site supervisor, and recording the 'as-built' drawing.
- Materials Manager: responsible for choosing which materials to use from the containment truck as well as having any additional materials authorized by the site supervisor.
- Constructor-Builder: in collaboration with all team members, the Constructor assembles the moving system according to the drawing plan, suggests modifications to team and moves the hazardous waste container.
- Communication Specialist: spokesperson for the team who presents the project to others.
Materials in the HAZMAT Truck
- Metre sticks
- Snow or other shovels
- Masking tape
- Wooden shims
- Hammers and nails
- 2L pop bottles
- Large apple juice cans
- Broom handles
- Wooden rolling pins
- Rope
- Clothesline pulleys
- Wood
Before the challenge, each team will need to create a written outline of how they plan to lift and move the tub of water. The plan will need to be clear and well-developed and should include materials, procedures and labelled diagrams of the planned set-up.
Observations and Conclusions
After the challenge, the Communications Specialist will lead the group in creating a poster which will explain through drawings and text the successful strategy that the group used, so that other HAZMAT teams could replicate their method. The poster will be presented orally to the other HAZMAT teams by the communication specialist.
Discussion
Do you know which chemical elements are hazardous? Explore the interactive Periodic Table to find five.
Extended Activities
- Challenge the students to move the bin over additional obstacles, such as up an inclined plane or onto a step, across grass or over a gap.
- Have the students learn about the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), which is Canada's national hazard communication standard. WHMIS is responsible for the labelling of hazardous products, as well as worker and workplace education and training programs.
- Have the students research the properties of various hazardous materials (e.g., corrosives, flammable liquids and gases, explosives, radioactive materials, etc.).
- Using the internet, have the students find a company, government agency, etc. which has a HAZMAT team. If possible, have the students contact the team to learn more about what they do.
Swirling Milk
National Research Council Canada
Materials:
- 1 flat bowl or aluminium pie pan - about 18cm diameter and at least 3cm deep
- Milk (enough to cover the bottom of the container about 2cm deep)
- Several different colours of food colouring (red, yellow, blue, and green work well)
- Liquid dishwashing detergent
- Toothpicks
Procedure:
- Pour about 2cm of milk into the bowl. (use one bowl for each 4-6 students, if possible).
- Keep back from the table so that the milk becomes motionless.
- Imagine the bowl as the face of a clock, with 12 o'clock at the top, 3 o'clock to the right, 6 o'clock at the bottom, and 9 o'clock to the left.
- Drop 2 drops of each food colour carefully into the milk near the outside edge of the bowl, one colour at 12 o'clock, the second colour at 3 o'clock, the third colour at 6 o'clock, and the fourth colour at 9 o'clock, in any order. There should be one spot each of red, yellow, blue, and green. Do not bump the table or do anything else to mix the colours.
- Take a toothpick and dip the one end into the dishwashing detergent.
- Touch the detergent end of the toothpick into the middle of the bowl of milk, and hold it there for at least 30 seconds. Observe carefully. Do the colours mix initially, or just swirl in their own section of the bowl? Do not use the toothpick to stir the milk.
- Lift the toothpick, and touch it to the milk in the center of one of the colours. Observe carefully.
- Touch the toothpick into other areas of the milk, dipping it first into the detergent again if necessary. Observe carefully.
- When you are certain that you are finished with the activity, dispose of the milk down the drain.
Observations:
Initially, the food colours swirl in different patterns across and under the surface of the milk for several minutes. Note that the colours do not actually mix with each other, but continue in separate swirling patterns. The time of swirling may depend on the temperature of the milk and amount of dishwashing liquid you use. You can repeat step 6 to reactivate the swirling motion if needed. Moving the toothpick to a new spot can later result in mixing of the various colours.
How does it work?
The reason for the swirling motion of the food colours is caused by changes in surface tension of the milk after adding the drop of liquid dishwashing detergent. Detergent molecules have a partially charged polar end and an uncharged nonpolar end. Thus, they can bind weakly to either polar or nonpolar neighbouring molecules. When detergent is introduced into the center of the bowl, it may bind weakly to the water in the milk, decreasing its surface tension so that it flows more easily, and indirectly setting up the swirling motion.
Colour Drops
National Research Council Canada
Watch the ways in which food colouring can move through different liquids.
Materials:
- Plastics cups
- Water
- Salt
- Seltzer water
- Food colouring
Procedure:
- Fill two plastic cups 2/3 full with water.
- Add 1 drop of food colouring to the first cup and immediately observe what happens.
- Add the salt to the second cup and stir until the salt dissolves. Add one drop of food colouring to this cup and immediately observe.
- Fill the third cup 2/3 full with seltzer water, add 1 drop of food colouring and observe.
Observations:
In plain water the drop slowly swirls and moves throughout. In salt water, the drop starts to sink and then rises. In seltzer water, the drop quickly disperses and evenly colours the liquid.
How does it work?
Putting food colouring in plain water does not have a dramatic effect other than that the colour becomes more pale (diluted). The gas bubbles in the seltzer water act to speed things up, like an invisible stirring spoon. The drop of food colouring is quickly broken up and carried to all parts of the liquid. Salt water is more dense than plain water. This means that anything less dense will float on the top, including the food colouring (which is a drop of coloured water).
Note: Activity adapted from multiple sources by NRC scientist Dr. Mike Day.
Environment Week Quiz
Environment and Climate Change Canada
1. Planting trees in your neighbourhood is one of the best things you can do for the local environment and for the planet because:
- They produce oxygen
- They remove carbon dioxide and contaminants from the air
- They provide habitat for birds and other wildlife
- All of the above
2. Choosing ENERGY STAR-qualified products when replacing old equipment can cut your household energy bills by:
- Approximately 10%
- Approximately 20%
- Approximately 30%
- Approximately 40%
3. Humans use at least 40,000 species of plants and animals every day for their different needs.
- True
- False
4. Which of the following species are at risk in Canada?
- Prairie-Chicken
- Grizzly Bear
- Atlantic Walrus
- All of the above
5. Biodiversity only includes the number of different species of plants, animals and microorganisms in existence.
- True
- False
6. The way to guarantee that a plugged-in electronic device is not consuming power is to:
- Place device on standby
- Turn device off
- Unplug device from the outlet
- If device is fully charged, then it will not consume any more energy
7. Ocean ecosystems are able to:
- Take sewage and recycle it into nutrients
- Scrub toxins out of the water
- Turn carbon dioxide into food and oxygen
- All of the above
8. It is better to have a larger, energy-efficient refrigerator than a smaller refrigerator of the same model.
- True
- False
9. If every driver of a passenger car or small truck avoided idling by three minutes a day, collectively over the year, we would save:
- 630 million liters of fuel
- Over 1.4 million tones of GHG emissions
- $630 million annually in fuel costs
- All of the above
10. Which of the following residential waste will green bins NOT turn into compost?
- Plastics
- Yard waste
- Food soiled paper products
- Food scraps
Important Decisions Don't Just Happen
Statistics Canada
Student exercise
1. Find the four best neighbourhoods for the playground.
2. Find the four best neighbourhoods for the seniors' centre.
3. Find the two best neighbourhoods for the medical centre by using the results from request numbers one and two.
4. Find the five best neighbourhoods for the bus route.
- Once your group decides which neighbourhoods the first service should be located in, mark them on the census grid map. Do this by filling in the squares for each neighbourhood with the colour for the service. (The colour for each service is shown in the legend.) Neighbourhood 1, one of the choices for locating the playground, has already been marked for you. You may go ahead and colour it in with yellow. Continue to find the next best neighbourhoods for a playground and the senior's centre. (It is possible to have more than one service located in the same neighbourhood.)
- After you have correctly identified the best neighbourhoods for the playground and the senior's centre, the best place for the medical centre should be automatically evident. (Hint* the neighbourhoods selected for the playground and the seniors' centre will overlap.) Indicate the best neighbourhoods for the medical centre by circling the two neighbourhoods with the appropriate colour.
- The final task is to identify the five best neighbourhoods for the bus route using Handout 1 Table 1 and Handout 2. The bus route should accommodate the neighbourhoods with the largest populations.
The following exercise asks you to make some decisions:
Data-R-Us has assigned you four client requests. Each request is looking for data which will help to locate the most appropriate neighbourhoods in Maple for specific services.
- The first request is from the town of Maple community volunteer league, which has raised funds to build a new playground.
- The second request is from the Maple Town Council, which has designated money from the city budget, to build a seniors' centre.
- The third request comes from the Get Well Medical Clinic. The primary users of the medical clinic are children and seniors. Get Well would like to expand into Maple and is looking for a location close to large numbers of children and seniors.
- The fourth request comes from the town of Maple's Department of Public Transportation. They are looking to start a new bus route in an area where there will be a demand for public transportation.
Consider this:
Imagine that you have looked at the census report on the town of Maple and have picked the data that best describe the people who will use the services. Table 1 is the result of this effort. Take a moment to study the table.
| Request number | Service | Who needs the service | Census Data |
| 1 | playground | children | people - 15 years and under |
| 2 | seniors' centre | seniors | people - 65 years and over |
| 3 | medical centre | children and seniors | people - 15 years and under; people - 65 years and over |
| 4 | new bus route | everyone | total population |
Handout 2: Census data
Imagine that you have looked at the census report on Maple and have picked the data that shows the population in each neighbourhood based on their age. Table 2 is the result of this effort.
| Neighbourhood | People - 15 years and under | People - 65 years and over | Total Population |
| 1 | 175 | 79 | 365 |
| 2 | 170 | 190 | 450 |
| 3 | 5 | 250 | 312 |
| 4 | 95 | 145 | 520 |
| 5 | 171 | 94 | 470 |
| 6 | 150 | 201 | 440 |
| 7 | 65 | 220 | 335 |
| 8 | 84 | 98 | 522 |
| 9 | 20 | 100 | 207 |
| 10 | 27 | 5 | 171 |
| 11 | 90 | 78 | 568 |
| 12 | 75 | 43 | 608 |
| 13 | 17 | 76 | 192 |
| 14 | 15 | 22 | 169 |
| 15 | 120 | 11 | 632 |
| 16 | 20 | 1 | 163 |
Handout 3: Census grid map of Maple
The town is divided into 16 neighbourhoods which appear on the grid map below.
| 1: Yellow | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
Legend - best locations
- Playground: yellow
- Medical centre: green
- Seniors' centre: blue
- Bus route: red
1. Find the four best neighbourhoods for the playground.
2. Find the four best neighbourhoods for the seniors' centre.
3. Find the two best neighbourhoods for the medical centre by using the results from request numbers one and two.
4. Find the five best neighbourhoods for the bus route.
- Once your group decides which neighbourhoods the first service should be located in, mark them on the census grid map. Do this by filling in the squares for each neighbourhood with the colour for the service. (The colour for each service is shown in the legend.) Neighbourhood 1, one of the choices for locating the playground, has already been marked for you. You may go ahead and colour it in with yellow. Continue to find the next best neighbourhoods for a playground and the senior's centre. (It is possible to have more than one service located in the same neighbourhood.)
- After you have correctly identified the best neighbourhoods for the playground and the senior's centre, the best place for the medical centre should be automatically evident. (Hint* the neighbourhoods selected for the playground and the senior's centre will overlap.) Indicate the best neighbourhoods for the medical centre by circling the two neighbourhoods with the appropriate colour.
- The final task is to identify the five best neighbourhoods for the bus route using Handout 1 Table 1 and Handout 2. The bus route should accommodate the neighbourhoods with the largest populations.
Apple Ocean
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Objectives
To learn about the small percentage of the ocean that is productive, providing food and shelter for a variety of plants, and people.
Activities
An apple will be cut up to illustrate what part of the Earth is land, what part is ocean, and what proportion is the most productive part of the ocean.
Background
All the water in the world today was here when the Earth was formed. The water of the Earth has remained unchanged
in quantity throughout the four or five billion years of its existence. About 97% of the water on the Earth is in the ocean.
- Only a small percentage of the ocean is productive. These productive areas are the coastal regions.
- Canada has many different coastal ecosystems including rocky shores, estuaries, salt marshes, sandy beaches, barrier islands, cliffs and fjords, tidal mud flats, coastal bogs, bays, and inlets.
- Estuaries, salt marshes, and rocky shores are very productive environments.
- These areas provide sources of food for wildlife and humans, and act as nurseries for many commercial fish species.
Procedures
Looking at the land part of our planet:
- Cut your apple into four equal pieces. Set three of the pieces aside for later use. These represent the three-quarters of the Earth that is covered with ocean. Mark them 'OCEAN.' The remaining quarter represents the land, or areas not covered by ocean.
- Cut this one-quarter into two equal pieces. One piece represents all the land that is too dry, too wet, or too hot for people. This is uninhabitable land-mountains, deserts.... The other piece, one-eighth of the Earth's surface, is where people can live.
- Cut this one-eighth piece into four pieces and set aside three of them. The remaining piece represents the portion of the habitable land in which we are able to grow food.
- Take this 1/32 piece and cut off a thin slice. This tiny slice represents 3/100 of 1% of the Earth's surface. All of our drinkable water comes from this area. What is the significance of this or what does this suggest to you?
Now look at the ocean part of our planet:
- Take one of the three 'ocean' pieces and cut it in half. This piece, an eighth of the world's surface, represents the productive coastal zones of the oceans.
- Cut this one-eighth piece into four equal parts. One of these represents the productive area along the Atlantic coast of North America. What does this tell you about the amount of productive aquatic area in the world?
- Eat the apple.
Activity Materials
Materials: Knives, apples, non-toxic markers
Location: Indoors
Time required: 30 Minutes
Minimum people required: 1
Subjects: Science, mathematics (fractions), social studies
Grade level: 6 And up
Key words: Salt marshes, saltwater, estuaries, rocky shores, productivity
(Apple Ocean activity modified from the Huntsman Marine Science Centre )
Answer Key: Environment Week Quiz
1. Planting trees in your neighbourhood is one of the best things you can do for the local environment and for the planet because:
d. All of the above
Trees are like the lungs of the planet. They breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. Additionally, they provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. But that's not all! Trees help reduce ozone levels in urban areas. They absorb sound and reduce noise pollution. Planting trees can also help cool your home in the summer. Trees are essential to the planet and to humans, so plant a tree and reap in the many benefits!
2. Choosing ENERGY STAR-qualified products when replacing old equipment can cut your household energy bills by:
c. Approximately 30%
The more energy efficient a product is, the less it costs to operate - an important consideration for consumers in these days of rising energy costs. Choosing ENERGY STAR qualified products when replacing old equipment can cut household energy bills by about 30 percent.
3. Humans use at least 40,000 species of plants and animals every day for their different needs.
a. True
We rely on biodiversity for many things, including food, medicine, clothing and shelter. Some of the ways biodiversity is lost are through:
- Habitat destruction
- Introduced species
- Pollution
- Population growth
- Over-consumption
4. Which of the following species are at risk in Canada?
d. All of the above
According to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, there are currently 487 plant and animal species at risk in Canada. The Prairie-Chicken, Grizzly Bear and Atlantic Walrus are just a few examples.
5. Biodiversity only includes the number of different species of plants, animals and microorganisms in existence.
b. False
Biodiversity is most often understood as the number of different species of plants, animals and microorganisms in existence. However, biodiversity also includes the specific genetic variations and traits within species, as well as the collection of these species within ecosystems.
6. The way to guarantee that a plugged-in electronic device is not consuming power is to:
c. Unplug device from the outlet
A growing number of household electrical devices are designed to draw power 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Even when turned "off," these appliances and home electronics continue to use electricity to operate features, such as clocks, timers and touch pads, or to receive signals from remote controls. Battery chargers (used by products such as cordless phones) or external power supplies (used by products such as laptops) also draw power when they are plugged in - even if the device they power is fully charged or disconnected. Some electronics (such as television set-top boxes) are always awake, waiting to receive information. If unplugging the device from the outlet is not convenient, you can use a power bar and turn it off when not
using the appliances.
7. Ocean ecosystems are able to:
d. All of the above
Ecosystems are incredibly productive and efficient--when there is sufficient biodiversity. Each form of life works together with the surrounding environment to help recycle waste, maintain the ecosystem, and provide services that others--including humans--use and benefit from.
8. It is better to have a larger, energy-efficient refrigerator than a smaller refrigerator of the same model.
a. True
A model that is too big wastes money and energy, and one that is too small could waste energy if it becomes overcrowded with food and drinks. It is better to have a larger, energy-efficient refrigerator than a smaller inefficient model.
9. If every driver of a passenger car or small truck avoided idling by three minutes a day, collectively over the year, we would save:
d. All of the above
Reducing idling is easy and has real environmental, health and financial benefits for drivers. Most of us are guilty of idling. So shut off your engine the next time you are in the drive-through lane or waiting to pick someone up. By reducing idling, you can save money on gas, and improve the quality of air you breathe!
10. Which of the following residential waste will green bins NOT turn into compost?
a. Plastics
Unless the plastic is specially designed to decompose in the soil, such materials can last a very long time because the chemical bonds that hold the molecules together are often stronger than nature's power to take them apart. This means that soil micro-organisms that can easily attack and decompose wood and other formerly living materials cannot break the various kinds of strong bonds that are common to most plastics. If you must use disposable bags, prefer paper ones.
Answer Key: Important Decisions Don't Just Happen
Overview
This activity gives students hands-on experience with census data, introduces them to data for small geographic areas, refines decision-making skills and demonstrates some of the actual uses of information collected by the census.
Duration: 1-2 class periods
Note: See the Teacher’s Guide (http://census2011.gc.ca/ccr02/ccr02a/ccr02a_010-eng.htm) for general background on the census and census vocabulary.
Learning objectives
- Interpret a statistical table and a grid map.
- Sort and rank numeric values.
- Graphically display information on a grid map.
- Name at least one type of information collected in a census.
Vocabulary
census, census data, grid map
Materials
- Handout 1: Important decisions don’t just happen!
- Handout 2: Census data — Table 2: Population by neighbourhood. (Optional to make an overhead rather than pass out individual copies.)
- Handout 3: Census grid map of Maple and “Student exercise” instructions. (You may wish to make an overhead of this handout so that you can use it when explaining the exercise and when reviewing the answers with the class.)
- Coloured pencils or markers (not included).
Getting started
Ask your students to imagine that they work for a company called Data-R-Us, which provides statistical data to the public. Data-R-Us will be looking at statistical data for a town called Maple, a community where 75% of the families have children younger than six years of age. What special concerns do they think the residents of this community have?
Ask your students to brainstorm ideas for the kinds of special services a town like Maple should offer. The answers will vary but will probably include schools, daycare centres, playgrounds, libraries, sports complexes and health centres.
Have students explain their recommendations. Ask what factors influenced their decisions. Did they consider the number of families with young children?
Share with the students, that in today’s world, millions of dollars can be lost on a guess. That’s why people need facts to make decisions. For example, retail businesses use data to help choose new locations or to add new products and they often turn to data that have been gathered by the census.
1. Explain to the students that real-life decisions require the support of this type of statistical information. The Canadian census is an important source of current statistical data and it is conducted by Statistics Canada every five years. The next census will take place in May 2011.
Allot time to discuss the upcoming census with the class and how census data are used everyday in our communities. Census data are used at the local, provincial and federal government levels as well as by community organizations, businesses and individuals. (See “Who uses census data?” in the Teacher’s Guide.)
2. Tell the students that, as employees of Data-R-Us, they are going to complete four requests that have come in from the town of Maple. They will use the statistical data provided to give their recommendations to the clients.
Teacher instructions
1. Distribute Handout 1. Explain to the students that they are going to be researchers at Data-R-Us. Their task will be to select the most appropriate neighbourhoods, in the fictional town of Maple, for new community services. Read Handout 1 aloud (or have student volunteers read it for you) and discuss Table 1.
2. This exercise lends itself to group work. Divide the class into groups of three to five students and tell them that they will be asked to work together to determine where to locate the services on a map.
3. Distribute Handout 2 and discuss Table 2. Column 1 lists each neighbourhood by number; column 2 the population aged 15 years and under; column 3 lists the population aged 65 years and over; and column 4 lists the total population including people who are older than 15 and younger than 65. To demonstrate how to interpret the data presented in Handout 2 Table 2, discuss the following with the class: The largest number of people 15 years of age and younger is in neighbourhood 1. Also in this neighbourhood you will see that there are more children than seniors (people – 65 years and over). Based on this information, neighbourhood 1 will be a neighbourhood to consider for a playground.
4. Students will use Handout 1 Table 1 and Handout 2 Table 2 to decide on the best neighbourhoods for each service. This will be determined by finding neighbourhoods with the largest number of people who need the service. For example, for the playground, they will choose the neighbourhoods with the greatest number of children.
5. Distribute Handout 3 to each group or to each student. This handout is a grid map of Maple where each neighbourhood is identified by a number. It also contains the specific instructions the students should follow to complete the exercise — under the title “Student exercise.”
| Neighbourhood | People - 15 years and under | People - 65 years and over | Total Population |
| 1 | 175 * | 79 | 365 |
| 2 | 170 * | 190 * | 450 |
| 3 | 5 | 250 * | 312 |
| 4 | 95 | 145 | 520 * |
| 5 | 171 * | 94 | 470 |
| 6 | 150 * | 201 * | 440 |
| 7 | 65 | 220 * | 335 |
| 8 | 84 | 98 | 522 * |
| 9 | 20 | 100 | 207 |
| 10 | 27 | 5 | 171 |
| 11 | 90 | 78 | 568 * |
| 12 | 75 | 43 | 608 * |
| 13 | 17 | 76 | 192 |
| 14 | 15 | 22 | 169 |
| 15 | 120 | 11 | 632 * |
| 16 | 20 | 1 | 163 |
* largest number of people in each category
| 1: Yellow | 2: Yellow/Blue | 3: Blue | 4: Red |
| 5: Yellow | 6: Yellow/Blue | 7: Blue | 8: Red |
| 9 | 10 | 11: Red | 12: Red |
| 13 | 14 | 15: Red | 16 |