Grade by Grade
A. Physical Patterns in a Changing World · Physical Patterns in a Changing World

Be a Geographer: Investigating the Impact of a Natural Event or Human Activity

A2.1 A2.2 A2.3 A2.4 A2.5 A2.6About 60 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can write questions to guide an investigation into how a natural event or human activity changes the physical environment.
  • I can gather and organize information from sources that show more than one perspective.
  • I can analyse and construct maps, including the spatial boundaries of an impact, and interpret data.
  • I can evaluate evidence, draw conclusions and communicate my findings using geographic vocabulary.

Words to know

inquiry
An investigation that starts with a question and uses evidence to reach a conclusion.
spatial significance
Why a place matters: what is special about its location and features.
patterns and trends
Patterns are features that repeat in space; trends are changes over time.
interrelationships
How parts of the natural and human environment affect each other.
geographic perspective
Looking at an issue from environmental, economic, political and social points of view.
primary source
Information collected first-hand, such as your own photos, measurements or interviews.
secondary source
Information that others have gathered and interpreted, such as news articles, maps or reports.
spatial boundary
The edge of the area affected by something, such as where flood water reached.

Your turn to investigate

You've learned about landforms, water, climate and vegetation, and the natural events and human activities that change them. Now you'll put it all together like a real geographer, using the geographic inquiry process.

In Grade 4 you did an inquiry about balancing human needs and the environment. In Grade 7, your inquiry should look closely at where the impact happens, map its boundaries, and consider more than one perspective.

Bright green young aspen trees and pink fireweed grow among blackened standing tree trunks after a forest fire.
A boreal forest a few years after a wildfire. The black trunks show the impact; the aspen and fireweed show that the forest is already regrowing. AI-generated image

The four concepts of geographic thinking

Ontario geographers use four big ideas to guide questions:

  • Spatial significance: Why does it matter where this happened?
  • Patterns and trends: What repeats in space? What is changing over time?
  • Interrelationships: How do the natural and human parts affect each other?
  • Geographic perspective: What are the environmental, economic, political and social sides of the issue?

The geographic inquiry process

  1. Formulate questions. Write one big question and some smaller ones. Good questions can't be answered with yes or no.
  2. Gather and organize. Use primary sources (your own photos, measurements, interviews) and secondary sources (maps, articles, government reports, graphs). Include sources that show more than one perspective. Organize notes in tables or organizers.
  3. Analyse maps and data. Construct and read maps, including a map showing the spatial boundary of the impact. Use graphs, photos and satellite images.
  4. Interpret and evaluate. Look for patterns. Check whether sources agree. Decide which evidence is strongest.
  5. Draw conclusions. Answer your big question, using evidence.
  6. Communicate. Share your results in a format that suits your audience: a report, a photo essay, an editorial, a slide show or a poster, using geographic vocabulary.

A modelled inquiry: "Riverton" (a pretend town)

To practise, let's use a pretend town called Riverton. The data are made up for learning.

N ↑not to scaleriver- - - flooded area ■ building
A sketch map of pretend Riverton: the river (blue) runs west to east. The dashed line shows the spatial boundary of a spring flood. Buildings are squares; three are inside the flooded area and three are outside it. Not to scale.
YearHighest spring river level (m above normal)Buildings flooded
20181.20
20192.14
20201.51
20210.90
20222.69
20231.82
20242.46
20252.911
Pretend data for Riverton, made up for practice.
024681012020181.2 m420192.1 m120201.5 m020210.9 m920222.6 m220231.8 m620242.4 m1120252.9 myearlevelBuildings floodedRiverton (pretend data): buildings flooded each spring
A bar graph of the pretend Riverton data. The tallest bars (2022, 2024, 2025) match the highest river levels, and years under 1.5 m flooded no buildings.
Worked example

Let's work through the Riverton inquiry

Use the inquiry process to investigate: How do spring floods affect Riverton's people and environment, and how should the town respond?

  1. 1. Questions. Big question (above). Smaller questions: Which parts of town flood? Is flooding getting worse? What makes the river rise? Who is affected, and what do different groups think?
  2. 2. Gather and organize. Primary: photos of high-water marks, an interview with a farmer and a business owner. Secondary: the town's flood map, river-level records, a news report, the conservation authority's report. Organize in a table: source, type, perspective, key facts.
  3. 3. Analyse the map. The spatial boundary (dashed line) shows the flood covers the low land beside the river. Buildings on the floodplain are inside the boundary; buildings on higher ground are outside.
  4. 4. Interpret the data. The years with the highest river levels had the most flooded buildings (2.9 m → 11; 2.6 m → 9). Levels below 1.5 m flooded no buildings, while levels over 2 m flooded 4 or more. Most of the highest levels (2022, 2024, 2025) are recent: a possible trend toward bigger floods, but 8 years is a short record, so it needs more evidence.
  5. 5. Evaluate and conclude. Floods mainly affect buildings on the floodplain. Evidence suggests floods may be getting bigger. Perspectives: owners want protection; the conservation authority suggests keeping new buildings off the floodplain and restoring wetlands upstream to hold water.
  6. 6. Communicate. A short photo essay with a flood map, a graph of river levels and flooded buildings, and a recommendation.

Conclusion: Riverton's flooding is concentrated on the floodplain, and bigger floods may be happening more often. A combined response (no new buildings on the floodplain, restoring upstream wetlands, and protecting existing buildings) is supported by the evidence.

Checking your sources

Ask: Who made this? When? Why? Is it a government agency, a scientist, a company or a blogger? Does it show one perspective or several? Can you find the same fact in a second reliable source?

Just for fun

Good inquiry questions can't be answered with yes or no.

Is that clear? ...Yes. Oops.

Hands-on activity

Mini-inquiry in your community

You need: a notebook, a phone or camera (optional), and a grown-up's help online.

Choose one local topic: flooding or erosion along a creek, a new subdivision on farmland, a quarry or gravel pit, an invasive species in a park, or how a recent storm affected your area.

  1. Write one big question and three smaller questions.
  2. Collect two primary sources (for example, your own photos or measurements, or a short interview with a neighbour) and two secondary sources (for example, a conservation authority web page and a local news article). Note each source's perspective.
  3. Draw a sketch map showing where the impact happens and its boundary (where it stops). Add a title, a north arrow, a legend and "not to scale".
  4. Make one graph or table of data if you can.
  5. Write a conclusion of 3 to 5 sentences that answers your big question with evidence.
  6. Share your results with your family as a photo essay or short editorial.

What to look for: an open question, at least two perspectives, a labelled map with a boundary, and a conclusion backed by evidence. Stay away from riverbanks and edges of quarries; observe from a safe place with a grown-up.

Your turn

1

Name the four concepts of geographic thinking.

2

Turn this yes-or-no question into an inquiry question: "Is the creek eroding?"

3

Give one primary source and one secondary source for an inquiry about a flood.

4

What is a spatial boundary? Why is it useful to map one?

5

Look at the Riverton table. In which year were the most buildings flooded, and what was the river level?

6

What pattern do you see between river level and buildings flooded in Riverton?

7

Name two formats you could use to communicate an inquiry.

More practice: warm-up

1

What is the first step of the inquiry process?

2

Is a photo you took yourself a primary or secondary source?

3

Which concept asks "Why does it matter where this happened?"

4

What four sides does a geographic perspective consider?

5

What three things should every sketch map have, besides the drawing?

More practice: on your own

1

Why should an inquiry include sources with more than one perspective?

2

A student finds a website that says a quarry "has no effects at all." It is written by the quarry company. How should the student treat this source?

3

Is the Riverton trend toward bigger floods proven? Explain.

4

Write one question about Riverton for each of two concepts of geographic thinking.

5

What makes a conclusion strong?

Challenge

1

Using the Riverton data, calculate the average number of buildings flooded per year from 2018 to 2025. Show your work.

2

Explain the impact of Riverton's floods from all four parts of a geographic perspective.

3

Design a sketch map for an inquiry into a new subdivision built on farmland. List what it must show.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is the first step of the geographic inquiry process?

2.

Which is a primary source?

3.

A line on a map showing where flood water reached shows the impact's...

4.

"How do the river and the town affect each other?" uses which concept?

5.

A geographic perspective looks at an issue from which points of view?

6.

Why is it important to use sources showing more than one perspective?

7.

In the Riverton data, what happens to flooded buildings as river levels rise?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Strand A2 asks students to use the geographic inquiry process to investigate the impact of natural events and/or human activities that change the physical environment: formulate questions (A2.1), gather and organize data from sources with more than one perspective (A2.2), analyse and construct maps, focusing on the spatial boundaries of the impact (A2.3), interpret data using tools such as graphs and maps (A2.4), evaluate evidence and draw conclusions (A2.5), and communicate results with appropriate vocabulary (A2.6). Riverton is pretend.

How to help: Help your child choose a local, manageable topic. Your conservation authority's website, municipal maps and local news are great sources. Help them find at least two perspectives, and ask "How do you know?" often.

Common difficulties:

  • Yes-or-no questions: start with how, why or to what extent.
  • Copying information instead of analysing it: ask what the evidence shows.
  • Overclaiming: a short data record can suggest a trend but not prove it.

Safety: stay well back from riverbanks (especially in spring), quarries and construction sites.