Historica Canada Education Portal

This lesson is based on viewing the Heritage Minute, "John Cabot." It was John Cabot's 1497 "discovery" of North America that led to the development of the North West Atlantic cod fishery, and England's claim to the new continent.

The "John Cabot" Minute is the starting point for an examination of several topics.

With role-playing activities and further research, students will study the Atlantic cod fishery, and consider the role of "explorers."

Students will study: resource...

This lesson is based on viewing the Heritage Minute, "Jacques Cartier," which presents the theory that Canada may have been named after a misunderstanding took place between Jacques Cartier and the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) people.

Students will explore the relationships between the Indigenous people and early explorers by looking at the First Nations' contributions to European survival, and issues of miscommunication. Students will learn about France's motives for exploration of...