Secondary Social Sciences Help

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If you are a student (or parent!) looking for Social Sciences help, browse a few resources and ideas below!

Note that we are building a new Secondary History website for students here , if you are a teacher you can also tap into our many other resources and learning strategies in the teacher sections here .

Note that these activities were distributed as quick online and home solutions during the pandemic. Other subject help pages were set up here.

Ideas and Websites for All Secondary Students

Fun Ideas for History at Home

Looking for some fun ways for doing history at home? Check out our ever-expanding list ideas for both Secondary level students here

Or visit (and share back) some external sites that are great for home learning via our #LEARNHistoryatHome twitter tag!

History activities that work at all levels

Here are a few of the ideas in the document above that work for any level:

Write a Daily Journal
We are possibly witnessing a significant event in our history - or what will be our history. Significant events in history are those that are remarkable: they impact a large number of people, in a deep way, over a long period of time.

Write a daily journal about your thoughts and experiences over the two weeks that you are off of school. What have you seen first hand? What are your reactions to what your friends and family have witnessed? What is closed or open in your neighbourhood, city, area? How is this impacting people that you know? What are your feelings about what you are seeing on social and traditional media? Write your journal by hand if you can, that way you will have a physical record. Your first-hand account as a witness to history will be of value as evidence to historians in the future.

Research your family tree
Whether using a large piece of paper or available online software, a family tree is a great way to learn about your own history and that of your community. Think about including an interview process, whereby your child calls or video-chats with relatives to learn about their birth locations, their history, etc.

Some starting points for researching your family history are the Library and Archives Canada Genealogy and Family History and the Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec (in French)

Software is available online for doing family trees! For example, GRAMPS is available for complex family tree work, while familyecho.com and smartdraw.com also provide online solutions. Alternatively, just use Google Docs or Drawings!

Make a scrapbook
Historically, scrapbooks were a way for people, particularly women, to collect and reflect on pieces that appeared in the newspapers that appealed to them. What are some of the significant pieces that appear in the media that you want to save and not be lost to history? You could include images, maps, timelines or really anything else that you think of! Your scrapbook could be organized thematically or chronologically.

Make a comic book
Kids do it often on their own. Why not help them to include historical figures, or to represent past or current historical events. This kind of activity could appeal to teenagers as well. In French, check out https://bdnf.bnf.fr/ Try pixton.com/ and.storyboardthat.com , or just do a google search for templates.

and more...

Cycle 1 (Grades 7 and 8) Social Sciences Help

History and Citizenship Education (Secondary I and 2)

"In Secondary I and II History, students look to the past to understand what things were like in different periods of Western civilization and they learn to identify causes and consequences that explain what has changed and what has not changed over time." Source: MEES Overview document here

Visit the MEES Open School Site for several weekly optional activities! Occasionally, we will also adapt selected activities, from the French and English offerings, then add complementary English resources to our versions below:

MEES April 6 Secondary 1: Montage of Roman Cultural References
Students can "Create a montage of images showing cultural references from the Roman imperial period." Go to page for details, tools and activities

MEES April 20 Secondary 1/2: World and Regional Tourist Attractions
Students explore tourism sites around the world. Then they create a similar tour of tourist sites in their regions. Complementary Cartograf mapping task added, to create a tourist brochure and shared maps with your friends. Go to page for details, tools and activities

For even more #LEARNHistoryatHome activites for this level
Browse through several more sample activities and suggested resources, on the MEES Open School site (Sec. 1 or Sec. 2), via the various school board sites, or via our "live" brainstorming ideas document here

Teachers (and students) note that several program-targetted resource packages are available via the main learnquebec.ca/SocialSciences page!

Key Geography and History Sites (Cycle 1)

Canadian Geographic
Explore various topics related to Canadian Geography. A great site for wandering through the Canadian landscape and into Canada's past too.
Go to site

Unesco World Heritage List
Part of the Secondary Cycle 1 program, world heritage sites abound in more places than you were ever have time to study. But give it a try, and use their map to visit the world's most significant and beautiful locations!
Go to site

Parks Canada
Who knew parks could be so interesting! Browse by "nature", by "history and culture" and don't forget to tour their multimedia section.
Go to site

Cycle 2 (Grades 9 to 11) Social Sciences Help

History of Quebec & Canada / Contemporary World Cycle 2
(Secondary 3, 4 and 5)

"In Secondary III and IV History, students develop their ability to describe the characteristics of the various periods in the history of Québec and Canada" and "In Contemporary World, students ... understand situations that occur around the world." Source: MEES Overview document here.

NOTE: The activities below were distributed during the pandemic. Since that time we have started a dedicated student History site for the Secondary 4/5 program, with students, teachers and even parents at home in mind. Check it out here!

MEES April 6th Secondary 3: English Presence... (from original French activity)
Students characterize the role of anglophone cultures in Québec, then review what they know. After browsing online information sites, students create a narrative in the form of a comic strip that includes historical figures, and specifically represents cultural references, past or current historical events.
View the adapted version here

MEES April 13th Secondary 3: Origins to 1608
Students will situate in time various key events, voyages and settlement attempts.
Go to page for details, tools and activities

MEES April 13th Secondary 4: Trading Partners (from original French activity)
Students consider goods that are traded around the world today. Extension activities suggested around the National Policy. View the adapted version here

MEES April 20th Secondary 4: Creating Canada: Points of View on Confederation
Slightly modified version of Creating Canada, with additional documents and an Inquiry Question.
View the adapted version here

MEES April 27th Secondary 3 Historical Events (from original French activity)
Why are some historical events more important than others? How do we decide what gets remembered? RECITUS Timeline activity focussing on 1663 Royal Governent included.
View the adapted version here

MEES April 27th Secondary 4: Historical Events (from original French activity)
Why are some historical events more important than others? How do we decide what gets remembered? RECITUS Timeline activity focussing on the First World War and Canada included.
View the adapted version here

MEES May 4th Secondary 3: Trade Routes (from original French activity)
The products that a society consumes arrive by trade routes that are developed by the advantages and disadvantages of a particular territory. Retrace the routes that different products take to arrive in Canada.
View the adapted version here

MEES May 4th Secondary 4: Industrial Québec (from original French activity)
History and geography combine to help understand how societies have occupied the territory at different points in time. The industrial history of Quebec is directly linked to the strength of its territory.
View the adapted version here

MEES May 11th Secondary 3: Historical Inquiry (from original French activity)
Apply the historical method to an investigation on a topic related to the historical periods studied during the school year: Sample Inquiry Question: Are stories and legends valid sources for understanding society at a given time?
View the adapted version here

MEES May 11th Secondary 4: Historical Inquiry (from original French activity)
Apply the historical method to an investigation on a topic related to the historical periods studied during the school year: Sample Inquiry Question: Was the Quiet Revolution really that quiet?
View the adapted version here

MEES June 1st Secondary 3: The Causes and consequences The American Revolution
Identify causes and consequences of the American Revolution, and consider why both the Canadiens and the British merchants refused to join them.
View the adapted version here

MEES June 8th Secondary 3: American Revolution and the The Constitutional Act
Following the American Revolution, several Loyalists left the newly formed United State of America and resettled in the Province of Quebec. This eventually led to the implementation of the Constitutional Act.
View the adapted version here

For more #LEARNHistoryatHome activites for this level
You can also find various sample activities available either on the MEES Open School site (Sec. 3 & Sec. 4 & Sec. 5), via the various school board sites, or via our "live" brainstorming ideas document here!

Teachers (and students) note that several program-targetted resource packages are available via the main learnquebec.ca/SocialSciences page!

Key Canadian History Sites (Cycle 2)

McCord Museum
A great way to tour a museum's archives, photos and exhibitions galore. As well, McCord has an excellent education section which gathers together its resources by theme.
Go to site

Canadian Encyclopedia
No where else can you find more Canadian History content than the Canadian Encyclopedia. Search their articles by keyword, travel through their timelines, browse their resources by people, places and things and various subcategories. If you know your provincial curriculum, you will also find resources aligned to different topics as well!
Go to site

Virtual Museum of New France
Discover what drew the French to North America and follow missionaries, cartographers, soldiers, coureurs des bois and Aboriginal allies as they explore and expand New France. Join Canada's first European inhabitants in their daily activities and learn about their culture and civilization
Go to site

Virtual Museum of Canada
For other lens through which you can travel through our various histories: "Discover history, art, science, nature and more through virtual exhibits from Canada’s museums and heritage organizations." at the Virtual Museum of Canada's Virtual Exhibit list for History and Social Sciences.
Go to site

Historica Canada
Historica has many of the themes in history covered in their various resources. Start at their famous Heritage Minutes for a fun sense of key events and people in Canadian history.
Go to site

PLAINS OF ABRAHAM – VIRTUAL EXHIBIT
Look back on the crucial stages of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham: context, preparation, siege of Quebec City and encounter. Over sixty interactive activities from four different viewpoints: the French, British, Canadians and Indigenous peoples.
Go to site