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Banff National Park (established 1885, 6,641 km2) is Canada's first and most visited National Park.

The size of a snowflake is related to how far the snowflake has fallen from the sky and to how well colliding snow crystals stick to each other. The largest snowflakes are usually observed near 0° C because of the increased forces of adhesion at these temperatures.

Crustacean, shelled invertebrate with segmented body and limbs at some stage of its life, an exoskeleton and 2 pairs of antennae. The exoskeleton, a protective and supportive framework located outside the body, is periodically molted to allow for growth.

Fundamental to all ordering of events of the Earth's history is the principle of the positional relationships of rock and mineral bodies. For example, in any stratified rock sequence, younger rocks overlie older ones.

Seal is a common name given to a diverse group of aquatic, generally marine mammals of the order Pinnipedia.

Maples are trees and shrubs in the genus Acer, previously classified within the maple family Aceraceae, but now placed by some taxonomists in Sapindaceae (Soapberry family), which also includes horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastaneum). There are approximately 150 species of maple around the world, most in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, and the majority native to eastern Asia. Ten maple species are native to Canada, perhaps the best known being sugar maple (Acer saccharum) of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. The Canadian flag displays a stylized maple leaf, and maple is Canada’s official arboreal emblem. Maples are not only important to Canada symbolically, they are also ecologically and economically significant.

The energy contained in sunlight is the source of life on Earth. Humans can harness it to generate power for our activities without producing harmful pollutants. There are many methods of converting solar energy into more readily usable forms of energy such as heat or electricity. The technologies we use to convert solar energy have a relatively small impact on the environment. However, they each have disadvantages that have kept them from being widely adopted.

In Canada, the use of solar energy to generate electricity and heat is growing quickly and is helping reduce pollution related to energy production. Despite Canada’s cold climate and high latitudes (which get less direct sunlight than mid-latitudes), solar power technologies are used in many places, from household rooftops to large power plants. The Canada Energy Regulator (formerly the National Energy Board) expects solar power to make up 3 per cent of Canada’s total electricity generation capacity by 2040.

Arctic animals are those that have adapted physically and behaviourally to the particular conditions of life in the most northerly regions on the planet.

Metallurgy is the art, science and technology of turning metals and alloys (i.e., materials consisting of two or more metals) into forms suitable for practical use.

Humans have been exploring the North American Arctic for centuries, beginning about 5,000 years ago when Palaeo-Inuit were looking for a homeland, followed by the early Inuit (Thule) — ancestors of the Inuit. European exploration of the same region began with the Norse in the 10th century and, after a short pause, was continued by Englishmen during the Elizabethan era (1558–1603). Over the next several hundred years, explorers ventured to the Arctic in search of resources, scientific knowledge, national prestige, personal fame and a navigable Northwest Passage. The most successful of these explorers adapted to the harsh Arctic environment and adopted the tools and practices of northern Indigenous peoples.

The mollusc is a soft-bodied, usually shelled invertebrate belonging to one of the largest animal phyla (Mollusca) with some 100 000 living and about 35 000 fossil species.

The classification of fishes has undergone much change over the last few decades, and further changes are expected, partly because so many groups are poorly known.

The word mammal is derived from the milk-producing mammary glands that are unique to the class Mammalia.

 The first European explorers and settlers in North America found wildlife in abundance. This wealth was recognized as having immediate commercial value, with FISHERIES and the FUR TRADE being the first widespread exploitive activities.

Classification involves arranging individual units with similar characteristics into groups. Soils do not occur as discrete entities; thus the unit of measurement for soil is not obvious.

 Environment Canada devised the climate severity index to rate a locality's climate according to human comfort and well being. The index has a range from 1 to 100, with a score of 1 representing the least severe climate and 100 the most.

Canada has seven primary vegetation regions, in addition to the marine fauna found along the country’s coasts. Vegetation regions are geographical areas characterized by distinct plant communities. Community composition, determined primarily by climate (e.g., temperature, precipitation and sunlight), may be affected by factors such as geology, soil composition and erosion, water drainage patterns and human interference. Each vegetation region supports a characteristic animal community that may also affect its composition.

This is a full-length entry about Vegetation Regions. For a plain-language summary, please see Vegetation Regions (Plain-Language Summary).