Train Across Canada

Discover Canada’s rushing rivers, majestic mountains, and rolling prairies. Admire the scenery from the vantage point of a passenger or freight train.

• 1.

  Steep waterfalls, mountain passes, swampy woods, rolling prairies, still lakes, rushing rivers, and more pass by your window. Where are you? On a train crossing Canada! The National Canadian Railways is a system that merges more than 200 separate railways to move freight around this great country. Via Rail Canada is a separate system that carries people.

• 2.

  Construction of a railway was one of the conditions a territory was required to meet before it could join the Dominion of Canada. Look at a map or go on the Internet to find the distances covered by trains in Canada. Check out photographs of historic trains.

• 3.

  To make a triarama stage for your train scene, cut a large square from a recycled file folder with Crayola® Scissors. Save the scraps. Fold the points of the square together in both directions. This makes a line from each corner to the center. Unfold Cut along one fold to the center. Later, you will slide the two pieces on either side of the cut under each other to make the triarama stand up.

• 4.

  Choose the Canadian terrain that your train is passing through. Is it on a bridge crossing a stream, clinging to the edge of a mountain, or clearing a path through snow? Sketch your ideas on the back and bottom of your triarama with Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils.

• 5.

  Next pick the type of train you’re riding. Is it a freight train, a contemporary passenger train, or perhaps a historic steam engine? Draw and color your train <STRONG>except the engine</STRONG> with colored pencils and Crayola Washable Markers. Fold one

• 6.

  To make the train appear to be moving toward you, design a 3-D engine. From the file folder scraps, fold and cut a rectangular box. Decorate it to resemble a train engine. Glue the sides. Air-dry the engine.

• 7.

  Add any details and final colors. Glue the engine on your triarama. ALL ABOARD!

Benefits

• Students learn about the historic and contemporary significance and routes of both freight and passenger railway systems in Canada.
• Students study the Canadian terrain and identify its varied geographic features.
• Students depict a 3-D train traversing the Canadian landscape.

Adaptations

• The reasons why people crossed Canada on rails have changed over time. Learn more about the different reasons why rail transportation has been so important to Canada. What were their early train experiences like?
• The landscape of Canada is very varied. Design and draw other triarama backdrops. Glue four triaramas together to show different terrain, such as coastal, urban, wintry, and historic scenes.
• Not only the landscape changes but the wildlife does as well when crossing Canada. Draw examples of wildlife in the different regions along your train’s route.
• Contact the Canadian rail service and find out the different routes across Canada. Chart its stops on a map of Canada. Calculate distances and speeds. How long would a coast-to-coast trip take? Plan an entire trip.