Grade 6 Alberta Social Studies Systems Unit | Paper and Digital

Get your unit about the Canadian federal and provincial governments and how they are elected and more through activities, investigations, and complete lessons. Everything you need to teach the whole unit is included!

COMING SOON! Save $$$ with a whole year of Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies!

This unit designed for Alberta teachers includes:

• lesson plans with step-by-step instructions and options for modifications.
• instructions for how to use our activities with and without technology so you can be flexible for your students and classroom environment.
• instructions for printing student workbooks while still offering differentiated options.
• detailed outlines of each activity with a list of materials along with a centralized list and reminders in each section of the lesson plan.
• optional Teacher Slides to support instruction and content delivery. You can choose to teach with or without them.
• vocabulary list with phonetic pronunciations and definitions to help support your students.
• “I can” statements written in student-friendly language so students can self-assess their learning.
• student pages and templates.
• answer keys and suggested answers.
• photos of student examples.
• activities to support learning content specific vocabulary.
• background information for teachers so you don't need to be an expert.
• simple assessments like quizzes. Rubrics are included for teachers to use for marking projects.
• ideas for how to use this resource in the classroom, online, or a mix.
• digital versions of all the student reading and writing pages that use Google Slides. You must download the PDF files and use the access links in the files to get your digital copies.
• an alignment guide for Alberta Outcomes in each resource broken down by lesson and activity.
  

The unit includes additional bonus materials:

• a unit plan to assist with sequencing.
• a list of Alberta Social Studies outcomes to help with planning.
• a list of materials outlined for each activity.
• vocabulary support materials: word wall words, glossary pages, definition worksheets, digital flashcards, word with with phonetic pronunciations and definitions.
• extra assessments to assess student learning of the whole unit.

These resources are included in this unit:

• Federal Government: reasons for governments; pillars of democracy; structure of the federal government in Canada and how it connects to the British Parliamentary system, prime minister, their role and how they are chosen; Member of Parliament (MP) and how they are elected to represent an electoral district or riding; official opposition; how bills are passed through the House of Commons and Senate before receiving royal assent; the role and duties of the Governor General, representing the monarch; Constitution Act, 1867 and the division of responsibilities between federal and provincial governments; judicial independence and its importance
• Provincial Government: reasons for governments; pillars of democracy; connecting modern government to democracies in the past; structure of the provincial and territorial governments in Canada and how they connect to the British Parliamentary system; premier, their role and how they are chosen; Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), how they are elected, representing a constituency or riding, duties (with references to MPPs, MHAs and MNAs); official opposition; how bills are passed before receiving royal assent in provincial governments; the role and duties of the Lieutenant General, representing the monarch; Constitution Act, 1867 and the division of responsibilities between federal and provincial governments; judicial independence and its importance
• Canadian Government Interactive Game: titles and roles in federal and provincial (territorial) governments; prime minister, premier; MLA, Member of the Legislative Assembly, and MP, Member of Parliament *with a nod to MHA, MPP and MNA; House of Commons, Legislative Assembly; Governor General, Lieutenant Governor; official opposition, passing a bill, ridings; judicial independence; principles of democracy
• Division of Powers Collaborative Poster: a great introduction or review how how duties and responsibilities are divided between the federal and provincial or territorial governments in Canada
• Elections in Canada: provincial, territorial and federal elections; parts of an election: constituency, electoral districts or riding, voters, polling station, ballot, scrutineer, campaign, candidates and election day; creating a political party; a voting simulation activity where students can run as candidates or you can use premade candidates; how to read understand poll results; majority and minority governments; how the premier and prime minister's roles are related to elections

Ninja Note: If you teach in Alberta, this resource has been written for the new social studies curriculum. Learn more about how we're writing and adjusting resources for the new curriculum. https://brainninjas.ca/social-studies-in-alberta/

This activity aligns with:

• the Alberta Social Studies Curriculum Grade 6 ©2025

This activity supports:

• Canadian governments
• elections in Canada
  

Looking for more social studies for Alberta teachers? Our unit plans include extra vocabulary supports and assessments.

• Time and Place Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 6
• Systems Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 6 COMING SOON!
• Citizenship Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 6 COMING SOON!

COMING SOON! Save $$$ with a whole year of Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies!

Ninja Note: This file is a ZIP file. It requires downloading and extracting before opening the individual PDF files. Each resource contains the digital links and instructions for using the file. 

Have a question? Before contacting us, check our Frequently Asked Questions page.