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

Overview of the Lesson

This lesson will provide a visual understanding of urban and agricultural settlements and the reasons for their locations.

Geography Standards

Standard 4:  The physical and human characteristics of places.

Standard 12:  The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.

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

Standard 2:     Illustrate spatial information using data, symbols, and colors to create thematic maps.

Standard 20:  Identify major agricultural and urban settlement types and geographic reasons for their location.

Geographic Skills

Acquire geographic information through the use of maps and data to determine types and reasons for human settlement.

Grade 7

To identify types of human settlements, urban and agricultural, and determine geographic influence on why people settle where they did by use of maps and charts.

What effect does geography have on the decision to locate major types of settlements?

What types of settlements are urban and what are the geographic ideals for urban settlement?

What types of settlements are agricultural and what are the geographic ideals for agricultural settlements?

What factors, other than geography, affect human settlement?

• Blank Map of South America
• World Atlas
• Colored Pencils
• Sheets for Charting Data
• Overhead Projector (optional)

Activity One

Secondary Question # 1:  What types of settlements are urban and what are the geographic ideals for urban settlement?

• Divide students into groups.  Provide each group with blank maps, atlases, and colored pencils.
• Have the students locate from the atlas up to five urban areas from throughout the region, stressing the importance that they try to select five different area types, i.e. inland, coastal, etc.
• Have students develop maps showing urban areas using population symbols.  Have one student in each group chart the name of the cities and the type of urban area it is (e.g. governmental center, port city).
• Using a physical map, have the students locate the cities and determine the type of physical geography for each urban area. (e.g. Madrid, Spain; governmental center, grassy plain)  Students will also identify and list major waterways or ocean access points to the urban areas.
• After the students have completed urban mapping and charts, have one student from each group describe to the class the information they have gathered and why they believe the area was selected for the type of settlement found there.
• After presentations, list the geographic features from each city on the board and look for possible connections and its location relative to the other cities.

Assessing Student Learning: Activity One

Did the students answer the secondary question about urban settlement?  Students should be able to correctly describe what they have learned and construct conclusions from the presented information.

Activity Two

• Secondary Question # 2:  What types of settlements are agricultural and what are the most suitable geographic characteristics for agricultural settlement?
• Using a second copy of the South American map, have the students locate in the atlas subsistence farming, crop and livestock and grazing areas.  Students should shade in these areas on their maps.  Students will develop a chart to communicate the growing season, rainfall/year and population data for these areas.
• Students will complete this activity in the same manner as Activity 1 with a summary of the information presented to the class and an explanation of why specific regions seem to be better suited for certain agricultural activity.

Assessing Student Learning: Activity Two

Did the student answer the secondary question about agricultural settlement?  Have the students display their work and discuss what they have learned from the information gathered.

Activity Three

• Secondary Question #3:  What factors, other than geography, affect human settlement?
• Using the information from Activities 1 and 2, students will list at least five things that would be important if they were to develop a settlement in both the urban area and the rural/agricultural area. Have the students share their decisions with the other groups so that they may compare and contrast lists.  students may then discuss or defend their choices and identify effects their planning could have on the location of their settlement.

Assessing Student Learning: Activity Three

Did the student demonstrate higher order thinking skills in planning?  Did students list five criteria elements for settlement?  Look for geographic themes in students' lists to promote discussion.

Have students write a 2-3 paragraph essay to explain the different types of settlements and to identify the desirable geographic setting for each type of settlement.

South America Map, Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.