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B. Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability · Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability

Investigating a Resource Issue: The Geographic Inquiry Process

B2.1 B2.2 B2.4 B2.5 B2.6About 55 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can write inquiry questions about the impact of resource extraction or use.
  • I can gather and organize information from sources that show more than one perspective.
  • I can analyse data, evaluate evidence and draw a conclusion.
  • I can choose a format to communicate my findings to an audience.

Words to know

inquiry
An investigation that starts with a question and uses evidence to reach a conclusion.
geographic perspective
Looking at an issue by considering its environmental, economic, political and social parts, and how they connect to place.
primary source
Information from the time or place, collected first-hand, like photos, interviews or measurements.
secondary source
Information that explains or interprets primary sources, like a textbook or news article.
bias
A one-sided view that favours one side and leaves out others.
graphic organizer
A chart or diagram, like a table or matrix, used to sort information.
conclusion
An answer to the inquiry question, supported by evidence.

Remember from Grade 6

In Grade 6 you carried out a full inquiry on a global issue: you asked questions, used primary and secondary sources, checked for bias, analysed information and made a conclusion. In Grade 7 you'll use the geographic inquiry process and look at an issue from a geographic perspective, which means considering four kinds of impact:

  • Environmental (land, water, air, wildlife)
  • Economic (jobs, money, costs)
  • Political (governments, laws, rights, decisions)
  • Social (people's health, communities, culture)
An aerial view of a large clear-cut area of stumps and logging roads beside standing forest and a winding river.
A resource issue seen from above. A geographer would ask about every kind of impact: on the river and wildlife, on jobs, on laws and on nearby communities. AI-generated image

The steps of the geographic inquiry process

  1. Formulate questions. Good questions are open (not yes or no), focused and researchable. Use the concepts of geographic thinking:
  • Spatial significance: Why does this happen here?
  • Patterns and trends: What patterns or changes over time do we see?
  • Interrelationships: How are the environment and people connected in this issue?
  • Geographic perspective: What are the environmental, economic, political and social impacts?
  1. Gather and organize data and information from many sources, making sure they show more than one perspective.
  2. Interpret and analyse using tools: graphs, maps, photos, graphic organizers.
  3. Evaluate evidence and draw conclusions. Which evidence is strongest? What is your answer?
  4. Communicate your findings in a format that fits your audience: an essay, annotated map, report, infographic, slideshow, public service announcement, story or website.
1. Formulate questions2. Gather and organize3. Interpret and analyse4. Evaluate and conclude5. CommunicateGeographicinquiryNew questions often appear at the end, so the cycle can start again.
The five steps of the geographic inquiry process. The dashed arrow shows that new questions can start the cycle again.

Is my source reliable?

Ask: Who made it? Why? (to inform, to sell, to persuade?) When? Is it current? Does it give evidence? Can you find the same facts somewhere else? Remember that a company and an environmental group may both be honest but choose different facts. Use both and compare.

Worked example

Let's do a mini-inquiry: bottled water

Inquiry question: What are the impacts of bottled water, and should our school encourage refillable bottles instead?

  1. 1. Question: It's open, focused and uses the geographic perspective concept.
  2. 2. Gather sources with different perspectives: a bottled water company's website, an environmental group's report, a city water department's information about tap water testing, a news article, and a survey of classmates.
  3. 3. Organize in a matrix: - Environmental: plastic bottles are made from oil; many end up in landfills or as litter; water is pumped from local groundwater; trucks burn fuel. - Economic: bottled water costs far more per litre than tap water; companies create jobs. - Political: governments issue permits to take groundwater, and some communities debate them. - Social: bottled water is convenient, and it matters greatly for communities without safe tap water (some First Nations have lived under long-term drinking water advisories).
  4. 4. Evaluate and conclude: The city's tests show our tap water is safe. Most evidence shows refillable bottles reduce plastic waste and cost less. But bottled water is important where tap water isn't safe.
  5. 5. Communicate: for classmates, a short poster or announcement with three key facts and a call to action.

Conclusion: In a community with safe tap water, our school should encourage refillable bottles because they reduce plastic waste and cost less, while recognizing that bottled water is essential in places without safe drinking water.

Reading data carefully

When you analyse a graph or table, ask: What is being measured, and in what units? What is the trend (going up, down, steady)? Are there sudden changes? What might explain them? What can't the data tell you?

YearFish caught (tonnes)
2000800
2005750
2010500
2015200
202090
Pretend data for a practice fishery. Use it for the practice questions below.
02004006008002000800200575020105002015200202090Fish caught (tonnes)Year (pretend data)Trend: steady, then a steep drop after 2005
The pretend fishery data as a line graph. The catch drops slowly at first, then steeply after 2005: from 800 tonnes in 2000 to 90 tonnes in 2020.
Just for fun

Inquiry tip: Why? is the most powerful question in geography. Ask it five times in a row and you'll either reach the root of the problem or run out of snacks.

Hands-on activity

Run your own mini-inquiry

Pick one resource issue that interests you (ideas: fast fashion and cotton, plastic packaging, a local gravel pit, palm oil in snacks, salt on winter roads, electric cars and mining).

  1. Write one main inquiry question and three supporting questions (one each for environmental, economic and social or political).
  2. Find at least three sources, from at least two perspectives. Write who made each one and why.
  3. Organize what you find in a four-part matrix (environmental, economic, political, social).
  4. Write a conclusion of 3 to 5 sentences that answers your question with evidence.
  5. Choose a format and audience (for example, a poster for your family or a one-minute speech for your class) and share it.

Use websites with a grown-up. Look for: a clear, open question, sources from different perspectives, and a conclusion that uses evidence.

Your turn

1

Turn this yes/no question into a stronger inquiry question: Is mining bad?

2

Name the four kinds of impact in a geographic perspective.

3

Why should you use sources from more than one perspective?

4

Using the pretend fish table: what is the trend from 2000 to 2020?

5

Between which two years in the pretend table did the catch drop the most?

6

Which is a primary source: a satellite photo of a mine, or a textbook chapter about mining?

7

Give two formats for communicating findings.

More practice: warm-up

1

What is an inquiry?

2

What is bias?

3

Is a news article a primary or secondary source?

4

What is a conclusion?

5

Name one graphic organizer.

More practice: on your own

1

A company report says its mine "brings prosperity to the region." What questions should you ask about this source?

2

Using the pretend fish table, by how many tonnes did the catch fall from 2000 to 2020? About what fraction of the 2000 catch was left in 2020?

3

What can the pretend fish table not tell you?

4

Write a supporting question about the political side of a forestry issue.

5

Which format would best show different perspectives on a new dam to the public? Explain.

Challenge

1

Two sources disagree: an energy company says a pipeline is safe; an environmental group says it risks spills. How would you evaluate the evidence?

2

Write a main inquiry question about salt on winter roads using the concept of interrelationships.

3

Your conclusion is: "The pretend fishery is unsustainable." What extra evidence would make this conclusion stronger?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is the strongest inquiry question?

2.

Which is not one of the four kinds of impact in a geographic perspective?

3.

Why should an inquiry use sources from more than one perspective?

4.

In the pretend fish table, what was the catch in 2015?

5.

Which step comes last in the inquiry process?

6.

Which source is most likely to be biased in favour of a mine?

For parents and teachers

How to help: Help your child find sources and check them with the reliability questions. Encourage them to include at least one source they disagree with.

Online safety: Supervise internet research and help judge websites.

Sensitive point: Some First Nations communities have lived under long-term drinking water advisories. Discuss this respectfully as a real issue of fairness and rights, not as a weakness of the communities.

Common difficulties:

  • Writing yes/no questions. Start with "How", "Why", "To what extent" or "What are the impacts of...".
  • Using only sources that agree with them.
  • Conclusions that don't answer the question or don't use evidence.
  • Reading tables: the fish table uses tonnes; differences are found by subtracting.