Inquiry

What is the geography of the Interior Plains Region?

Glaciers


The provinces and territories in the Interior Plains region are Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and the North West Territories. Once covered with water, all that remains of the glacial lake are Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, and Lake Winnipeg. Alberta has various rivers such as the North and South Saskatchewan, Peace, Athabasca, Pembina, Battle, Bow, and Red Deer Rivers. 

Natural Disasters: Floods, Forest Fires, and Tornadoes


Because the land of the Interior Plains region is so flat, it can be flooded easily. To stop flooding, Winnipeg built a large ditch called the Red River floodway in the 1950s. It was first used in 1969. It is a 47 km long channel which, during flood periods, takes part of the Red River and diverts it to the east below a dam at Lockport, Manitoba. Calgary could build something similar. See a news article here.

Another natural disaster, wildfires, used to be common in this region one hundred years ago. But, as the west was settled, wildfires occurred much less frequently.  However, in the past thirty years, wildfires have tripled. The majority of the fires are caused by humans. Are ATVs causing fires in the dry areas? A spark from the campfire or the machine can cause a huge fire.
 
 
 
There are 15 to 16 tornadoes per year on average in Alberta.  Here is some information about tornadoes.

Resources for Inquiry

  1. Library Books
      • Plains, pages 6 – 7, 10 – 11, 12 – 13, 14 – 15
      • The Interior Plains, pages 6 –7, 20 – 21, 22 – 23, 24 – 25, 30 – 35
      • The Kids Book of Canadian Geography, pages 44 – 45

  2. Websites
      • Physical Regions of Canada - Scroll down to “The Prairies”.
      • Canada’s Physical Regions Knight’s Canadian Info Collection - Select "Ecozones" from the menu on the left and then scroll down to “The Interior Plains – The Prairies”.
      • Search for Canada Plains in Images on a web browser.


 Skill Builder


Click here to learn how to search on the Internet.


Notebook



Click here to download, save to your Unit 5 Notebook, and use the Interior Plains Geography Graphic Organizer as you complete your inquiry. 


Place information and images about the geography and landforms on the organizer.



When you feel confident about the information you explored in this inquiry, complete the Lesson 1 Self-Check on the following page.