National Library of Medicine
Your Environment, Your Health: Runoff, Impervious Surfaces, and Smart Development
Can a sidewalk increase the amount of pollution in local streams? Scholars learn the answer to this question though research and experimentation in the fifth unit in the six-part series. Pupils study runoff, impervious surfaces, and the...
Smithsonian Institution
Borders and Community: Early 20th Century Chicago Neighborhoods and Ethnic Enclaves
Chicago is one city, four neighborhoods, and countless nationalities. The lesson plan explores the ethnic division of Chicago in the early twentieth century. Academics read primary sources, analyze maps, and tour an online exhibit to...
Polk Bros Foundation
Chicago: Choices and Changes
Chicago, a city that is ever changing. A thought-provoking lesson, geared toward third-grade social studies, explains how the city of Chicago has changed over time. It discusses important leaders to the founding of the city, like Daniel...
Pace University
Urban Communities
Urban communities are the focus of a series of lessons created to meet specific needs using differentiated instruction. A pre-assessment designates scholars into three groups based on their ability level. Small groups take part in...
College Board
2015 AP® Environmental Science Free-Response Questions
Less than eight percent of AP Environmental Science test takers earn the highest score possible. Help scholars improve their scores by using actual test questions on water quality and urban planning before reading sample responses that...
College Board
2005 AP® Human Geography Free-Response Questions
Why do people leave their home countries and come to the United States? How has nationalism affected European nations politically and socially? The answers are complicated. Pupils explore the intricate dynamics using structured questions...
College Board
2017 AP® Human Geography Free-Response Questions
How have urban planners tried to attract people to cities? What can be done about booming birth rates in some parts of the world? How does a country's political structure affect the well being of its people? Scholars investigate these...
School Improvement in Maryland
Smart Growth
New roads, new businesses, new developments, new mass transit systems. All growth has both positive and negative effects on communities. Government classes investigate the principles of Maryland's 1997 Smart Growth program and the...
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—Fifth Grade
Young citizens construct an understanding of urban planning in this cross-curricular unit. Covering every aspect of city development from the political, economic, and social influences to sustainable building practices, this 10-lesson...
Skyscraper Museum
Changes in a City Over Time
Investigate the growth and development of New York City with the final lesson in this four-part series on skyscrapers. Learners first explore the concept of urban growth by looking closely at a series of three paintings made of Wall...
Curated OER
Kid City, USA
What a model community would look like? Get your kids talking with an activity that allows them to create their own town. After printing out a "fold out village," groups of young scholars use a variety of resources to help them build an...
Curated OER
Design for Social Justice
Students create a solution to a social justice problem within their community. In this urban planning lesson, students read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines. Students then complete a research...
Curated OER
The Urban Explosion
Students investigate the uncontrolled development of the world's major cities. They define key vocabulary terms, view and discuss video excerpts, and complete a project that involves drawing a "perfect city," developing a plan to...
Curated OER
Volcanoes and Urban Planning
Young scholars analyze satellite image data of Volcan Villarica. In this earth science lesson, students identify dangerous areas surrounding the volcano. They propose a new safe location for the town.
Curated OER
Applied Science- Built environment Lab (Trains)
Students examine transportation. In this train design lesson, students study how trains work and how to efficiently design a track by working with an electric train set. As a class they compare various types of trains and work...
Curated OER
Simulation: Urban Planning for An Ancient Mayan City
Students participate in the simulation of planning an ancient Mayan city. In this urban planning activity, students role play as citizens of an Mayan city. They act out their roles in a classroom that has been rearranged to simulate the...
Curated OER
Mapping My Community
Ninth graders are introduced to GPS technology. They complete fieldwork as they visit a specific area of their community to identify and map types of land use in the surveyed area. They use the collected data to create a digital map.
Curated OER
Chicago's Amazing Growth
Students, in groups, collaboratively explore the rapid growth of Chicago (from 350 to 300,000 in less than 40 years), and how the city changed to accommodate such rapid growth.