Our Natural Environment Introduction

Atlantic Region Every place we live has a personality? What are the characteristics that define the Atlantic Region?

What would you say? If you were trying to explain the Atlantic Canadian Region to a person from New Zealand, what would you tell them about the physical features or cultural features in this region.

Do it!! What features of the natural environment are important? How do people in Atlantic Canada interact with their natural environment? How do the physical characteristics affect the people living there?

Atlantic Canada as a Region Region- is an area that shares common features that make it different from other areas. Geographers categorize regions in 2 ways: –1. Physical – landforms (mountains, hills), climate, soil, natural vegetation. –2. Cultural – political, economic, religious, agricultural, industrial, language, human activity.

The most eastern region of Canada lies between the Atlantic Ocean and the heavily forested Appalachian Mountains.

This region of low hills, plains, islands, and peninsulas includes the Atlantic Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

The sea has long shaped the life of the Appalachian region. Early Europeans built small fishing settlements along the rocky coast. From there, they fished in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. Since the 1960’s, however, fishing has become less profitable because the region has been over fished. Discoveries of offshore oil and natural gas promise to revive the regions economy.

Questions Answer questions 2 and 3 on page 20

Time Zones In 1878, Canadian Sir Sanford Fleming proposed the system of worldwide time zones that we use today. He recommended that the world be divided into 24 time zones, each spaced 15 degrees of longitude apart. Since the earth rotates once every 24 hours and there are 360 degrees of longitude, each hour the earth rotates 1/24th of a circle or 15 degrees of longitude. Sir Fleming's time zones were heralded as a brilliant solution to a chaotic problem worldwide. What was the problem?

United States railroad companies began utilizing Fleming's standard time zones on November 18, Time Zones were originated in Today, many countries operate on variations of the time zones proposed by Sir Fleming. Video

Newfoundland’s Unique Time Zone Why do you think Newfoundland has a unique time zone? Share your answer with the class. Many people wonder why the Province of Newfoundland has a time zone that varies by the half hour rather than the standard one-hour. While the system of Standard Time employs 24 meridians, and each are theoretically the centers of 24 Standard Time zones.

Some adjustments have been made to the time zones for the convenience of inhabitants that lie within the zones. Newfoundland, (but not Labrador), lies squarely in the eastern half of its time zone, exactly three and a half hours from Greenwich.

The Newfoundland government attempted to bring the province into conformity with the other Atlantic Provinces in 1963, but withdrew in the face of stiff public opposition. Other countries that operate on the half hour time difference are: Suriname, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, and Central Australia.

Questions Questions 2-5 on page 23