Subject area descriptions are based on what students are expected to learn by the end of a course (provincial learning outcomes). Classroom programming may vary to accommodate local situations such as second language learners and students with special needs. Parents are encouraged to discuss specific details about their child's programming with the subject area teachers.
In all grades, students develop skills in literacy and communication, working with others, solving problems, and using technology.
Through the study of English language arts, each student from Kindergarten to Grade 12 learns to understand, appreciate, and use language in everyday life. Students learn to listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent at different times and in different ways, both in the English language arts classroom and in their day-to-day experiences outside it. To assist them in these learning experiences, teachers and students choose and use appropriate learning resources, including, for example, novels, plays, essays, film, and poetry.
Students are required to achieve credit in one of the following three Grade 12 English language arts courses; however, they may take more than one.
Grade 12 students are required to write a provincial standards test in English language arts. The test, worth 30 percent of their final mark, is based on Grade 12 English language arts curricula.
| Transactional Focus (40S) Grade 12 |
Comprehensive Focus (40S) Grade 12 |
Literary Focus (40S) Grade 12 |
|---|---|---|
| This course focuses
on the day-to-day use of language for a variety of practical
purposes. Students produce and engage with oral, written,
and visual texts that inform, direct, persuade, plan,
analyze, argue, and explain. Students may, for example,
view television and film documentaries, write proposals
and reports, or listen to radio programs, speeches,
and debates to gather or communicate knowledge, information,
and perspectives. While the texts students read, view,
and write have a practical purpose, they often use literary
devices and expressive language to convey meaning. |
This course balances practical and literary purposes and uses of language. (See descriptions of Transactional Focus and Literary Focus.) Students produce and explore oral, written, and visual texts that inform, persuade, analyze, foster understanding and empathy, reflect culture, express feelings and experiences, and bring enjoyment. | This course focuses on the purposes and forms of literature. Students produce and engage with a variety of oral, written, and visual texts that enlighten, foster understanding and empathy, reflect culture, express feelings and experiences, and bring enjoyment. They may, for example, view films, read novels, listen to songs, create sculptures, or write poems to bring pleasure to others or themselves, respond to experiences, or express feelings. They may also read, view, or write texts that, for example, inform, persuade, or analyze. |
Note: In each course, selection of materials for study is determined by schools, teachers, and students, and may vary from one classroom to another.
- evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a range of information, ideas, and perspectives to develop their understanding
- consider the importance of language for meeting personal needs and set language learning goals and strategies for achieving personal plans
- monitor their understanding of what they read, see, and hear in order to select from a wide range of comprehension strategies; and apply or adjust these strategies to make sense of increasingly complex and diverse materials
- respond personally and critically to a wide range of written, oral, and visual materials, and analyze their distinct characteristics
- analyze and evaluate a variety of methods used to communicate information, ideas, and opinions
- plan and conduct inquiry or research to investigate a variety of questions and topics by accessing and evaluating appropriate information sources
- demonstrate increasing flexibility, confidence, and control in using a variety of methods to communicate information, ideas, and perspectives effectively for particular purposes, audiences, and situations
- use a variety of skills and strategies to revise, edit, and proofread their work
- demonstrate increasing flexibility and confidence in working with others; evaluate the usefulness of working with others to accomplish a task; and evaluate the value of diverse viewpoints on one's perception of self and the world
Senior Years English Language Arts...
The Senior Years mathematics curricula emphasize important interrelated processes, including communication, connections, estimation and mental mathematics, problem solving, reasoning, and visualization.
Grade 12 Applied
Through classroom learning activities in Applied Mathematics, students acquire technical communication skills, solve problems using technology, and develop responsibility and flexibility in their work habits.
Using technology as a tool, students explore many mathematical concepts, often while working on projects. While the content of the Applied Mathematics curriculum is similar to that of the Pre-Calculus Mathematics curriculum, the emphasis on technology as a means of solving problems allows modelling of many real-world situations. The following table identifies the topics addressed in the Senior Years Applied Mathematics curriculum.
- Matrix Modelling
- Vectors
- Personal Finance
- Probability
- Variability and Statistical Analysis
- Design and Measurement
- Applications of Periodic Functions
- Sequences
Refer to post-secondary mathematics requirements for information on admission to Manitoba colleges and universities.
Grade 12 Consumer
The Consumer Mathematics curriculum emphasizes number sense, consumer problem solving, and decision making.
Students develop valuable knowledge and skills that will allow them to make informed decisions as they become independent citizens. The Consumer Mathematics curriculum addresses financial management, career exploration, home ownership and maintenance, as well as more traditional topics such as trigonometry and statistics. The following table identifies the topics addressed in the Senior Years Consumer Mathematics curriculum.
- Problem Analysis
- Analysis of Games and Numbers
- Personal Finance
- Design and Measurement
- Government Finances
- Statistics
- Investigative Project
- Career/Life Project
- Investments
- Income Tax
- Variation and Formulas
- Completing a Portfolio
Refer to post-secondary mathematics requirements for information on admission to Manitoba colleges and universities.
Grade 12 Pre-Calculus
Pre-Calculus Mathematics is designed for students who will be continuing studies at the post-secondary level in fields related to mathematics and science. This curriculum is intended as preparation for calculus at the university level.
The study of functions is the major focus of the Pre-Calculus Mathematics curriculum. Other topic areas include algebra, geometry, trigonometry, probability, and statistics. The following table identifies the topics addressed in the Senior Years Pre-Calculus Mathematics curriculum.
- Circular Functions
- Transformations
- Trigonometric Identities
- Exponents and Logarithms
- Permutations, Combinations, and Binomial Theorem
- Conics
- Probability
- Geometric Sequences
- Statistics (Optional)
Refer to post-secondary mathematics requirements for information on admission to Manitoba colleges and universities.
The combined physical education/health education curriculum develops the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for maintaining physically active and health lifestyles. The curriculum focuses on making healthy decisions related to physical activity participation, healthy eating, substance use, sexual reproductive health, and injury prevention. It encourages schools to involve parents in planning for implementation of content that might be sensitive in some communities.
Effective September 2008 the Grade 12 Active Healthy Lifestyles credit is a required credit for graduation. The design of the new course will allow for schools and students/parents/guardians to determine how the learning outcomes of the curriculum will be achieved. This may be accomplished through a teacher-directed delivery model during IN-class time and a student-directed model of the OUT-of-class time. Students must complete a physical activity practicum that addresses health-related fitness components. This physical activity practicum must be a minimum of 55 hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity. In addition students will learn about fitness management, nutrition, personal and social development, and healthy relationships.
The Department has developed general guidelines for managing risk in OUT-of-class activities as well as selected safety checklists for safe participation in many common physical activities. This information is available in the OUT-of-Class Safety Handbook: A Resource for Grades 9-12 Physical Education/Health Education.
Senior Years Physical Education/Health Education...
In the Kindergarten to Grade 12 science classroom, students are actively engaged in "doing" science and developing related skills and attitudes, as well as extending their understanding of science concepts. In addition, they make links between science and daily life, and learn to appreciate both the power and limitations of science as a way of understanding their world.
In Grade 12 Biology, Chemistry, Interdisciplinary Topics in Science, and Physics are optional courses.
Social studies is the study of people in relation to each other and to the world in which they live. In Manitoba, social studies comprises the disciplines of history and geography, draws upon the social sciences, and integrates relevant content from the humanities. As a study of human beings in their physical, social, and cultural environments, social studies examines the past and present, and looks toward the future. Social studies helps students acquire the skills, knowledge, and values necessary to become active democratic citizens and contributing members of their communities, locally, nationally, and globally.
The new social studies curriculum is under development. Implementation TBA.
World Human Geography (Optional)
The Grade 12 (Senior 4) World Human Geography curriculum deals with locations, patterns, distribution, and interrelationships between the physical and human environments in a constantly changing world.
Major Topics:
- Unit I World Geography Overview
- Unit II World Population: Characteristics, Distribution, and Growth
- Unit III World Food Supply: Production and Distribution
- Unit IV World Resources, Energy, and Environment
- Unit V World Industrialization and Urbanization
- Unit VI World Interdependence
The major goals of the Senior 4 World Geography curriculum are to help students explore and better understand the following ideas with reference to a world view:
- roles, purposes, concepts, and skills related to of geography
- major features of the physical and human environments
- characteristics of developed and developing nations
- population characteristics, distribution, growth, and challenges
- environmental management and protection, and economic growth in the context of
- sustainable development
- the status of and challenges confronting Aboriginal peoples in contemporary society
- food production and distribution
- the status of industrialization and urbanization
- interdependence of the developed and developing nations
Western Civilization History (Optional)
The Grade 12 (Senior 4) Western Civilization curriculum is designed to help students understand that Canadian society and other Western societies evolved and were shaped by complex movements and events.
Major Topics:
- Unit I: An Introduction to Western Civilization
- Unit II: Pre-Modern Western Civilization
- Unit III: The Renaissance, The Reformation, and Absolutism versus Representative Government
- Unit IV: The Age of Reason, and the Political, Agricultural, and Industrial Revolutions
- Unit V: Major Movements and Events of the Nineteenth Century (1815 to 1919)
- Unit VI: The Twentieth Century
The Grade 12 (Senior 4) Western Civilization curriculum is organized around the following six major concepts: religion, ideology, humanism, individualism, secularism, and scepticism. The major goal of the Grade 12 (Senior 4) Western Civilization curriculum is to help students explore and better understand:
- how and why Western civilization societies evolved
- how the six major concepts identified above apply to the development of Western civilization during different periods of time
- how Greece and Rome, Judeo-Christian thought, medieval religious and social institutions contributed to the development of Western societies
- how the Renaissance, the Reformation, absolutism, and representative government contributed to the development of Western societies
- how the Age of Reason, and the political, agricultural, and industrial revolutions influenced the development of Western societies
- how major events of the nineteenth century influenced Western society (the reactionary and reform movements, the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the revolutions of 1848)
- how World Wars I and II, the Cold War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union changed the world balance of power, and the ideological responses to these events
- how technology has influenced society
- why sustainable development should be considered an ideological direction for the future
World Issues (Optional)
The Grade 12 (Senior 4) World Issues course is intended to help students:
- develop a greater understanding of world issues
- examine the historical, current, and future implications of world issues
- analyze the effects of world issues on quality of life within different political, social, and economic systems
- explore various perspectives on world issues
- gain informed opinions on world issues
Major Topics:
- Unit I: The Role of Media in World Issues
- Unit II: Global Organization: East-West and North-South
- Unit III: Quality of Life Perceptions
- Unit IV: World Issues
- Unit V: The World of the Future
The major goals of the Grade 12 (Senior 4) World Issues curriculum are to help students gain a better understanding of quality of life in various parts of the world in terms of:
- the interdependence of societies that subscribe to different political and social systems (e.g., east-west) and societies that are at different levels of development (e.g., north-south)
- the major geo-political organizations of the world and the potential of major conflict among them
- the relationship of nations to international organizations promoting cooperation and peaceful solutions
- the role of the media in shaping the perceptions of people
- the differing perceptions of basic human rights in various parts of the world
- the conflict between the struggle for peace and the threat of war resulting from the growth of militarism and the presence of nuclear weapons in the world
- the use of terrorism by groups to achieve certain goals
- the conflicts that nationalism and imperialism create in the struggle for world unity and peace
- the role and effect of major religions on world issues
- the effect of an increasing world population on adequate diet, demography, governments, and individuals in various parts of the world
- the ever-increasing demand for resources and energy and the resulting pressures on the environment and the economy in all parts of the world
- the increasing pressures that industrialization and urbanization place on governments, groups, and individuals to meet the demands for an adequate quality of life
- the conflicts challenging the nations of the world in establishing management and ownership of the seas and of space
- the effect of world trade, foreign aid, and international organizations on the economic and social gap between the rich and poor countries of the world
- the effect of technological changes on the way people live
- the implications for the future if present trends continue (sustainability)
- alternatives to present trends
Senior Years Social Studies...