Activity
Day 1
1. Students return to their partners with all the notes
and activities they’ve accumulated over the week.
2.
Tell students that this activity will require critical
thinking skills and that the assignment will not necessarily
have one right or wrong answer, but many possibilities.
Ask them to look over their notes from the last week
to develop, with their partners, answers to the following
questions:
a.
Based on your knowledge of the economic activities of
your city and the example of Mexico City,
what potential
issues do you think your city will have to address?
b. Are residents content with their employment opportunities?
c. Do the industries that already exist create any
potential problems for its residents?
d. Are there enough jobs for people to remain in
the city?
e. Do the jobs that exist create any hazards for
its residents such as air pollution?
f. Are the natural resources plentiful or does your
city have to deal with future water shortages?
g. Based on the physical features and geography of
your city and the example of Mexico City, do you
see any future
potential issues that relate to water, the climate,
and weather patterns?
h. Are any of them related to the cultural, economic
or recreational activities people engage in? For
example, are there many lakes in your city? Does
the use of
recreational vehicles create air and/or water pollution?
i. How does the urban population of your city (like
that of Mexico City’s) affect any issues your city will
have to resolve? For example: Are there so many people
that the use of cars creates major traffic jams and air
pollution? Will your city have to look at other methods
of transportation for so many people to get to work or
where they like to entertain themselves?
j. Will birthrate or educational levels impact any
future needs your city may have to face? Are the
young people
in your city educated enough to deal with the economic
or heath needs of your city? Will any of these characteristics
eventually affect the health of your city and its
residents?
3.
Once students have answered these questions they should
identify and organize their responses into
a table including
the following categories: cultural, economic, physical
and human geography.
Closure
Ask
students to take a few minutes to discuss their answers with
the entire class. The teacher should follow up on some of those
ideas to lead the class into the idea that cities and the ways
humans interact in them are interrelated, but can also create
potential issues they never planned or imagined.
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Embedded
Assessment
The
teacher will evaluate each group’s answers for
the day based on depth of thought and analysis. Students’ charts
can be assessed.
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