Geography · Grade 9

Active learning ideas

Types of Migration

Active learning helps students grasp migration types because these concepts can feel abstract until connected to real places and people. Hands-on tasks like sorting cards or role-playing make the legal and human dimensions of migration concrete and memorable for Grade 9 learners.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• ON: Changing Populations - Grade 9

• 35–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Jigsaw
• 35 min · Small Groups

Card Sort: Migration Categories

Prepare cards with real migrant stories. In small groups, students sort them into voluntary, forced, internal, or international piles, then justify choices with evidence from stories. Discuss as a class to refine categories.

Differentiate between a refugee and an economic migrant in the eyes of international law.

Facilitation Tip

For the Card Sort, circulate while students work and ask them to explain why they placed any card in the forced migration category to uncover hidden assumptions.

What to look for

Provide students with three short scenarios describing different human movements. Ask them to label each scenario as voluntary, forced, internal, or international migration and briefly justify their classification for one scenario.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Jigsaw
• 45 min · Pairs

Map Analysis: Canadian Internal Migration

Provide Statistics Canada maps showing flows between provinces. Pairs plot push-pull factors on overlays, like job loss in Newfoundland driving moves to Ontario. Share findings in a gallery walk.

Explain the concept of chain migration and its impact on settlement patterns.

Facilitation Tip

In the Map Analysis, have students compare two provinces with different population changes and assign each a push or pull factor from their notes to build evidence-based reasoning.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Under international law, what is the primary difference in the reason for leaving one's home country between a refugee and an economic migrant?' Facilitate a class discussion to ensure students grasp the legal distinctions.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Jigsaw
• 50 min · Small Groups

Role-Play: Refugee vs. Economic Migrant

Assign roles based on UN definitions. Small groups debate access to services in Canada, using legal criteria. Vote and reflect on geographic implications for settlement.

Analyze the geographic patterns of internal migration within a specific country.

Facilitation Tip

During the Role-Play, assign observers to note whether classmates’ arguments about migrant status align with legal definitions or personal opinions.

What to look for

Display a map of Canada showing population changes by province over the last decade. Ask students to identify one region experiencing significant in-migration and one experiencing out-migration, then hypothesize the primary migration type and push/pull factors involved.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Jigsaw
• 40 min · Whole Class

Chain Migration Simulation

Students draw family networks on paper. Whole class simulates sponsorship over generations, tracking settlement clusters. Compare to Toronto's immigrant neighborhoods.

Differentiate between a refugee and an economic migrant in the eyes of international law.

Facilitation Tip

For the Chain Migration Simulation, set a clear 10-minute timer to keep energy high and ensure the debrief focuses on settlement patterns rather than storytelling.

What to look for

Provide students with three short scenarios describing different human movements. Ask them to label each scenario as voluntary, forced, internal, or international migration and briefly justify their classification for one scenario.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach migration by using local data first to make global concepts feel relevant. Avoid starting with dense legal definitions; instead, let students encounter the definitions through scenarios and simulations. Research suggests that students retain distinctions between refugee and economic migrant categories best when they debate real cases in role-play before formalizing definitions.

Successful learning looks like students accurately classifying migration scenarios by type and explaining their reasoning. They should also recognize the difference between refugee status under international law and economic migration, and trace patterns in Canadian internal migration using geographic data.

---

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Card Sort: Migration Categories, watch for students who place all international moves in the forced migration category.

  Invite students to read the scenarios aloud and ask the group whether fleeing war or seeking a better job is the stated reason, then re-categorize based on the evidence in the texts rather than assumptions.

• During Map Analysis: Canadian Internal Migration, watch for students who overlook internal migration entirely and focus only on international borders.

  Prompt students to calculate the percentage of population change in Ontario and Saskatchewan, then ask which provinces had net gains and losses, making visible that internal moves often exceed cross-border flows.

• During Chain Migration Simulation, watch for students who describe chain migration as harmful or disruptive to communities.

  After the simulation, have students compare their settlement maps to the initial empty grid and ask them to identify one way support networks helped newcomers integrate.

---

Methods used in this brief

• Jigsaw