Have you ever braved the steep slopes of the Rockies? Seen the view from the biggest suspension bridge in Canada? Spent a week with 23 other grade nines? I have. And let me tell you, it was something special. 

The goal of our Alberta trip was to find an answer to the driving question, “how has the geography of the west shaped who we are?” Our big project for this trip was all about how we’ve changed the geography of the west, but also how it’s changed us. 

We started off our project by creating a thesis. Mine was “the Rockies are defined by its beautiful sights, and is a common tourist attraction because of its uniqueness.” I also wanted to add that after spending time in Alberta and observing the state of tourism, I realized that tourism has really changed over time, which relates directly to the driving question. The geography of the west has forever changed tourism, and tourism has forever changed the west. 

We went to many different significant places on our trip, but I’m  going to focus on the three that I think relate the best to this project. The rest of the places we went have dedicated sections in my book, which is linked below. This was the final product for both humanities and maker, and was a ton of fun to create!

Our project was all about geography, so what better to focus on than the Canadian Pacific Railway! Our trip was largely based around the construction of the railway, and how it affected the geography of the Rockies, as well as all of the west. We visited craigaliche, which is where the last spike was driven, as well as the Canadian pacific railway museum, where we learned all about how the railway made the Rockies a huge tourist attraction. This really helped me explain my thesis better. We learned so much about how terribly the workers were treated, and how much it affected the people who already lived on the land. 

Another staple of the Rocky Mountains is the Lake Louise. People come from all over the world to see the famous lake, and it even has its own chateau for people to stay at while they take in the view. This was a very important stop in our trip, as the geography of the surrounding area was literally changed so that humans could have a more pleasant experience. People used to just come to see the lake, but after the CPR was put in, it became a whole destination. 

The last important feature of the Rocky Mountains is, of course, the mountains! We hiked a ton of mountains throughout our trip, but the most notable is likely sulphur mountain. This mountain has a three hundred and sixty degree view of the other mountains, and is absolutely breathtaking. Hiking to the top was a struggle, but it was fun to do with my friends.

Another beautiful view was Parker ridge, which had an amazing view of the Columbia Ice-field, and we even got to see some mountain goats! We created the trail up Parker ridge just so we could see the amazing view, which is an amazing example of how we change the geography of the areas around us to better suit us, which will forever change it for the next generation. 

This whole project was a unique opportunity to not only visit the Rockies, but reflect on how we have affected the geography of the land around us, and how it continues to affect us. What we do now will affect all of the generations to come, which is something that we sometimes forget. If someone was to do this project one hundred years in the future, how would our actions affect them? 

This trip taught me a lot, but it was also a lot of fun! It’s really a unique experience to get to get to go on a big trip with a ton of my friends! Sometimes, it could be a lot, but getting through the tough times made the good times more rewarding! Thank you so much for reading!

Here is a link to my book, in which you can learn all about the places we went on our trip!

This is a button that goes to my maker post, in which I talk all about the videos that we made on our trip!

If you want to view my video directly, see these links!

Silent video: https://youtu.be/jxNiZnmEiNg?feature=shared

Investigative video: https://youtu.be/-cXbTDuLzjc?feature=shared

Tiktok video: https://youtube.com/shorts/__wY5rE6hoM?feature=shared

What inspires me video: https://youtu.be/HOGDcCKPQek?feature=shared