Cities, Cities Anywhere?  Chris Sherrill  Phillips Elementary School

Overview of Lesson		Body of Lesson - Procedure & Assessment
Connection to the Curriculum,Standards and Skills		Activity One
Grade Level		Activity Two
Purpose of Lesson		Activity Three and Student Assessment
Primary Geographic Question		Assessment of Lesson
Secondary Questions		References
Materials		City Activity Sheet

Overview of the Lesson

With human intervention into the ecosystems of a desert, a mountain, and land below sea level, people are able to live productive lives in the metropolitan cities of Phoenix, Arizona, Denver, Colorado, and New Orleans, Louisiana..

Geography Standards

Standard 1:  How to use maps and other geographic representatives, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

Standard 14:  How human actions modify the physical environment.

Standard 15:  How physical systems affect human systems.

Alabama Course of Study:  Social Studies Content Standards (Grade 7)

Standard 14:  Identify changes over time in a nearby ecosystem from human intervention.

Standard 22:  Evaluate the environmental effects of human actions on the four basic components of Earth's physical systems.

Geographic Skills

Acquire geographic information: Analyze maps to determine the natural ecosystem that human changed for their advantage. Discover the problems that still exist within the system due to its natural environment and human intervention.

Grade 7

To analyze maps, history, and current information to determine how humans change natural ecosystems to their advantage, and the problems that exist.

With the use of innovative techniques and ideas, explain how people are able to change a natural ecosystem into a metropolitan city.

What is an ecosystem?

In what type of natural ecosystem is the selected city located?

What human intervention was needed to change the ecosystem?  How?

What environmental problems are still being encountered in the city? What are the leaders of the city doing to improve or correct the problems?

• City Activity Sheet
• Pencils
• Relief Map of United States (Area of your cities) enough for each group
• Physical Map of United States (Area of your cities) enough for each group
• Political Map of United States (Area of your cities) enough for each group
• Road map or atlas of United States (optional or as a replacement for one of the previous maps)
• Encyclopedias of D, N, and P (Denver, New Orleans, Phoenix)
• Articles from CD-ROM Encyclopedia on Denver, New Orleans, and Phoenix
• Dictionary – enough for each group

Activity One

Secondary Question # 1:  What is an ecosystem?

• Divide students into small groups. Give each group an activity sheet, pencil, and dictionary.
• Have each group write a dictionary definition for ecosystem. Then have the groups brainstorm and record ideas of what they think the definition means to them.
• Have a class discussion about ecosystems to check for understanding of the term.

Activity Two

Secondary Question # 2:  In what type of natural ecosystem is the selected city located?
• Give each group a relief map of the United States, and political map (a road map or atlas map) of the United States. Assign each group a city to locate - Denver, New Orleans or Phoenix. It would be good to have two groups working separately on the same city to check information for accuracy.
• Students will determine the natural ecosystem where the city is located. Remind students to be careful in determining the correct position of the city on the relief map. Record this information of the activity sheet.

Activity Three

Secondary Question #3:  What human intervention was needed to change the ecosystem? How? What environmental problems are still being encountered by the city? What are the leaders of the city doing to improve or correct the problems?
• Have students divide  into their small groups and give them the activity sheet, Cities, Cities, Anywhere. Have students search for appropriate environmental and historical information related to their assigned city using a variety of references including the Internet.  They should make notes on the information and complete the activity sheet.

Assessing Student Learning

Did the students accurately record the type of natural ecosystem for their city? Did they understand how the ecosystem was changed by human intervention? Did they accurately record some of the problems still in the city?

Have students discuss how the cities are similar and different. Ask students to write a summary in response to the primary question.

Atlapedia. (1998). Physical map of eastern united states of america. [Online]. [1998, June 28].

Atlapedia (1998). Political map of the eastern united states of america. [Online]. [1998, June 28].

Atlapedia  (1998). Physical map of western united states of america. [Online]. [1998, June 28].

Atlapedia  (1998). Political map of western united states of america. [Online]. [1998, June 28].

Olympic  (1998). United states relief map. [Online]. [1998, June 25].

USA Image  (1998, March 26). USA elevation map. [Online]. [1998, June 28].

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia: On compact disc (1st ed.), [CD-ROM]. (1998).

Mermel, T. W. (1973). Levee. The World Book Encyclopedia (Vol.12, pp. 192-193). Chicago: World Book, Inc.

Murphy, Pat (1986). Phoenix. The World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 15, pp. 356-358). Chicago: World Book, Inc.

Secrest, Clark. (1986). Denver. The World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 5, pp.122-124). Chicago: World Book, Inc.
 
(1973). New Orleans. The World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 14, pp.226-229). Chicago: World Book, Inc.