Porter Airlines Canada is in the news this week for growing its flight schedule, adding new routes out of Edmonton and even a twice-weekly trip from Ottawa to Aruba. New flight routes are a perfect excuse to pull out a map and turn the news into a hands-on geography lesson.

Young children love airplanes, suitcases and the idea of “going somewhere new.” We can use that excitement to practice map skills, directions and simple counting, all while talking about a real event happening right now.

Porter Airlines Canada and Why New Routes Matter

A new flight route means a new way for people to travel between two places. When an airline adds a route, it is connecting a city where people live to a city they want to visit, whether for family, vacation or work.

For young learners, this is a gentle way to introduce the idea that places are connected, and that travel takes planning: choosing a destination, picking a date and packing what you need.

A Simple Map Activity

Pull out a world map or a map of Canada and try this short activity together:

  • Find your own town or city and mark it with a sticker.
  • Find Edmonton, Ottawa and, if you can, a far-away place like Aruba.
  • Trace a line with your finger from one city to the other.
  • Talk about what might be different there: Is it warmer? Colder? Near the ocean?

Kindergarten and first grade students can practice saying “near” and “far,” while second graders can estimate which trip looks longer just by looking at the map.

Counting and Comparing: A Little Math, Too

Airline news is full of numbers, which makes it an easy bridge to counting practice.

  • Count how many new cities are mentioned in the news (two or three works well).
  • Ask: if a flight leaves twice a week, how many times does it fly in two weeks? in a month?
  • Compare: which trip on your map looks like it would take longer, a short hop between nearby cities or a long trip over water?

These questions do not need exact answers. The goal is to get children thinking about distance, time and number sense using a topic they find genuinely interesting.

Talking About Travel Feelings

Flying somewhere new can feel exciting and a little nervous at the same time. Circle time is a great place to talk about both feelings.

  • Have you ever been on an airplane, or do you know someone who has?
  • What do you think it feels like to look down from way up high?
  • What would you pack in your suitcase if you were going somewhere new?

This kind of conversation builds vocabulary and gives quieter students an easy way to join in, since almost every child has an opinion about airplanes.

Classroom Extension Ideas

To stretch this into a full lesson:

  • Make a simple “boarding pass” with each child’s name, a made-up seat number and their chosen destination.
  • Build a paper airplane and talk about what makes it fly straight.
  • Create a classroom map wall where students pin where they would like to “fly” someday.

At the end of the lesson, a small printable award naming each child a “Junior Traveler” is a fun way to wrap things up, and a quick printable maze shaped like a flight path can give early finishers something hands-on.

More Geography Fun

If this lesson goes well, your class may enjoy more map-based activities built from the news. Try our Canadian provinces clock lesson or our New Zealand and India map lesson for another chance to connect a current event to a hands-on geography skill. You can also browse more science and exploration activities for young learners.

A single news story about new flight routes can open the door to map reading, counting, vocabulary and a little daydreaming about faraway places, exactly the kind of real-world connection that makes learning stick.