Ideal for: Ages 11 - 17+
How do we decide who is important enough to remember and who is to be forgotten by history? How do we determine who or what is important historically? What is the difference between someone who is famous and someone who is historically important? How do historians decide what is worth researching, remembering? There is no simple answer to these questions. Historians, teachers and students (knowingly and unknowingly) grapple with these kinds of questions every time they select a topic of research or study. There is no doubt that Canadian history is marked by some great and very important people, but it has also been changed by people who are not widely known or celebrated. Many of these people are immigrants to Canada.
This online lesson plan and activity will challenge students to think critically about how history is recorded, and what it really means to be “historically significant”. It is also designed to bring to light the incredible contributions that immigrants have made to Canada’s economy, culture and way of life.