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St. Lawrence: Stairway to the Sea

In this spectacular feature-length documentary, oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and an NFB crew sail up the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes on board the specially equipped vessel, the Calypso. They explore the countryside from their helicopter and plumb the depths of the waters in their diving saucer. They encounter shipwrecks, the Manicouagan power dam, Niagara Falls, the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway and an underwater chase with caribou.
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In this spectacular feature-length documentary, oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and an NFB crew sail up the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes on board the specially equipped vessel, the Calypso. They explore the countryside from their helicopter and plumb the depths of the waters in their diving saucer. They encounter shipwrecks, the Manicouagan power dam, Niagara Falls, the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway and an underwater chase with caribou.

Environment and Conservation Geography and Geology All subjects
Our Planet in Focus All channels
  • director
    Jacques Gagné
    Jacques-Yves Cousteau
  • producer
    John Soh
    Jean-Michel Cousteau
  • executive producer
    Jacques Bobet
  • script
    Théodore Strauss
  • narrator
    Théodore Strauss
  • camera
    Jean-Paul Cornu
    Guy Dufaux
    Jacques Leduc
    Colin Mounier
    Raymond Coll
    Bernard Delemotte
    Albert Falco
  • sound
    Guy Jouas
  • editing
    John Soh
    Hedwige Bienvenu
  • sound mixer
    Michel Descombes
  • music
    John Scott

Education

Ages 10 to 11

Notes

The teacher can ask students to study how locks function and build a model lock; locate, on a map of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the major locks; identify a few shipwrecks in or near Canadian waters (Titanic, Empress of Ireland) and study the vessels’ history; come up with series of questions and answers exploring jobs relating to oceanography, underwater archaeology and deep-sea diving, and present them as part of a role-play.

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St. Lawrence: Stairway to the Sea
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