Land Use Planning Lesson Plans

Students study positive and negative aspects of land use laws and zoning ordinances. They participate in a land use planning exercise using a role play activity.

Students investigate land regulations. In groups students explore how local councillors grant planning permission and how land is regulated. Students role play making decisions on a planning committee. They discuss why a land use planning system is important.

Learners discover how land was used in Pennsylvania in the past. Using maps, they compare and contrast how the amount of land changed for different purposes. They discuss the needs for land use planning and describe three events that have made a major change in how the land was used.

Fourth graders recognize the need to sustain crops in the rainforest. In this rainforest lesson plan, 4th graders consider the use of products from the rainforest.  Students discuss how people of different points of view decide what to do about an issue. Students read Romel's Rainforest Home and identify the problems and points of view. Students relate to the chocolate crop in the rainforest.

Students study water resources that are important to the people of North American and Africa. They use satellite images and data to explore how human actions can degrade, improve, or maintain water resources. They analyze and interpret graphic data to make recommendations for improving future use of these resources.

Students identify the land use zones on a planning map and identify the patterns that have possible negative effects on water quality. They participate in a visualization exercise, analyze the maps, and redraw existing land use maps for better environmental quality.

Students plan and design improvements to their own neighborhood using primary and secondary sources. In small groups, they develop neighborhood improvement goals, construct an improved model of the neighborhood, and present the models to the community.

Learners examine why civic facilities are located where they are in their community. They collect and analyze data using primary and secondary sources, take a walking tour of their school and surrounding neighborhood, and summarize the information.

Learners design and lay out a map of a coastal area that includes a bay, an estuary, an ocean entrance, and prime beach lands. They write a plan outlining solutions to the economic problems of their community and present their map and solutions to the class.

Young scholars develop and describe plan for land protection in a variety of settings, and research and develop strategies relating to deer management and land use. Students then complete Project Wild activity, Oh Deer!