Grade 7 · Social Studies · Unit 10 of 10
People on the Move
Who came to the West, and why?
What your child practises
Reasons people moved to the Prairies, immigration policies, the contributions and hardships of newcomers including Ukrainian, Chinese and Black settlers, and the long history of Indigenous peoples in the West.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 7.2 · immigration to the West, push and pull factors, and the contributions of newcomers
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Some settlers faced hardship. Which of these was a challenge for homesteaders?
- Too many roads
- Harsh winters, isolation and the work of breaking the land
- Too few mosquitoes
- Easy farming with no work
Show answer
Harsh winters, isolation and the work of breaking the land
Hint: Farming new land was hard work.
Question 2
Which of these is a way that immigrants have helped build the West?
- Removing the railway
- Farming, building railways, working in towns and starting businesses
- Closing the border
- Stopping all trade
Show answer
Farming, building railways, working in towns and starting businesses
Hint: People from many places built the West together.
Question 3
Clifford Sifton, Canada's Minister of the Interior from 1896, is known for…
- leading the Métis resistance
- promoting immigration to the Prairies
- building the CPR
- signing Treaty 7
Show answer
promoting immigration to the Prairies
Hint: He wanted farmers who would settle the West.
Question 4
What was a homestead?
- A kind of fort
- A fur trade partner
- A piece of land, usually 160 acres, given to a settler who farmed it and built on it
- A railway car
Show answer
A piece of land, usually 160 acres, given to a settler who farmed it and built on it
Hint: Under the Dominion Lands Act, a settler paid a small fee and met conditions.
Question 5
Why do historians say it is important to include more than one point of view about settlement?
- Only Indigenous peoples kept records
- Newcomers, First Nations and Métis people experienced it differently
- Only settlers kept records
- There was only one experience
Show answer
Newcomers, First Nations and Métis people experienced it differently
Hint: A fair account includes many voices.
Question 6
Some settlers' stories say the West was 'empty' when they arrived. Why is this wrong?
- The land was covered in ice
- Indigenous peoples had lived on and cared for these lands for thousands of years
- There were too many cities
- Nobody ever lived in Alberta
Show answer
Indigenous peoples had lived on and cared for these lands for thousands of years
Hint: The land was home to many Nations and the Métis.