Courses

Quebec · Secondary 1 and 2

Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2)

  • 595-103 / 595-203

Quebec’s Secondary 1 and 2 social studies course, from Urban territory to Techniques used in geography.

Learn thisPractice test
Units
6
Lessons
14
Skills
40
Provincial exam
None
Official curriculum
education.gouv.qc.ca

Unit by unit

Every skill in the course, numbered by unit.

Unit 1 · 9 skills

Urban territory

The Metropolis

A City and Natural Hazards

  • Situating a city subject to natural hazards

    I can situate a city subject to natural hazards and explain why people live there.

    1.4

    Learn itPractice testActivities

  • Planning a city for natural hazards

    I can describe how a hazard-prone city is planned to protect its residents.

    1.5

    Learn itPractice testActivities

  • When a hazard becomes a disaster

    I can analyze how urbanization and development shape the consequences of a natural disaster.

    1.6

    Learn itPractice testActivities

The Heritage City

  • Situating and characterizing a heritage city

    I can situate a heritage city and describe what makes its site heritage.

    1.7

    Learn itPractice testActivities

  • Protecting and accessing a heritage site

    I can describe how a heritage city is developed while protecting its site.

    1.8

    Learn itPractice testActivities

  • Protecting heritage under pressure

    I can analyze the pressures on heritage cities and the limits of protecting them.

    1.9

    Learn itPractice testActivities
The official wording · 9 outcomes
1.1
Location of a metropolis
1.2
Planning and development of a metropolis
1.3
Issues affecting a metropolis or metropolises
1.4
Location of a city subject to natural hazards
1.5
Planning and development of a city subject to natural hazards
1.6
Issues affecting a city or cities subject to natural hazards
1.7
Location of a heritage city
1.8
Planning and development of a heritage city
1.9
Issues affecting a heritage city or cities

Key ideas

  1. A metropolis is located within a continent and country and can be placed among the world's major metropolises (e.g. Tokyo, Mexico City, New York City, Montreal).

  2. A hazard-prone city can be located within its continent and country and among cities like Honolulu or others at risk.

  3. A heritage city can be located within its continent and country and among recognized world heritage cities.

  4. It has a large, dense population - often a big share of its country or province (Montreal and its suburbs hold roughly half of Quebec's population).

  5. Its hazard type is tied to its location (e.g. a coast, a fault line, a volcano).

Watch out for

  • Thinking a metropolis is just a big city - it is a concentration of population, power, and services.
  • Thinking people are foolish to live in hazard zones - strong reasons keep them there.
  • Thinking any old building is 'heritage' - recognition follows specific criteria.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 2 · 12 skills

Regional territory

The Tourist Region

The Forest Region

The Energy-Producing Region

The Industrial Region

The official wording · 12 outcomes
2.1
Location of a tourist region
2.2
Planning and development of a tourist region
2.3
Issue affecting a tourist region or regions
2.4
Location of a forest region
2.5
Planning and development of a forest region
2.6
Issue affecting a forest region or regions
2.7
Location of an energy-producing region
2.8
Planning and development of an energy-producing region
2.9
Issue affecting an energy-producing region or regions
2.10
Location of an industrial region
2.11
Planning and development of an industrial region
2.12
Issue affecting an industrial region or regions

Key ideas

  1. A tourist region can be located within its continent and country and placed among world tourist regions.

  2. A forest region can be located within its continent and country, including Quebec regions like Abitibi-Temiscamingue.

  3. An energy region can be located within its continent and country; the world's oil, gas, and high-consuming countries can be mapped.

  4. An industrial region can be located within its continent and country, among major regions like the American and Canadian Great Lakes.

  5. Major tourist flows run between regions such as Western Europe and the United States, and the United States and the Caribbean.

Watch out for

  • Thinking tourism is the same everywhere - it depends on each region's attractions.
  • Thinking a forest region is just wilderness - it is a managed economic territory.
  • Thinking energy is produced anywhere equally - it depends on natural resources.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 3 · 6 skills

Agricultural territory

An Agricultural Territory

Farming and Natural Hazards

The official wording · 6 outcomes
3.1
Location of an agricultural territory in a national space
3.2
Planning and development of an agricultural territory in a national space
3.3
Issues affecting an agricultural territory or territories in a national space
3.4
Location of an agricultural territory subject to natural hazards
3.5
Planning and development of an agricultural territory subject to natural hazards
3.6
Issues affecting an agricultural territory or territories subject to natural hazards

Key ideas

  1. An agricultural territory can be located within its continent and country, among major territories like the Great Plains.

  2. Hazard-prone agricultural territories can be located and mapped.

  3. Natural factors influence where the farming areas are.

  4. The latitude and position of the territory relate to the hazards it faces.

  5. The territory has main crops (e.g. rice, potatoes) and a share of the labour force in agriculture.

Watch out for

  • Thinking farmland is uniform - crops and organization depend on natural factors.
  • Thinking farmers avoid all hazard zones - some of the best farmland is hazard-prone.
  • Thinking farming is problem-free - farmers face real challenges.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 4 · 4 skills

Native territory

First Nations and Inuit Territories

  • First Nations and Inuit territories and cultures

    I can locate First Nations and Inuit territories and describe elements of their cultures.

    4.1

    Learn itPractice testActivities

  • Ancestral rights, agreements, and self-governance

    I can explain ancestral rights, the agreements with Quebec, and self-governance in these territories.

    4.2

    Learn itPractice testActivities

  • Organizing and developing the territory

    I can describe how these territories are organized and developed, and the constraints they face.

    4.3

    Learn itPractice testActivities

  • Shared territory, impacts, and unresolved claims

    I can analyze how these territories are shared and affected, and the claims still unresolved.

    4.4

    Learn itPractice testActivities
The official wording · 4 outcomes
4.1
Location of a Native territory
4.2
Characteristics of a Native territory
4.3
Planning and development of a Native territory
4.4
Issue affecting a Native territory or territories

Key ideas

  1. First Nations and Inuit territories can be located within their continent and country - in Canada, Cree, Naskapi, and Inuit territories, and worldwide (e.g. in Australia and Mexico).

  2. These are the territories of peoples who have lived there since long before colonization.

  3. Their living cultures include, for example, the Inuktitut language, the inukshuk, and the parka in Nunavut.

  4. Culture, language, and place are deeply connected in these territories.

  5. The United Nations uses criteria to recognize Native peoples - existing descendants of peoples who inhabited a territory long before it was colonized.

Watch out for

  • Thinking these are 'empty' or 'remote' lands - they are peoples' homelands with living cultures.
  • Thinking of these cultures only in the past - they are living cultures today.
  • Thinking these territories have no rights or government - they hold ancestral rights and govern themselves.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 5 · 3 skills

Protected territory

The Natural Park

The official wording · 3 outcomes
5.1
Location of a natural park
5.2
Planning and development of a natural park
5.3
Issue affecting a natural park or parks

Key ideas

  1. A natural park can be located within its continent and country, among protected parks worldwide (e.g. Forillon and Banff).

  2. It protects natural heritage - fauna, flora, wetlands, glaciers.

  3. It is created for reasons such as protecting endangered species.

  4. It allows authorized recreation under rules, and benefits the surrounding region economically.

  5. A park is divided into zones - conservation zones, wildlife zones, and areas open to visitors.

Watch out for

  • Thinking a park is just scenery - it is a territory created to protect natural heritage.
  • Thinking parks ban all activity - recreation is allowed under rules.
  • Thinking a whole park is treated the same - zoning separates protection from use.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Unit 6 · 6 skills

Techniques used in geography

Sketching and Drawing Maps

Interpreting Maps and Documents

Working with Tables and Graphs

The official wording · 6 outcomes
6.1
requiring the interpretation of maps, the use of written documents, tables or graphs
6.2
Draws a simple map
6.3
Interprets a map
6.4
Interprets a written document
6.5
Interprets a table and graph
6.6
Constructs a table and graph

Key ideas

  1. To interpret a landscape, locate it and determine your purpose, then identify its natural and human elements.

  2. Read the title, then locate the scale and orientation.

  3. Read the title to know what the table or graph shows.

  4. A geographic sketch identifies and orders the essential elements according to your purpose.

  5. Identify the area mapped and decode the signs and symbols in the legend.

Watch out for

  • Thinking a sketch copies everything - it selects the essential elements for a purpose.
  • Thinking a map speaks for itself - you must decode its scale and legend.
  • Thinking you can read a graph without checking the legend and scale.

Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit

Which course?

Quebec has 2 social studies courses for Secondary 1 and 2. Here they are side by side.

What a university, college or program asks for is theirs to say: check its admission page, and your school’s course guide.

The official curriculum

This page follows Quebec’s own curriculum for Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2).

Gouvernement du Quebec - Progression of Learning in Secondary School: Geographyeducation.gouv.qc.ca · Read August 7, 2026

Study it in MapleMind

MapleMind teaches Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2) one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.

Mathematics, Secondary 3 in the MapleMind app on a tablet: its units, Unit 1 open, and the skills done so far with their starsMathematics, Secondary 3 in the MapleMind app on a phone: its units, Unit 1 open, and the skills done so far with their stars
Pictured: Mathematics, Secondary 3, another Quebec course, partway through Unit 1.

Practise it

Course Companion

Your year in one workbook

A fun way to keep Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2) organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.

Pages
37
Fillable fields
1,665
Price
$4.99
See the Course Companion

Questions about Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2)

What is Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2)?

Quebec’s Secondary 1 and 2 social studies course: 6 units and 40 skills, from Urban territory to Techniques used in geography.

What units are in Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2)?

1. Urban territory, 2. Regional territory, 3. Agricultural territory, 4. Native territory, 5. Protected territory and 6. Techniques used in geography.

Is there a provincial exam for Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2)?

No. Quebec gives no provincial exam for Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2).

What comes after Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2)?

History of Quebec and Canada, Secondary III.

Can MapleMind help with Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2)?

Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of Geography, Secondary Cycle One (Secondary 1-2), step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.

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