Social Studies 4

Unit 1: First Contact and the Fur Trade

Big Idea: interactions between First Peoples and Europeans led to conflict and co-operation, which continue to shape Canada's identity — and the pursuit of valuable natural resources (furs) changed the land and its communities. First Peoples and European peoples met, traded, worked together, and sometimes clashed, and the fur trade built the earliest settlements of what became British Columbia and Canada.

• Contact, trade, co-operation, and conflict

• The fur trade in early Canada and BC

Unit 2: A Colony Takes Shape

Big Idea: British Columbia followed a unique path in becoming a part of Canada, and demographic changes created shifts in economic and political power. As the population changed, economic pressures and political decisions pushed the young colony to join Confederation.

• How BC's population changed

• Economic factors in BC's colonization

• Political factors and BC's entry into Confederation

Unit 3: The Impact of Colonization

Big Idea: interactions between First Peoples and Europeans led to conflict and co-operation, which continue to shape Canada's identity. Colonization brought real and lasting harm to First Peoples societies in British Columbia and Canada — through its broad effects on people and culture, and through specific government laws and policies.

• Broad impacts of colonization

• Government laws and policies affecting First Peoples

Unit 4: Our Local Community

Big Idea: British Columbia followed a unique path in becoming a part of Canada — and so did every local community. Every community, including the local First Peoples community whose territory it sits on, has its own history of people, events, and change over time.

• The history of our local community

Unit 5: Canada's Land and Resources

Big Idea: the pursuit of valuable natural resources has played a key role in changing the land, people, and communities of Canada. Canada's mountains, plains, coasts, and forests, and the natural resources within them, have shaped where and how people live.

• Canada's physiographic features

• Canada's natural resources