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Table of ContentsContents IV

Introduction: To the Student 2

Textbook Features Chapter Challenge 3

Chapter Guides 8

Chapter 1 What guides your decision making? 14

What influences your personal decisions?

What are different ways to make decisions with groups?

How can decision making be fair and equitable?

Chapter 2 What do governments do for us? 30

How does government affect you?

What services do governments provide?

Who are the people of government?

Chapter 3 What was democracy in ancient Athens? 52

What was the social structure of ancient Athens?

What opportunities did ancient Athenians have toparticipate in decision making?

What were the ideas behind democracy in ancientAthens?

Chapter 4 What was the Iroquois Confederacy? 82

What was the social structure of the IroquoisConfederacy?

What opportunities did people have to participate indecision making?

What were the ideas behind the government of theIroquois Confederacy?

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Chapter 5 Why are Canada’s rights and freedoms important? 116

What is the Canadian Charter of Rights andFreedoms?

How is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedomsrooted in the past?

How does the Charter protect Canadians, now and inthe future?

Chapter 6 What does representative democracy involve? 142

What are the functions of representatives?

How do associations represent their members?

Chapter 7 What does participation involve? 174

What can participation accomplish?

How can students draw attention to situations ofinjustice?

How can members of a community impactgovernment decision making?

Chapter 8 How can citizens participate in local government? 196

What is the structure of local governments in Alberta?

How are representatives elected to form a localgovernment?

What responsibilities do local governments have?

What do school boards do?

Chapter 9 How does the provincial government function? 240

How is the provincial government structured?

What does the provincial electoral process involve?

What are the roles of provincial representatives?

Looking Back, Looking Forward 276

Skills Centre 284

Glossary 325

Index 330

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To the StudentTaking Part in Our DemocracyDemocracy is a political system that is the basis forgovernment in your community, in your province and inyour country. It is a system in which all citizens can have avoice in decision making. All citizens are included,whatever their ages, beliefs, abilities or backgrounds.Democracy has been explained as “government of thepeople, for the people, by the people.”

Throughout your work this year, you will have manyopportunities to actively participate in the democraticprocess. In your learning, you will be exploring waysdecisions are made and representatives chosen. Then youwill have the opportunity to actively explore two historicalmodels of democracy. Ancient Athens and the IroquoisConfederacy both influenced Canada’s democracy.

Your growing understanding of the mainideas of democracy will support yourlearning as you examine your localand provincial governments. Therelationship between governmentsand citizens is dynamic. Your learningwill be dynamic too, as youinvestigate how to influence

governments and participate inmaking changes to help yourcommunity. You will be prepared forparticipation and action!

f reedoms

representat ion

equity

just ice

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Textbook Features Chapter Challenge

Hi! I’m Alexandre, and one of the Student Advisory Group members. The next six pages have information about features in this book to help support your learning. To make this more interesting, our group suggested that it be in the form of a Chapter Challenge! Have fun!

The Chapters and HeadingsThere are nine chapters in this book. Each is based oninquiry learning. This type of learning involves students inan active role. You will be developing skills and attitudes,as well as gaining new knowledge when you respond toimportant questions. The expectation is that you will be anactive learner and a person who seeks answers. So, allchapter titles are in the form of questions.

• What is the title of each chapter?

• In your own words, explain why thetitle of each chapter is in questionform.

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Chapter Focus Questions The first page of each chapter has focus questions. Theseare headings throughout the chapter, and will be the focusof lessons. Putting the questions at the beginning providesstructure for what you will be learning.

Choose a chapter. Find where thechapter focus questions are listed on thefirst page of the chapter, and within thechapter itself.

What is the purpose of listing the chapterfocus questions on the first page of thechapter?

Bonus: Which chapter has four focusquestions instead of three?

What are we learning in thischapter?This section gives a short overview of what the chapter isabout and makes connections with previous or followingchapters.

Why are we learning this?This is a question often asked or thought about by Grade 6students. To respect you as a learner, the rationale orlogical reason for your learning is given.

Why is recognizing the purpose of yourlearning very important?

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Inquiry TasksEach chapter has an inquiry task. All of these have anintroduction, a description of the task itself, and things tothink about before doing the task. The inquiry taskincludes skills that you will be developing. These includethinking and social participation skills, as well as researchand communication skills.

Each inquiry task comes immediately after a two-pagechapter introduction. The reason for putting it at the frontof the chapter is to alert you to what you will need toaccomplish by the end of the chapter. That way you canthink about the task and gather information as you gothrough the chapter.

What are the categories of skills you willbe developing in the inquiry tasks?

Explain in your own words why theinquiry task comes before you have evenbegun work in the chapter.

Skills at WorkTo help you with each inquiry task and to develop neededskills, there are “Skills at Work” sidebars throughout thechapters. Each bullet in the sidebar indicates a skill, andthese will be assessed. There is an icon at the bottomshaped like a horseshoe. This indicates the category of skillbeing developed (thinking, social participation, researchand communication). It also provides a reference to theSkills Centre at the back of the book.

Choose a “Skills at Work” sidebar. Whatskills are being assessed? Where are theskills referenced in the Skills Centre atthe back of the book?

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PauseThis is a feature that is intended to have you pause a whileand think about what you have been learning. Thequestions in a pause have a variety of purposes. Sometimesthey help you focus your thinking and think of examples,or they may broaden your thinking and help you makeother connections.

Find four examples of Pauses throughoutthe book. Are these examples focusing orbroadening your thinking?

What’s important?This is a guide to help you aim for the big or main idea ina section.

Find three examples of this feature.Where is this feature located on a pageand why?

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Other FeaturesWhat feature will help you find the pagesabout the Canadian Charter of Rights andFreedoms?

What feature will give you the meaningof the word equity?

Look for the principles of democracy icon on page 28. The four principles we will be examining are freedom, representation, equity and justice.

Find five more of these icons in different chapters.

Why is this icon found in all chapters?

Review! Review!At the end of every chapter is a review page with activities.These are intended to help you revisit the focus questionsand respond to them. The activities are varied. Someinvolve oral or written and construction activities, andsome are more physically active.

Some involve using the Internet and electronic media. Theintention is to use a variety of activities to help supportyour way of learning, and keep things interesting.

What are the different types of reviewactivities in Chapter 8?

Explain the connection the reviewactivities in Chapter 9 have to the focusquestions.

f reedoms

representat ion

equity

just ice

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A Look Inside This Book

Hello. I’m Mr. Grundy, and yes, I’m a real teacher, and I’ve taught Grade 6 classes for a number of years. You will see some of the students of my class in this introduction and throughout this book. They formed part of the group of students who helped as advisors to the text. So… let me turn you over now to our chapter guides, otherwise known as the Student Advisory Group. They’ll give you a brief introduction to the chapters and tell you how each chapter connects to the others.

Chapter 1 What guides your decisions?

Hi! I’m Toba. We first talked about decision making and how to reach agreement. We worked in groups — but in a way that made us really think about what we were doing. We looked at ways we could make decisions, and examined what fairness and equity are. We found they are part of the principles of democracy. To take part in democracy you need to take part in groups.

Working together andreaching agreementinvolves skills you canlearn and practise.

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Chapter 2 What do governments do for us?

Chapter 3 What was democracy in ancient Athens?

I’m Ivan. Hello!We realized early on that we needed to think about governments, because democracy involves governments. So, we investigated why we need them, how they affect us, and saw how some people are involved. I found this chapter useful, because it gave me a big picture about the idea of government before we explored some examples.

Hi, I’m Sofia.Before we explored our own governments, we decided to look at some historic models. The government of ancient Athens was one example of democracy that we examined. Our group was fascinated by the everyday life of the ancient Athenians. This chapter helped us understand how Athenian society was structured. We investigated how ancient Athenians could, or could not, participate in government. We thought about how it compared and contributed to our ideas of democracy today.

Governments are made upof people like thesecouncillors with the Cityof Grande Prairie.

These are coins from ancient Athens.

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Chapter 4 What was the Iroquois Confederacy?

I’m Sharn. Hello!The Iroquois Confederacy was the next example of government we explored. We were interested in the way that the Iroquois Confederacy shared power between men and women, and among nations. It was a contrast to ancient Athens! We investigated how the Iroquois organized their society, and how this related to the democratic ideas they put into practice. Canada shares some ideas of democracy with the Iroquois Confederacy.

The Iroquois Confederacy respected the differentcultures of its member nations.

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Hello, I’m Eric!Before we started our work, I think we were all taking for granted our privileges as Canadians. Not any more! This chapter looks at the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter grows from many roots. We investigated one root in particular: the treaty of La Grande Paix de Montréal in 1701. The Iroquois Confederacy took part in this event—another way it connects to our democracy. It is also good to know there are laws and a court system to protect our rights.

Chapter 5 Why are Canada’s rights

and freedoms important?

The Canadian Charter ofRights and Freedoms is likea tree with many roots.

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Chapter 7 What does participation involve?

Hi, I’m Emaleth, or you can call me Emily!Our group looked at all sorts of ways that people were active in organizations, groups and government. In previous chapters we saw how people can work together to get things done and were interested in finding role models our age. In this chapter, we met individuals and groups who are taking part in solving problems — lobbying, petitioning, organizing and attending meetings and rallies, and contacting elected representatives. It opened my eyes, seeing what kids my age were doing!

Chapter 6 What does representative democracy

involve?

I’m Alexandre. Hi!In our type of democracy we have the right to elect representatives to make choices and decisions on our behalf. In this chapter we started by looking at what representation means in our school community. From there, we explored how representatives work for associations, particularly the MNA (Métis Nation of Alberta) and the ACFA (l’Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta). We thought about how these organizations connect to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and to ideas of democracy we learned from our study of the Iroquois Confederacy and ancient Athens.

The Métis Nation of Alberta helpedorganize this event, which celebratedMétis culture and history.

Students drew ladybugs on plates to representdinners they provided for the homeless.

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Chapter 8 How can citizens participate

in local government?

Chapter 9 How does the provincial

government function?

Hello, I’m Alex.So, now we knew some examples of kids taking part in solutions to local problems — and we realized we needed to know more about local government. How could taking part in local government solve problems? How would a councillor represent our views? We investigated where Grade 6 students could fit in. This chapter deals with the structure of local government, and government responsibilities. It also covers the role of school boards — something that affects Grade 6 students every day!

Hi, I’m Brittany! Once we learned about taking part in local government, we moved on to taking part in provincial government. Learning about local government first, made understanding provincial government much easier. I got to interview a cabinet minister! We researched the people involved in provincial government andinvestigated how they make decisions. We figured out what we could do to have a voice in what they do.

These students from Provost, Alberta, arepresenting a petition to their local government.

This is Alberta’s Legislative Assembly.

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