Growth of Cities !

"The Growth of Cities"
~ Resources and Technology Integration ~

Raymond Quigley
Technology Liaison
Lakeland School #12

“I Think there is a
world market for
about maybe five
computers …”

Thomas Watson
(1874 - 1956)
CEO of IBM (1943)

Introduction

Social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences -- economics, geography, history, and political science. Included in this study must also be the humanities, so as to promote civic competence. A primary goal of social studies is to prepare students to make informed decisions on public and political issues. Making these informed decisions requires critical thinking skills, which include those associated with the Dimensions of Learning.

Social studies content includes knowledge, concepts, principles, skills, and processes. The content of the K-8 Maryland Social Studies Outcomes and Indicators focuses on the concepts, principles, skills, and processes of social studies rather than on specific knowledge. This content is assessed by MSPAP.
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The Purpose - "At Your Fingertips"

The underlying purpose of "Growth of Cities - Resources and Technology Integration" is to outline the major components of the BCPSS Social Studies Unit : "The Growth of Cities" (Grade 3) and offer various technology strategies and resource links that should greatly facilitate and enhance the execution of the instruction of the unit through the use of multi-media devices with an emphasis on integrating the internet into your lessons whenever the situation dictates.

Most of these suggested internet sites will contain specific information for the unit and others will offer other useful tools / references that normally would consume many volumes of printed material. Many sites contain pictures, photographs, and other useful graphics that can be used to enhance your lesson presentations. Other sites tend to be more informational and contain data that you may find helpful in constructing charts, graphs, and other beneficial organizers.

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Unit Description / Content

The "Growth of Cities" unit is basically divided into two concepts:

~ There are advantages and disadvantages to living in a city.

~ Geography and technology influenced the growth of cities.

Content areas include:

~ Advantages

-- Culture (museums, concerts, theater ...)

-- Transportation

-- Recreation / Sports

-- Interaction with many different people

-- Employment

~ Disadvantages

-- Pollution (air, water, noise ...)

-- Traffic

-- Large numbers of people

-- Crime

~ Geographical Influences ( climate, topography, resources, location ...)

~ Technology

-- Water (water power, transportation ...)

-- Steam power (steamboats, factories, railroads ...)

-- Oil (railroads, automobiles, buses, airplanes ...)

-- Electricity (hydro-electric, nuclear ...)

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Objectives

The student will: 1) know the advantages and disadvantages of living in the city.

2) understand the influence of geography on the growth of cities.

3) understand the influence of resources and technology on the growth of cities.

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Indicators

~ Recognize that people everywhere have similar social needs, motivations, and desires; but
may express them differently.

~ Provide examples of social institutions and the media that have an impact on individuals.

~ Examine environmental concerns in the community.

~ Obtain and use print and non-print sources of information such as pictures, graphics, maps,
globes, and artifacts.

~ Describe the processes people use for making and changing rules within the family, school,
and community.

~ Describe ways in which individuals and groups bring about civic improvement.

~ Describe how transportation and communication networks link communities.

~ Identify economic resources located within a community.

~ Examine the contributions of various ethnic, racial, and religious groups to the development
of communities.

~ Examine how people develop cultures through interaction with the environment and with other
cultures.

~ Identify a safety problem for children who live in the city. Complete the problem-solving process
to determine ways laws could be changed or civic improvement made to make the city safer.

~ Identify and define terms related to activities that you can do in the city.

~ Make a collage of city life in regard to ethnic groups, customs, and cultural ideas.

~ Talk about the "Ethnic Festivals" attended by members of the class. Decide what was special
about each one.

~ Interview an adult who lived in the city. Ask them what life was like when they were your age.

~ Listen to a news report. Name one problem associated with the city.

                   ~ Gather information about city government services by using the blue pages of a telephone directory.
                      Make connections between institutions, needs, services, and taxation. Use a cause / effect graphic
                      organizer to draw inferences about needs, services, and taxation.

~ Describe the impact of economic specialization on the growth of communities.

                   ~ Locate features of the school and community by interpreting and constructing maps using simple
                      grid systems, cardinal directions, relative distances and sizes, and symbols explained in a legend
                      (key).

~ Look in the newspaper for pictures of big cities. Name the things you see that make a city different
from a smaller community.

~ Read a newspaper article about a city. Tell what is fact and what is opinion in the article.

~ Conduct an oral history interview of an adult and have them explain what it was like growing up in
a city.

~ Display a large map of your community and discuss the uses being made of land.

~ Locate the different natural resources such as bays, rivers, forests, etc..

~ Locate the capital resources such as roads, bridges, factories, stores, etc..

~ Discuss who decides how the resources in the community will be used and how these decisions
effect the community.

~ Construct a map of an imaginary area. On the map place a city, river, mountain, ocean, and an island.
Explain why you placed the city where you did. What geographical aspects influenced your decision.

~ Look at a map of Maryland. Give some reasons why Baltimore became an important city.

~ Determine the ethnic groups in the community.

~ Organize information about ethnic food from prior knowledge, newspapers, phone books, or library
research.

~ Interpret information by creating menus for selected ethnic restaurants.
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Technology / Resource Links