Watch this TED Talk on “Truth”

Watch this video on Credibility

Search for at least 3 articles about one topic (maybe your project topic) and complete the following questions for each.

  1. Post the a clickable link to the article
  2. Introduce the article’s argument/purpose
  3. What did you find out about the author’s expertise? Where did you find it?
  4. Any evidence of bias? Sponsors for the site? Is it peer reviewed? Wording? Affiliations?
  5. Date of publication
  6. Give an overall ranking out of 10 for the credibility of the source


  • What conclusions can you make about the “truth” of the topic based on these articles?

Extension (optional)

  • try using someone else’s browser account to see if you get different results.
  • try to provide examples of credible and non-credible sources

Topics: Climate change, Pipelines, Single use plastic, EVs, Animals in captivity, Hunting, Agriculture, Deforestation, Overpopulation, GMOs, Fish farming, Natural gas, Cross laminated timber, other?

Environmental Ethics in Pop Culture

Princess Mononoke:

  1. What ethic do the different main characters exhibit? What examples support this?
  2. What is the ethic of the writer of the film? How do you know?
  3. Which ethic from the film do you side with and why?


  • Find video clips, news stories, commercials, etc (media), that you think has positively affected and negatively affected your environmental ethic. Present and explain how these messages have affected your actions.

Ethic of Care and Environmental Ethic

What is an ethic of care?

Key Question: What would an ethic of care towards the environment look like?

  1. How do you personally define an ethic of care?
  2. What would be needed to create an ethic of care?
  3. What would we have to believe about the environment to care for it? How should we see it?
  4. How would we act if we cared about the environment? – give scenarios
  5. What would be different about the world if everyone adopted this ethic of care towards the environment? Benefits and drawbacks?
  6. Should we adopt an ethic of care towards the environment?

Understanding our Moral and Ethical Compass

What is Utilitarianism/Consequentialism?

What is Deontology?

What is Virtue Ethics?

Elements of Moral Philosophy

  • 1.2 Baby Theresa page 1
  • 1.3 Jodie and Mary page 5
  • 1.4 Tracy Latimer page 8
  • What is Cultural Relativism (2.4 Consequences of Taking Cultural Relativism Seriously page 21- see also 2.2 page 18 for what Cultural Relativism is)
    1. Is there a universal right or wrong?
    2. Should we accept cultural relativism or not?
    3. Discuss Heinz’s Dilemma:
    4. When it comes to the environment, is there a universal right or wrong?

Spheres & Interactions

Community Mapping Pt 4:

  • Observe and report back on:
    • Examples of hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere (at least one each)
    • Examples of interactions between each:
      • hydro ↔ litho
      • hydro ↔ atmos
      • hydro ↔ bios
      • litho ↔ atmos
      • litho ↔ bios
      • atmos ↔ bios
    • Positive or negative effects on humans?


Human Interactions

Community Mapping Pt3:

  1. Observe, record, and report on:
    • Observations of  humans interacting with the environment (adapting, modifying, depend)
    • Who benefits or loses from these interactions?

Read “Rediscovering Geography” – Chapter 3, page 34-36

Movement and Scale

Community Mapping Pt 2:

  1. Observe, record, and report back on:
    • Examples of movement (goods, people, ideas)
    • What are the local, regional and world effects of the movement you see? (scale)

Read “Rediscovering Geography” – Chapter 3, page 32-34


Physical and Cultural Place – Community Mapping

Community Mapping

  • Observe, record, and report on:
    1. Natural and human built ecosphere
    2. Human interactions (sociosphere)
    3. Culture/systems (technosphere – things that guide our behaviour)
    4. What makes your region unique/ different from the others? How would you define your region?
    5. What are you happy and unhappy with that you’ve seen? Explain why.

Homework: Read “Rediscovering Geography” – Chapter 3, page 30-31

Physical Place and Contour Maps

5 Themes of Geography – Place


a) Download the Cypress Hiking Map

b) Figure out the following:

  1. What are the contour intervals of this map?
  2. What is the scale ratio of the printed map?
  3. What kind of valley does Cypress Bowl sit in?
  4. What kind of valley does the Trans Canada Trail go around?
  5. What is the highest elevation the ski lifts can take you to?
  6. What is the approximate elevation of the top of Raven Ridge chair lift? (figure out the partial elevation)
  7. Create a profile drawing of a straight line from the bottom of Eagle Express chair lift to Eagle Bluff.
    • Find the slope of each section of your profile drawing.
  8. Which slope is steeper, western cliff of Eagle Bluff or western cliff of Donut Rock? What are the two slopes and what is the difference?
  9. Rank the trails based on difficulty: Baden-Powell Trail, Trans Canada Trail, Old Strachan Trail, Hollyburn Mountain Trail, Howe Sound Crest Trail, Sunset Trail
  10. How would you define location vs place regarding this map?


UTM review


a) Go to GISSurfer or

b) Use the WPT (waypoint) tool to mark locations to figure out:

  1. What is the lineal distance from Riverside to PoCo City Hall?
  2. What is the lineal distance from Riverside to Terry Fox Secondary?
  3. If we were to start at Pitt River road where it crosses the Coquitlam River and follow the PoCo Trail to the Lougheed Highway, how far would we be walking?
    • If we took a boat up the Coquitlam River instead, would it be farther or shorter than the PoCo Trail? What’s the difference in distance?
  4. What is the approximate area of Downtown PoCo?
  5. What is the approximate area of Colony Farm Regional Park? (Use the green areas)
  6. How might mapping have affected your life or the way you think?