The National Geography Standards

The National Geography Standards for this program include standards 10, 12, and 16. You may read in-depth descriptions of specific standards by clicking on the links below. All of the standards are available here.

Standard 10: The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.

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

Standard 16: The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.

Boston: Ethnic Mosaic examines the phenomenon of inner-city abandonment as an example of a process that has changed the internal structure of Boston. The case study also looks at the process of immigration as a way of explaining the city's ethnic mosaic.

The second case study, Chicago: Farming on the Edge, focuses on the prime agricultural land that is located on the periphery of the city and the forces that determine its use and development over time. With continuing migration to the suburbs, farmers face enormous pressures to sell their land to developers. In these high-demand areas, fortunes can be made through the sale of increasingly scarce agricultural land.

Together these two case studies create a portrait of the urban form that has emerged in post-industrial America. They also reveal some of the serious implications of that form for the people remaining in the urban core, for those who want to continue their way of life as farmers, and for those who want to preserve some of the nation's best farmland. The forces driving development away from old urban centers are strong. The question is whether those forces should or could be contained.