- Definition
Land reclamation is when people create new dry land where there used to be water, like building new islands or draining wet areas to make them usable.
The Netherlands created large areas of farmland called polders by building dikes and pumping water out from below sea level.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: Land reclamation is like helping damaged land recover so it can safely support plants, animals, and people again.
Ask your child: What might a company need to do to restore land after a mine closes?
Common mix-up: Land reclamation often means restoring land affected by mining, construction, or waste. Creating new land from water is a different use of the phrase and should not be treated as the only meaning.
Examples
- Creating artificial islands for airports, like Kansai International Airport in Japan.
- Expanding the coastline of a city into the sea to build new neighbourhoods, like in Singapore.
land reclamation is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
