CBC Archives

Write the following quotation from the Trans-Canada Highway: Bridging the Distance topic on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site on the board or chart paper:

It stretches from Victoria, British, Columbia, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, and through every province in between. Constructed over some of the world’s most treacherous terrain, it took 20 years and $1 billion to complete. The Trans-Canada Highway fulfilled a dream – to open up new regions of the country, usher in new economic prosperity, and make fellow Canadians… just a car ride away.

Discuss with students the three reasons that indicate why the highway was needed. Discuss the inter-relationships between each of the three factors. Have students suggest which is the most significant factor and why.

Direct students to the topic Trans-Canada Highway: Bridging the Distance on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. Assign half the class Clips #1 to #4 and the other half Clips #5 to #8. Students will review their clips, including The Story and Did You Know? sections, and complete the download sheet Crossing Canada, noting evidence supporting the need for the Trans-Canada Highway. As a class, create a summary chart to consolidate students’ findings.

Students will choose a time period during the 20-year development of the Trans-Canada Highway and write a news article for a national newspaper. The article should focus on any one of the reasons for the highway’s construction, and may take the format of a news story, a human-interest story, an editorial, and so on. The article should include a date and answers to the following questions:

What is the focus of the article?

Who is involved in the story?

Where does the story take place?

When did the story occur?

How did the story develop? Why is it newsworthy?

Have students share their articles with the class. Compile the articles in date order to create a timeline of the development of the Trans-Canada Highway, and make the timeline available for the students to review.

Students can add illustrations or photographs to their news articles.