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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Sprawl: The national and local situation

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/12/g912/sprawlnational.html

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Science and Social Studies

Provider: National Geographic


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In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore the concept of urban sprawl and investigate the characteristics and possible impact on society.

Students will:

  • read and discuss an article excerpt about sprawl;
  • draw mental maps of a fictitious sprawling suburb;
  • analyze pictures and text about a suburb that has experienced sprawl;
  • visit a virtual New Urbanist suburb and list and discuss the ways that this suburb and its sprawling counterpart affect the environment, people’s daily lives, and the local and regional economy; and
  • research and write reports on the sprawl situation in their own area.

Xpeditions provides links to all necessary web resources and online articles, instructions and discussion questions necessary for completing the lesson, and suggestions for assessment and extension activities.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Science (2005)

Grade 9–12 — AP Earth and Environmental Science

  • Goal 3: The learner will build an understanding of human population dynamics.
    • Objective 3.01: Analyze human population history and global distribution.
      • Demographics.
      • Age structure diagrams.
      • Survivorship curves.
      • Patterns of resource distribution.
    • Objective 3.02: Investigate local, regional and global carrying capacities.
      • Limiting factors.
      • Density-dependent and density-independent factors.
    • Objective 3.03: Analyze cultural and economic influences on population
      • Pronatalist factors.
      • Antinatalist factors.
      • Demographic transition.
  • Goal 7: The learner will build an understanding of environmental decision making.
    • Objective 7.01: Analyze economic forces affecting societies.
      • Supply demand curves.
      • Cost benefit analysis.
      • Marginal, internal and external costs.
      • Communal property resources, Tragedy of the Commons.
      • Economic resource categories.
    • Objective 7.02: Analyze cultural and ethical considerations regarding the environment.
      • Environmental worldviews.
      • Indigenous peoples.
      • Sustainable development.
    • Objective 7.03: Recognize significance of major environmental laws and regulations: regional, national and international.
      • Clean Air Act.
      • Clean Water Act.
      • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
      • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
      • Endangered Species Act.
      • Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Control Act.
      • Kyoto Protocol.
      • Lacey Act.
      • Mining Act.
      • Montreal Protocol.
      • National Environmental Policy Act.
      • Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
      • Wilderness Act.
    • Objective 7.04: Develop an awareness of environmental options.
      • Conservation.
      • Preservation.
      • Restoration.
      • Remediation.
      • Mitigation.

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 10

  • Goal 7: The learner will investigate how and why individuals and groups make economic choices.
    • Objective 7.01: Describe the basic factors of production such as land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurial skills and their impact on economic activities.
    • Objective 7.02: Explain how scarcity influences producers and consumers to make choices.
    • Objective 7.03: Compare examples of tradeoffs and opportunity costs of economic choices.
    • Objective 7.05: Explain the impact of investment on human, capital, productive, and natural resources.
    • Objective 7.06: Compare and contrast how different economic systems address key economic factors.
  • Goal 8: The learner will analyze features of the economic system of the United States.
    • Objective 8.02: Describe how the free enterprise system encourages private ownership of property and promotes individual initiative.