Road Trip Across Canada: Prairie Provinces

Hello!  Today I'd like to share with you a bit about our study of Canada's prairie provinces. 

Albert is a vast province with a great deal of different terrains.  

Like in the picture above, there are mountains and forests, vast areas of flat treed forests, badlands, and lovely prairies.  

Saskatchewan is mostly prairie along the southern part and as you go north, you encounter more forest and many lakes and rivers.  There are also a couple small deserts there!  

Manitoba starts with prairie on the southern western end, then moves into forest and the Canadian Shield (which is full of rocks, lakes, and forest). 

We of course read lots of books!!!  

We read some about the prairies history and what people do there. 

We learned about some farm equipment and different kinds of things there grow there.  

Things like wheat, peas, canola and much more! We made note that something we eat is grown in Manitoba (Hemp Hearts). 

We learned a bit about ranching and how cows used to be "out on the range".

We also read some fiction about prairie life.  The book Ticket to Curlew is based in Alberta. 

We again shared some of what we knew with the homeschool group.  

We made some herbed bread sticks as a treat. Since much of our grain comes from prairie provinces.  

We had the privilege to visit a couple museums in Alberta while visiting family.

There are little  museums smattered all about in little towns, and well worth looking them up! 

There was the Sexsmith blacksmith shop.

It may not look too exciting on the outside, but inside there were floor to ceiling pulley systems that worked all the machinery.  Lots of tools and odd contraptions.  Not majorly interesting until a man came in and started them up!  Oh the noise, and the excitement of learning how it all worked!  

Then we also visited this museum...it was an old firehall.  Boring on the outside, but inside it was stuffed full of antiques that had been donated and there was so much to see.  Everything from cooking needs to household tools, cameras, typewriters, licence plates, signs...and I could go on.  

Our final stop was at the Paszkowski house.  

It was like walking back in time.  You could see the one front room had been used as a doctor's office.  

One of the amazing aspects of Alberta, that Saskatchewan and Manitoba share...is that it has such a big sky! 

We enjoyed the vast clouds and gorgeous sunsets.  We even got to go through a massive thunderstorm and watched it come our way from across the plains.  

The fields seemed endless and the bright canola was beautiful against the blue sky with fluffy white clouds! 

Another beautiful part of Canada! 

Thanks for joining us on this part of the journey!

Jennifer