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...
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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...
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Urban Planning: Plan a City
Students analyze the concept of urbanization by planning the placement of some of the major urban/suburban features that make up most cities. They arrange the cultural features to benefit the people who live there, and maintain respect...
Skyscraper Museum
Designing a Skyscraper
Besides serving as awe-inspiring monuments of human achievement, skyscrapers are built to perform a wide range of functions in urban communities. The second lesson plan in this series begins by exploring the history of the Empire State...
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No More Traffic Jams: Lesson 3
Traffic is a very real concern for any Urban dweller. After watching a video showing various traffic issues and solutions, learners group up to discuss and develop innovative traffic solutions of their own. They explore vocabulary and...
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Immigration
This 3-day immigration study draws on historical trends and current events. A worksheet accompanies initial research on one group's U.S. immigration history, giving opportunity for collaborative learning through sharing findings. Groups...
Smithsonian Institution
A Ticket to Philly—In 1769: Thinking about Cities, Then and Now
While cities had only a small fraction of the population in colonial America, they played a significant role in pre-revolutionary years, and this was certainly true for the largest city in the North American colonies: Philadelphia. Your...
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Teaching Juveniles How to Plan for The Future
Students in a special education class discover ways to effectively plan for the future. In groups, they research the programs and services available to them to discover the opportunities that await them. They read different sections of...
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Create the Ideal City
Students examine the significance of city planning. They analyze maps, develop a crossword puzzle using vocabulary terms, and create a diagram of an ideal city and describe the features that make it healthy for the economy, the...
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Community Building
Students explore the issues of urban and suburban sprawl. They work in small groups to create their own planned communities.
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Reaching for the Sky
Students consider features of skyscraper using descriptive words, reflect on notion of skyscraper as orientation point in a city, and explore New York Times Building in Manhattan by reading and discussing article, "Pride and Nostalgia...
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City Lesson Plan
Young scholars examine the patterns and processes of urbanization and describe patterns of urban land use. They choose one of five cities using riddles and research why this city is desirable. The groups make quizzes for each other on...
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Selecting Trees for Urban Environments
Pupils consider the best place to plant a tree. In this environment instructional activity, students identify urban locations that are compatible with particular tree types. Pupils decide what trees would go where and why they would...
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The Industrial Revolustion
Students create artistic posters to show the differences between key vocabulary words. They show the differences between a rural, agrarian, urban, and industrial lifestyles. They evaluate the benefits and problems, the human and...
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Progressive City Planners
Students plan cities. In this environmental racism lesson, students design imaginary cities taking into consideration the amenities and environmental hazards that exist. Students discuss city planning challenges.
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South Asian Architecture
Seventh graders review and discuss architecture from South Asia. They then study images of various buildings from North Africa/Southwest Asia, and make comparisons
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Modeling Reality
Learners identify what a role model is and what characteristics such a person should possess. They discuss a new trend in character role model figurines, which some believe perpetuate racial and ethnic stereotypes.
Skyscraper Museum
Building a Skyscraper
The construction of skyscrapers is no simple undertaking, involving the careful coordination and planning of many different people. The third instructional activity in this series explores this detailed process by first teaching children...
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Looking for the Dirty Scoop
Students read "The Negative Effects of Urban Sprawl." They discuss the main forms of transportation in their city and conduct research about the development of their community in terms of land use. Students sketch a map of their city and...
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Boundaries
Pupils identify and analyze the boundaries which exist between urban and rural, wildness and country and among rural areas, country, town, and city. Students actively participate in planning, obtaining materials, setting goals and...
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Building Relations
Students examine the relationships between particular landmarks and their home cities. They create posters illustrating the various connections and write scripts that could be used by tour guides.
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South American Architecture
Seventh graders review and discuss what they read about North American architecture. They then study images of North and south American architecture and make comparisons
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Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...
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Urbanization in the Amazon Basin: Can Indigenous People Survive?
Students investigate the relationship between economic development and social change of indigenous peoples.