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Before
You Watch
Before viewing
the video programs for Workshop 3: North America, please read
the National Geography Standards featured
in this workshop. You may read the standards here on the Web,
in your print guide, or in Geography
for Life. We encourage you to read Geography for Life
in its entirety as you move through the workshops. It contains
further background on the National Standards, numerous examples
and rich illustrations aiding interpretation, valuable tools for
strengthening and developing lessons, and additional insight on
geography's significance to our daily lives.
The National
Geography Standards highlighted in this workshop include Standards
1, 4, 10, 12 and 16. As you read the standards, be thinking about
how they might apply in lessons you have taught.
Also, prior
to attending the workshop, you should explore the associated Key
Maps and Interactive Activities and read the Video Program Overviews
below, paying close attention to the Questions To Consider.
Video Program
Overviews: North America
Part 1.
Boston and Denver: Mapping Urban Economic Development
In this program,
we examine ethnic diversity in Boston, a city like many others
where a post-industrial transformation has changed the landscape
and moved jobs from the urban center to suburbs and "edge
cities," leaving a mosaic of poorer ethnic groups in the
inner city. Exhibiting pride in their diverse cultural heritages,
these groups do not always live in harmony; tensions often flare
between the newcomer immigrants and the established ethnic groups.
One way to combat the poverty of the inner city is through government
grants to economic "empowerment zones." We follow geographer
Linda Haar as she works to map which areas should be included
in the zone, keeping in mind an equitable distribution of government
assistance to each of the diverse ethnic groups living there.
Eventually we see the effects of financial assistance in several
Boston neighborhoods.
Following
commentary on regional and human geography by Gil Latz and Susan
Hardwick is a classroom segment featuring AP human geography teacher
Rick Gindele. His students use maps of census data generated through
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in order to analyze and
understand which areas in Denver are most impoverished. Their
task mirrors the real world application of such geographical information
illustrated in the case study -- to determine how to allocate
federal empowerment zone funds.
Objectives
Participants
will be able to:
-
explain
how maps and other graphic representations are used to understand
patterns of human activity in urban regions;
-
identify
the ways in which communities reflect the cultural background
of their inhabitants; and
-
identify
how students can use geographic skills to interpret patterns
of distribution in urban regions.
-
How
are maps used by policy makers to analyze past, present, and
future demographic patterns in urban regions?
-
How
do geographers use GIS (Geographical Information Systems)
to analyze economic and demographic data?
-
What
advantages has GIS brought to the planning process in the
case study?
-
What
factors account for economic disparities in the urban region
prescribed in the case study?
-
How
does the teacher in the video apply the geographic perspective
in helping his students understand the characteristics of
an urban region?
Featured
Educator
Mr. Rick
Gindele, 12th grade AP human geography teacher, Smoky Hill High
School, Aurora, Colorado
Rick Gindele has been a geography educator since 1993, and has
taught world regional geography, IB human geography, AP human
geography, and IB physical geography. His accomplishments include
experience as a high school staff member for the Colorado Alliance
Summer Geography Institute, co-director of the Colorado Geographic
Alliance AP Human Geography Institute in 2000 and 2001, and a
Distinguished Teaching Achievement Award from the National Council
for Geographic Education in 2000. Drawing on his background as
a cartographer and urban planner, Gindele helps his students personalize
their understanding of geography by using GIS technology to investigate
the Denver metro area.
Part 2. Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Antonio: U.S. City Development
In this program,
we travel to the rural fringe of Chicago, where farms give way
to housing developments at an alarming rate, illustrating one
of North America's most rampant regional problems: suburban sprawl.
Millions of people try to escape more crowded inner cities and
suburbs, only to find that everyone else has the same idea. Congestion
and sameness shall follow them all the days of their lives. Are
we running out of room for the American Dream?
After commentary
by Gil Latz and Susan Hardwick, we visit two classes, looking
at urban expansion in the past and imagining its future. First
there is a short visit with Marlene Brubaker's ninth grade environmental
science students on a field trip where they analyze historical
maps of Philadelphia, gaining insight into how their city has
changed in the past 300 years. Next Phil Rodriguez works with
his ninth graders as they use census data to understand how transportation
links will affect San Antonio's future expansion.
Objectives
Participants
will be able to:
-
explain
the impact of transportation systems on the growth of American
urban centers;
-
identify
issues associated with resources needed by urban regions, suburban
centers, and rural farming; and
-
explain
how teachers can use familiar urban landmarks to teach students
complex geographic concepts and principles.
-
To
what extent have transportation systems contributed to the
type of growth of the urban region described in the case study?
-
Since
there is so much available farmland, why do some worry about
the expansion of urban centers and suburbs into these regions?
-
To
what extent has the concept of a city as a "place"
changed over time, and what are the causes?
-
Given
the choice of teaching about "human settlement"
or "shopping malls," which would make a better introduction
for high school students to the concept of human and physical
characteristics of an urban region?
-
What
are some ways GIS might be used in the secondary classroom
to enrich learning by integrating geography with other disciplines?
-
Identify
how changes in human and physical characteristics over time
change the idea of "place" in urban centers
Featured
Educators
Ms. Marlene
Brubaker, 10th-grade environmental science / biology teacher,
the Mennonite School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Marlene Brubaker has been teaching at Philadelphia Mennonite High
School for the past four years. As part of her efforts to work
for the betterment of her students and provide opportunities for
their success, Marlene's environmental science course provides
a number of field trips in partnership with the Peopling Philadelphia
Cooperative throughout students' freshman year. These trips provide
them with a wealth common of experiences that they can draw on
throughout their high school career.
Mr. Phil
Rodriguez, 10- to 12th grade geography teacher, Holmes High School,
San Antonio, Texas
A native Texan, Phil Rodriguez, has been teaching for the past
20 years. He is active in the Texas Alliance for Geographic Education,
a teacher consultant for the National Geographic Society, and
a participant in the Educational Technology Leadership Institute.
In the 1997-98 school year, he was selected Campus Teacher of
the Year at Holmes High School. He employs the Internet and maps
to help students better understand the geography of their own
metropolitan area. Phil believes in the value of primary source
materials and uses his own background in population geography
to collect the data his students analyze in his classes.
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