Learning Activity 1.1

• Nelson Mandela was a freedom revolutionary and the president of South Africa (between 1994-1999)
• Civic awareness


  The knowledge and mindset that makes an individual decide to take an interest in civic action; participate in elections; support community planning and activities; volunteer; and feel connected to other citizens globally or in the community
• Civics


  Part of a citizen's public life, concerned with all of the ways citizens can live respectfully together in public (the community and nation)
• Politics


  The process that's used to make formal, civic decisions
• In an ideal world, it would be great to get everyone together to make a decision. However, in a country like Canada (which has about 38 million people), that is unrealistic.
• When groups of people live together but have different opinions and interests, political systems are created to help them make collective decisions
• Haudenosaunee Confederacy


  • The political and cultural alliance amongst the Haudenosaunee was built on the belief that all people had equal value and that, therefore, member nations should have equal representation in the alliance
  • The five-nation Haudenosaunee Confederacy – also known as the Iroquois League or League of the Five Nations – was founded sometime between 1142 and the mid-16th century
• Thomas Hobbes


  • Thinker in Western culture who took a perspective on governance unique to his worldview
• John Locke


  • Thinker in Western culture who took a perspective on governance unique to his worldview
• Politics in Canada originates in Indigenous and Western European understandings of leadership. While disagreements between these perspectives persist, each contributes to the Canadian understanding of good governance.
• There are a range of political systems in the world today, typically falling along a political spectrum from authoritative regimes to democratic systems.
• Characteristics of democracy


  • Rule of law
  • Political equality
  • Common good
  • Personal freedom
  • Respect
  • Political activism
  • Political freedom
  • Human dignity
• Inquiry process


  A process used to investigate events, developments, and issues; find solutions to problems; reach supportable conclusions; and develop plans of action. It has five basic components: formulate questions; gather and organize; interpret and analyze; evaluate and draw conclusions; and communicate.
• Political thinking concepts


  • Political significance
  • Objectives and results
  • Stability and change
  • Political perspective
• Inquiry process

  The steps involved in conducting research and investigation to answer a question
• Inquiry process


  1. Formulate a good question

  2. Gather and organize information

  3. Interpret and analyze

  4. Evaluate and draw conclusions

  5. Communicate
• Primary source research


  Collecting raw data on a specific topic directly from the source
• Primary source research tools

  • Surveys
  • Interviews
  • Participant observations
• Secondary research


  Consulting resources such as books, journals, articles, or videos that have been developed by others
• Secondary research allows you to study what others have done and learned, before setting out to collect your own data
• Primary source

  First-hand information obtained directly from the original source
• Secondary source


  Information that is not first-hand, but has been collected and reported by another researcher
• You need to check the accuracy, fact vs opinion, bias, and purpose when evaluating secondary sources
• Disinformation


  Information that is false and deliberately created to harm
• Misinformation


  Information that is false but not created with the intention of causing harm
• Mal-information


  Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm
• Citing sources is important when gathering information as part of an inquiry
• Evaluating and drawing conclusions involves thinking about what points to communicate based on the findings
• Communication


  The process of sharing information, ideas, and opinions with others
• The inquiry process has five basic components: formulate a question, gather and organize information, interpret and analyze, evaluate and draw conclusions, and communicate